Prøve GULL - Gratis
A MAKE OR BREAK YEAR
Down To Earth
|January 16, 2025
Expect some stiff targets, radical policy measures and rapid innovations as polycrisis reaches a crescendo this year
If 2024 was the "biggest" year of democracy-nearly half of the world population elected governments in 64 countries the New Year will be that of fulfilling the promises made.
This is no mean task, and 2025 will therefore stand out as a pivotal year for the planet. The world is caught in a polycrisis I that has never been experienced earlier, and is in a bind over how to navigate through it. From economy, ecology and geopolitics to the emergence of new governance ideology, 2025 will be a test case. But, nature's revenge-in response to the brutal and incessant anthropogenic ravages-has reached a crescendo, threatening humans' very existence.
The planet is in a "critical condition", as scientists diagnose. In 2024, the Earth marked its 10th consecutive warmest year on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization. It is also the first year to cross the warming threshold of 1.5°C above the pre-industrial period. More than three-fourths of the Earth's land has become permanently drier in the three decades leading up to 2020, compared to the previous 30-year period (1961-90), according to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. In the last half-a-century, 12,000 disasters struck as a result of extreme weather, climate and water-related events, killing over 2 million humans, says the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
Denne historien er fra January 16, 2025-utgaven av Down To Earth.
Abonner på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av kuraterte premiumhistorier og over 9000 magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
FLERE HISTORIER FRA Down To Earth
Down To Earth
Collective denial
A decade on from the Paris Agreement, countries are planning more fossil fuel production than before, putting global climate ambitions at increasing risk
4 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
BUILT TO BINGE
Over the past few decades, food companies have exploited basic human instincts to peddle ultra-processed products. Engineered to hijack the brain's reward system, these foods are silently fuelling a new addiction epidemic, and driving rising rates of obesity and chronic diseases. Urgent policy action is needed to reclaim control over our food environment.
19 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Another farmer quits
THIS DUSSEHRA, Pitabasha did not go for the customary sighting of the Indian Roller, or tiha, as it is called in Odia. The bird is believed to grant wishes, and every year thousands of people flock to farms, fields and forests hoping to glimpse it and make a wish. But the 30-year-old farmer from Matupali village in Odisha stayed back. From that day, he also stopped calling himself a farmer.
2 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
What the H-1B visa angst reveals about India
It is odd that India strenuously promotes the exodus of its tech talent while failing to foster innovation at home
4 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
REDUCED TO INSIGNIFICANCE
On October 12, the Right to Information (RTI) Act completed 20 years. Activists who monitor the Act, and former information commissioners, say that amendments by successive governments have rendered the law toothless. As per Central Information Commission's latest annual report (2023-24), the number of RTI applications rejected in the year was over 67,615—the highest ever. BHAGIRATH curates a conversation on what went wrong with the law that was sought to bring transparency and accountability in governance.
14 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
'Depopulation would mean fewer people contributing to advancement of knowledge'
Trends show that in a few decades, global population will begin to shrink. Once depopulation starts, no one knows how to stop it in a sustained way, write DEAN SPEARS and MICHAEL GERUSO, associate professors of economics, University of Texas at Austin, US, in their recent book, After the Spike. The authors, who are also economic demographers, argue that population decline will be detrimental to global progress and that a smaller population would not necessarily be better for the environment. In an interview with ADITYA MISRA, they say that the time to talk about depopulation is now because the search for a solution could take decades. Excerpts:
5 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Rebirth of Sukapaika
A cardiologist revives a dying river in Odisha with help from 425 riparian villages
2 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Monsoon withdrawal stalls after early start
AFTER UNLEASHING unusually heavy spells of rain across northwest India, the southwest monsoon began withdrawing three days earlier than normal, on September 14.
1 min
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Despair follows deluge
As floodwaters recede in Punjab, communities are left with ruined fields, lost livelihoods and an uncertain future. VIVEK MISHRA travels through the seven flood-hit districts to gauge the scale of the crisis.
6 mins
October 16, 2025
Down To Earth
Bone dry to soaking wet
Farmers in Marathwada were ill-prepared for the intense rainfall that hit the perennially water-starved region.
4 mins
October 16, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size