| The Role of Science and Materials in Saving Our Planet and Ourselves (Part 2) Richard Wheeler1; 1JOZEF STEFAN INSTITUTE (SLOVENIA), (AND) EUROPEAN SUSTAINABLE ENERGY INNOVATION ALLIANCE (AUSTRIA), (AND) BALKAN INSTITUTE FOR LABOUR AND SOCIAL POLICY (BULGARIA), Edinburgh, United Kingdom; PAPER: 472/SISAM/Regular (Oral) SCHEDULED: 16:20/Fri. 25 Oct. 2019/Dr. Christian Bernard ABSTRACT: We live in a time of unprecedented global change, and face a very near future of climate chaos, mass migration, and sociopolitical upheaval. We now have only about eight years to radically improve the ecological conditions on the planet to avoid mass extinctions, and at most twenty years to master the emerging field of geotechnical or planetary, engineering. If civilization is going to exist for our grandchildren, we must become very good at planetary-scale engineering, and quickly. How do we move whole cities? How do we radically regenerate ocean and atmospheric health? What should future civilizations look like, and does humanity have the strength, courage, and ingenuity to rise to these challenges, or have we doomed life on the planet to extinction? What role might physics and the material sciences play, and what special responsibilities does the research community have? What decisions should the EU and its nations make now to ensure their future survival? Are we as scientists acting rationally, and what should we do next? |
