11,000 scientists from around the world unite to declare global climate emergency

More than 11,000 scientists from 153 countries have come together to declare a climate emergency and create a six-step plan to help humanity mitigate the effects of man-made global warming.

A group of 11,000 scientists from over 153 countries have formally declared a 'climate emergency' after analysing over forty years of global data.

The data showed immediate action needs to be taken to stop global warming or else widespread human suffering is likely to occur, they said.

The team of scientists, which included Australian Dr Thomas Newsome from the University of Sydney, analysed a range of measures - including surface area, population growth, fertility rates, carbon emissions and energy use - before they came to their declaration.

Dr Newsome is hopeful the report published on Wednesday in the journal BioScience will prompt a global response, particularly from governments who he believes have lacked initiative.

"There's been little movements globally in terms of tackling the issue of climate change and so our major goal was to really come up with a new and broad set of graphical indicators to illustrate both the impacts that the humans are having on the climate and also the negative feedback loops associated with climate change," Dr Newsome said.

The declaration not only warns of the dangers of climate change but provides six areas humanity should immediately act on if they want to mitigate the impacts of global warming, these being energy, short-lived pollutants, nature, food, economy and population.

Dr Newsome is confident with the right federal policy, global warming can be combatted.

"A clear policy that signals to the business community that they are going to act on climate change and a clear policy to the people that they are going to act on climate change in a way that is going to change the trajectory of these graphs both at a country level and a global level,” he said.

“I think they could also be encouraging individuals to change their individual behaviour to help meet those goals because lots of small steps will help meet those global goals as well."

‘The first step towards fixing a problem is admitting you've got a problem’
The declaration has been welcomed by Australian environmental advocacy groups and politicians alike.

Leader of the Greens Party Adam Bandt is hopeful federal parliament will follow in the footsteps of the thousands of scientists and finally declare a climate emergency in Australia before it is too late.

"We've got farmers who are suffering through record drought, we've got towns that have been told they might run out of water, we had parts of Australia start burning barely a couple of weeks out of winter, we are in a climate emergency and the first step towards fixing a problem is admitting you've got a problem,” Mr Bandt said.

“If the parliament follows the lead of the scientists and declares a climate emergency then we can refocus the whole of the countries efforts into stopping the climate crisis getting worse,” he said.

Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) CEO Kelly O'Shanassay also wants to see the government address the climate emergency, as everyday Australians, not only scientists are calling for immediate climate action.

"Business is speaking up, the head of the defence force, celebrities around the world are speaking up, investors are speaking up, 300,000 students last month in the streets of Australia are speaking up,” Ms O’SHanassay said.

“Everyone is now saying that climate change is here: 'I can see it outside my window, I can see the drought, I can see the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef'.”

“People are really worried about it and it is now pretty much everyone, from every walk of life is saying to our government please take action, because our lives depend on it," she said.

How can we stop men from putting it in?

Hi Nail,
This should be in the Environment forum.

If CO2 is the cause then the real problem
is over population.
How can we stop men from putting it in?

Hey I agree...................

Lets clean up pollution

Lets stop deforestation

Lets clean the plastic in the oceans

Lets convert to green energy making it cheap for everyone

Lets stop corporations from polluting creeks, rivers and oceans

Lets re-cycle

Lets do everything to remedy what man has been doing to the environment for years

But don't try and seel me a quick one by saying that mans emissions of CO2 are the net cause of climate change.

In other words don't piss down my back and tell me its raining.

Or that a carbon derivatives market will save us, just keep on polluting but now you pay, yeah sure that is the antidote for sure.

Climate change has and will always happen, man cannot stop it or control it.

All these activist are just brain washed sheeple.

Energy. Implement massive conservation practices; replace fossil fuels with clean renewables; leave remaining stocks of fossil fuels in the ground; eliminate subsidies to fossil fuel companies; and impose carbon fees that are high enough to restrain the use of fossil fuels.

Short-lived pollutants. Swiftly cut emissions of methane, hydrofluorocarbons, soot and other short-lived climate pollutants. This has the potential to reduce the short-term warming trend by more than 50 percent over the next few decades.

Nature. Restrain massive land clearing. Restore and protect ecosystems such as forests, grasslands and mangroves, which would greatly contribute to the sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas.

Food. Eat mostly plants and consume fewer animal products. This dietary shift would significantly reduce emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases and free up agricultural lands for growing human food rather than livestock feed. Reducing food waste is also critical – the scientists say at least one-third of all food produced ends up as garbage.

Economy. Convert the economy’s reliance on carbon fuels to address human dependence on the biosphere. Shift goals away from the growth of gross domestic product and the pursuit of affluence. Curtail the extraction of materials and exploitation of ecosystems to maintain long-term biosphere sustainability.

Population. Stabilise global population, which is increasing by more than 200,000 people a day, using approaches that ensure social and economic justice.