Global CA-CoP CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

for sustainable agriculture and land management


Dear Subscribers,

Today is the 50th Earth Day!

Conservation Agriculture as a regenerative, ecological and sustainable land use paradigm has a huge potential to contribute to improving the well-being of our earth system for all who are part of it.

Please see herebelow David Duthie's communication from BIOPLAN: Your Reader for the 50th Earth Day Reader.

Thank you David for sharing.

Amir Kassam

Moderator

Global CA-CoP

e-mail: [log in to unmask]

URL: http://www.fao.org/conservation-agriculture


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: David Duthie <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2020 at 23:00
Subject: Your Reader for the 50th Earth Day Reader
To: bioplan <[log in to unmask]>


Dear BIOPLANNERS,

 

Most of us will not be able to participate in any collective actions for Earth Day, except remotely perhaps, and we may still have a bit more reading time available than usual, so please find below a small (all free access) compilation of Earth Day reading.

 

First up is a link to the official Earth Day website, where you can explore what is being planned around the world - see https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2020/

 

Here is a one page editorial summarising the early successes and latter-day failing of the (mostly US) environment movement – see:

 

TURNER, JAMES MORTON, and Andrew C Isenberg, ‘Earth Day at 50’, Science, 368 (2020), 215–15 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abc1967   

 

Thirdly, is a nice one page commentary from environmental journalist, Emma Marris, on the relative importance of both personal and collective action to address major environmental challenges, notably climate change – see:

 

Marris, Emma, ‘On the 50th Earth Day, Take Collective Action for the Planet’, Nature, 580 (2020), 433–33 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-01123-z   

 

Next up, a nine page essay from Philippe Tortell that could be titled “50 Years of History of Environmental Action 101 – very clearly written and well-referenced – see:

 

Tortell, Philippe D, ‘Earth 2020: Science, Society, and Sustainability in the Anthropocene’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 42 (2020), 202001919 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001919117 

 

April 22, 2020, marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and the birth of the modern environmental movement. As we look back over the past half century, we can gain significant insights into the evolving human imprint on Earth’s biophysical systems, and the role of science and scientists in driving societal transitions toward greater sustainability. Science is a foundation for such transitions, but it is not enough. Rather, it is through wide collaborations across fields, including law, economics, and politics, and through direct engagement with civil society, that science can illuminate a better path forward. This is illustrated through a number of case studies highlighting the role of scientists in leading positive societal change, often in the face of strong oppositional forces. The past five decades reveal significant triumphs of environmental protection, but also notable failures, which have led to the continuing deterioration of Earth’s natural systems. Today, more than ever, these historical lessons loom large as we face increasingly complex and pernicious environmental problems.

 

Tortell references a 290 page e-book which he has edited which contains 28 chapters on a wide range of environmental themes. The whole e-book can be downloaded as a free pdf or purchased in book form at the link below, but I have pasted links to the individual chapters below my signature.

 

Tortell, Philippe D. (Ed.) Earth 2020: an Insider's Guide to a Rapidly Changing Planet (Open Book Publishers, 2020) http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/obp.0193

 

Finally, a longer article from the New York Times on the key people behind the 1st Earth Day and how they are working to “pass on the baton” to the next generations – see”

  

Schwartz, John (2020) The ‘Profoundly Radical’ Message of Earth Day’s First Organizer. New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/climate/denis-hayes-earth-day-organizer.html (may need to register for free access)

 

See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day for more history.

 

Something to read and digest during lockdown – to energise us all to more (collective) action once we begin to move again.

 

Best wishes and Happy Earth Day

 

David Duthie

 

PS: Belatedly, I realised I left out the link to the Op-Ed by sustainability guru John Elkington in my previous post.

 

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Introduction Download
Philippe D. Tortell

 

Earth Sounds Download
Philippe D. Tortell

 

Impatient Earth Download
John Harte and Robert Socolow

 

Climate 1970-2020 Download
Tapio Schneider

 

Politics and Law Download
Elizabeth May

 

Carbon Download
David Archer

 

Everyday Biodiversity Download
Jeffrey R. Smith and Gretchen C. Daily

 

Energy Download
Elizabeth J. Wilson and Elias Grove Nielsen

 

Forests Download
Sally N. Aitken

 

Environmental Economics Download
Don Fullerton

 

Air Download
Jon Abbatt

 

Geoengineering Download
Douglas G. MacMartin and Katharine L. Ricke

 

Ice Download
Julian Dowdeswell

 

Imaging Earth Download
Edward Burtynsky

 

Mother Earth Download
Deborah McGregor

 

Sea Level Rise, 1970-2070: A View from the Future Download
Robert E. Kopp

 

Climate Negotiation Download
Rosemary Lyster

 

Weather Download
Neville Nicholls

 

Knowing Earth Download
Sheila Jasanoff

 

Fish Download
U. Rashid Sumaila and Daniel Pauly

 

The Global Chemical Experiment Download
Elsie Sunderland and Charlotte Wagner

 

Land Download
Navin Ramankutty and Hannah Wittman

 

Oceans 2020 Download
David M. Karl

 

Earth and Plastic Download
Roland Geyer

 

Fresh Water Download
Janet G. Hering

 

Media Download
Candis Callison

 

Space Junk Download
Alice Gorman

 

Saving the Boat Download
Zoe Craig-Sparrow and Grace Nosek-Sparrow 



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