Future Earth and Sustainable Developments

Existing and Proposed CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Infrastructure Compared with Pathways to 1.5°C (IPCC SR1.5 P1, Blue dotted Line) and 2°C (RCP2.6, Black dotted Line) Scenarios

Our planet has been undergoing continuous warming since the industrial revolution (1850 CE), such that its mean temperature has risen ～1°C, and continues to rise to the present day. This is mainly due to human activity, particularly CO2 emissions, resulting in far-reaching and mostly irreversible consequences to the Earth's systems. These include dominant negative changes in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere. Since human influence has now overwhelmingly exceeded natural forces on a globe scale, some Earth scientists have proposed a geological epoch called the “Anthropocene”: a new epoch in the history of our planet, named after the significant influences of humanity on the globe.1 Indeed, our planet's climate is changing rapidly in the Anthropocene, and so climate change will become the defining challenge of our time, and its impacts will affect generations to come.

Cite this article

Cheng, H. Future Earth and Sustainable Developments. The Innovation 1 (3), 100055 (2020). doi: 10.1016/j.xinn.2020.100055