推論する／理由s to be cheerful about 気候 change

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SCIENCE?

Not the End of the World

by Hannah Ritchie?(Chatto £18.99, 352pp)

Do we despair too readily of the 明言する／公表する of our 惑星? Plenty of young people certainly do. In a 最近の 世界的な 調査する of 16 to 25-year-olds, more than half said that 'humanity was doomed'. Hannah Ritchie would once have agreed with them.

As she 自白するs, 'I believed I was living through humanity's most 悲劇の period'. Then she began to 診察する the facts more closely. Now the lead 研究員 at the online 出版（物） Our World In Data, 試みる／企てるing to make （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） about the world's problems accessible to the public, she is much more 楽観的な.

Hannah Ritchie revea ls why she is more 楽観的な about the 明言する／公表する of the 惑星 in Not The End Of The World (とじ込み／提出する image)

She is not one to 否定する or minimise these problems. 気候 change is real. 空気／公表する 汚染 is 殺人，大当り millions. Our 活動／戦闘s 脅す a 集まり 絶滅 of 種類 with whom we 株 the 惑星. However, perpetual doom and gloom are 反対する-生産力のある. Overwrought, apocalyptic 予測s of 大災害 play into the 手渡すs of deniers.

As Ritchie puts it: 'Every doomsday 行動主義者 that makes a big, bold （人命などを）奪う，主張する invariably turns out to be wrong. Every time this happens, it chisels another bit of public 信用 away from scientists.'

And if we believe that planetary 災害 is 避けられない, the 誘惑 is to throw up our 手渡すs in despair and do nothing. Only if we believe that we can 取り組む the world's 環境の problems will we have any success in doing so. Ritchie is no foolish Pollyanna, but she is 用意が出来ている to make such 声明s as, 'There has never been a better time to be alive'.

And she has facts at her fingertips to 支援する them up. She is not （人命などを）奪う，主張するing things are 罰金 as they are (who would?) but, in all 肉親，親類d of ways, they are 改善するing.

Some problems that may seem peculiar to today have, in reality, been around for a long time. 証拠 of 空気／公表する 汚染 has been 設立する in 古代の Egyptian mummies. London was once more 汚染するd than any 同時代の city. The 広大な／多数の／重要な Smog that enveloped the 資本／首都 for four days in December 1952 is 概算の to have killed nearly 10,000 inhabitants.

The levels of 汚染 in modern cities such as Delhi and Beijing may seem 前例のない, but they are not. And given 基金ing and 政府 かかわり合い, it is possible to clean them up.

How can we, as individuals, 少なくなる our 損失ing 影響 on the 環境? Rather disappointingly, Ritchie points out that many of the things we imagine to be green really aren't. 'Eating 地元で produced food doesn't make a big difference,' she 令状s. 'Nor does eating 有機の food.'

And when people are asked what they think are the most useful ways they can show they are environmentally friendly, they often plump for things that don't have a 抱擁する 衝撃.

Surprisingly, 再生利用するing is one of them. Popping your waste into the appropriate 貯蔵所s is worthwhile, but switching to an electric car or taking one flight より小数の in a year will have a bigger 衝撃. The best thing we can do is eat いっそう少なく meat, 特に beef.

Su rprisingly, 再生利用するing is one of the things that is について言及するd a lot, but doesn't have a 抱擁する 衝撃 (とじ込み／提出する image)

Major changes for the worse we have （打撃，刑罰などを）与えるd on the 惑星 are felt by other 種類. 森林伐採 has destroyed habitats and 絶滅 脅すs many animals. Some scientists argue that we are on the brink of a 集まり 絶滅 event. There have been five in the past. In the worst of them, the end-Permian event 250 million years ago, as many as 96 per cent of 種類 may have been lost. However, any 差し迫った sixth event is different.

As Ritchie puts it, 'This 集まり 絶滅 event is unlike any of the others, because there is a handbrake. We are the handbrake.'

If we are the 原因（となる）, then we also have the means to turn things around. And there have been plenty of 自然保護 success stories to 最高潮の場面. The white rhino was の近くに to 絶滅 in 1900. There were thought to be only 20 left. Thanks to 保護 対策, there are now a thousand times as many white rhinos as there were over a century ago.

That all is not lost and that there is hope is the main message to take away from this 井戸／弁護士席-argued, 井戸／弁護士席-証拠d 調書をとる／予約する.