2012 Planet under pressure conference

To provide a comprehensive update of our knowledge of the Earth systems and the pressure our planet is now undergoing, the Planet Under Pressure Conference will be held on March 26-29, 2012, in London in the United Kingdom. Working across scales is the leading theme for the conference with the scientific community focusing on governance and technological solutions that will connect scientists with business, investors, and a development agenda to create a new understanding and environment for tackling global sustainability challenges. Policymakers, industry leaders, non-government organizations, scientists, the media, health specialists, and academics from all disciplines will discuss proposed solutions to move societies to a sustainable path way. Research over the last two decades has shown that the world is undergoing major changes on all fronts: political, technological, environmental, human poverty alleviation, food security, energy, governance, human well-being, climate, planetary thresholds, climate widening gap between the rich and the poor, and energy. Societies are facing problems of unsustainable development. These problems are complex, hard to manage, and to resolve. They have multiple casualties, cover multiple fields, involve many stakeholders, and incorporate many uncertainties. Leading Earth and environmental scientists recently proposed nine planetary boundaries or safety zones that should not be crossed in order to preserve the planetary and environmental balance that human civilizations require; freshwater use; the ozone; land use change; biological diversity; climate change; the acidification of the oceans; nitrogen and phosphorus inputs; aerosol loading; and chemical pollution. Crossing these boundaries could generate offensive environmental change for humanity. While there are many threats to Planet Earth, there are also opportunities for the scientific community to provide the knowledge of how society can effectively mitigate dangerous changes and cope with changes they cannot manage. MABUHAY!