Causes for optimism on Earth Day
This 52nd Earth Day, it's important to look back at the how much our world has changed since the original demonstrations in 1970. The need to protect our climate, biodiversity and ecosystems has never been more vital to our sustainable future. While there is certainly cause for concern and need for immediate global action to protect our environment, we also need to acknowledge the true progress that's been made over the decades to enable a future where human and natural systems are balanced. At 2150, our goal is to help shape the future defined by the ideals on which Earth Day was founded. We're optimistic about what these statistics can look like in 2050 with targeted, collective action.
Here’s a look at how the world has changed from 1970 to today:
The not so good:
??? Global concentrations of CO2 have risen from 325.68 to 416.45 PPM (source)
???? Average annual global temperature anomalies compared to 1901 - 2000 baseline warmed from +0.06°C to +0.84°C (source)
?? Global energy supply grew from 5,518 Mtoe to 14,282 Mtoe (source)
??? Wild or semi-natural land as a % of total global land has decreased from 52 to 50% (source)
But there’s reasons to be optimistic:
?? The Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015, representing a global movement to address climate change (source)
??? Solar PV costs was plummeted from $105.7 to $0.2 / watt (source)
???? Share of low-carbon sources in world electricity generation rose from 25.7 to 39.5% (source)
??. Electric vehicle sales have risen from 0% to 8.57% of market share (source)
??? Ozone-depleting substance consumption has reduced by 99.66% from 1986. (source)
So while there is little doubt that we as humanity continue to cause damage to this "pale blue dot" all of us at 2150 come to work today, on this Earth Day, optimistic that collective action is beginning to have an impact.