Scientists reveal one million species at risk of extinction in damning UN report
Jonathan Watts Global environment editor
The Guardian
@jonathanwatts
Mon 6 May 2019
Human society is in jeopardy from the accelerating decline of the Earth’s natural life support systems, the world’s leading scientists have warned as they announced the results of the most thorough planetary health check ever undertaken.
From coral reefs flickering out beneath the oceans to rainforests desiccating into savannahs, nature is being destroyed at a rate that is tens to hundreds of times higher than the average over the last 10m years, according to the Global Assessment Report by the United Nations.
Read the rest of the article here: The Guardian
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I can't help but be reminded of how science fiction is so often errily predictive of future science fact... As I read this article, I was immediately reminded of 1973's dystopian science-fiction thriller, "Soylent Green." In the article above, you can see all the makings of the 2022 predicted in this 46 year old film. If you've never seen it, you should, but only if you're not afaid to extrapolate fiction to our potential future reality. While it seemed very far-fetched in 1973, in 2019 a future where we've utterly destroyed our planet seems frighteningly prophetic.
In the scene above, which is arguably one of the best in the film, Solomon Roth (portrayed by Edward G. Robinson in his final screen appearance) upon deducing the implications of the Soylent Corporation's oceanographic reports is so disgusted with his degraded life in a degraded world that he decides to "Return to the home of God" and seeks assisted suicide at a government clinic.
His friend, Thorn (Charlton Heston) rushes to stop him, but arrives too late. Roth is mesmerized by the euthanasia process' visual and musical montage – extinct forests, wild animals, rivers and ocean life. Before dying, he tells Thorn his discovery and begs him to expose the truth.
As I mentioned above, this was Edward G. Robinson's final appearance on film. He died from cancer 10 days after filming on Soylent Green was wrapped up. Which I think explains how filled with emotion his acting is in these final scenes of his character.
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