“The most important issue of the twenty-first century will be the condition of the global environment. IAN McHARG Scottish landscape architect and writer 8 The Power of Where OUR WORLD IS BEING CHALLENGED We’ve reached the point that the impacts of human-induced climate change are stimulating ecological instability that could threaten our existence unless we act now. It is my sense that as a species, we are proceeding recklessly beyond our means in ways that predictive analyses indicate are not sustainable. But I don’t subscribe to the idea that our species may not survive climate change, regardless of human intervention. I believe we have a choice to create a sustainable future, but we must take collective responsibility now for imagining and creating solutions and implementing them everywhere. This book is filled with examples about the use of the geographic approach to create green infrastructure, preserve wildlands, promote equity, develop sustainable and regenerative agriculture, support renewable energy, reduce carbon emissions, and help cities implement life-affirming practices. Extreme heat Ocean warming Natural disasters Water crises Severe droughts Food shortages Steep declines in biodiversity Social conflicts Wildfires Unconstrained development Ecological instability Pollution Loss of nature Overpopulation Human-induced climate changes Over history, the human species has survived, evolved, and thrived. We’ve created agriculture and cities, transportation and communication systems, and education and public health systems, mostly in the last few hundred years. We have overcome many challenges, and the result is a human population that has grown quickly and according to the United Nations (UN) could reach 9.7 million people by 2050. Some people describe this era as the Age of the Anthropocene—the period in Earth’s history when human activity has started to significantly impact our planet’s ecosystems and climate. Unfortunately, these challenges are interrelated with human progress, and we’ve created many unintended consequences as a result. The graphic on this page points to just some of the repercussions of greatest concern. Natural and human-induced phenomena are creating an array of identifiable challenges facing our world.
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