Currents April 2019 April 2019_Currents web | Page 3

Currents April 2019 3 $24 Trillion I n a fast-paced capitalistic society the effective means to grab eyeballs and attention spans, is to personalize the mes- sage to the audience. Not a new concept, know you audience is a foundational principal for all effec- tive communications. But if you can paint a picture or create a vlog, the potential audience size increases expo- nentially if it goes viral. The cli- mate change researchers are tak- ing that message to heart and the Lancet, a well respective medical journal has utilized the concepts in its new climate and health report. LancetCountdown. Lancet Countdown “Today’s babies, by adulthood, will live on a planet without an Arctic. Prevalence of heatstroke and extreme weather will have redefined global labour and pro- duction beyond recognition,” as an editorial accompanying the report puts it. “Multiple cities will be uninhabitable and migration patterns will be far beyond those levels already creating pressure worldwide.” Cats and dogs living together; mass hysteria. Your planet’s on fire, kids. But how all this immediacy and personalization will actually work might depend on how immediate the issue is, and who the person is. Insects, vital to the diets of other animals, as well as the pol- linators of our food, are facing a bleak future as populations appear to be collapsing. Land use changes and increased pes- ticide use are destroying habitats and vastly reducing numbers. In Europe, up to 37 percent of bees and 31 percent of butterflies are in decline, with major losses also recorded in southern Africa, according to the pollinators sec- tion of the report. Nature underpins all economies with the “free” serv- ices it provides in the form of clean water, air and the pollina- tion of all major human food crops by bees and insects. In the Americas, this is said to total more than $24 trillion a year. The pollination of crops globally by bees and other animals alone is worth up to $577 billion. Nature is in freefall and the planet’s sup- port systems are so stretched that we face widespread species extinctions and mass human migration unless urgent action is taken.” It is the greatest attempt yet to assess the state of life on Earth and will show how tens of thou- sands of species are at high risk of extinction, how countries are continued on page 5 > S TOP Y OUR W INDOW L EAK P ROBLEMS Be Hu Prepa re rr Fi x you icane d for t r W Sea he NO indow son W! Lea ks Dried out gaskets and window stripping will cause window leaks. I have the proper window stripping to repair all types of windows. I also do Screening, Wrol-up Repair and Sliding Glass Doors. E FRE ATES M I EST C ALL P ATRICK Cell No. 954-829-4348 [email protected] FPL Independent Participating Contractor 3621 Washington Street • Hollywood, FL 33021