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Welp, Earth Is Probably Fucked

Statistically speaking, that is, according to complex systems theorist and geophysicist Brad Werner.
Brian Merchant
Κείμενο Brian Merchant

Scientists are notorious for padding their statements for maximum accuracy. Take climatologists. They never say "mankind must stop burning fossil fuels all over the place or else civilization as we know it is doomed." No, it's always something closer to "the latest carbon dioxide emissions continue to track the high end of emission scenarios, making it even less likely global warming will stay below 2 °C" and upon that trajectory snooooore.

Not that scientists should be evangelists. But few scientists are any good at looking the public in the eye and, speaking their language, telling them like it is.

Complex systems theorist and geophysicist Brad Werner doesn't have that problem. He bluntly titled his most recent talk at the American Geophysical Union, "Is Earth Fucked?" And he gave the answer too, which is pretty much, yup.

During the talk, iO9's Dave Levitan reports that Werner pointed out that "the economy very fast chews up the environmental resources, depletes those reservoirs, resulting in a significant amount of environmental damage." Global consumerism, resource depletion, and pollution are making it a statistical probability that the Earth will be fucked. But his discussion wasn't really focused on doom and gloom.

Read the rest over at the new Motherboard.VICE.com.