21/28 December 2019 | New Scientist | 3origins and ancestry (see pages 19 to 25).
Scientists also have a new understanding
of how our planet works as a living whole,
of what rewilding parts of it really takes, of
how better to help other species survive in
dwindling habitats. In many countries, people
have woken up to the impact of their use of
materials like plastic. And there is every reason
to believe that this progress will continue. Even
when it comes to climate change, undoubtedly
the defining issue of the coming decade, there
are grounds for cautious optimism that we
can pull together to stave off catastrophe.
It is for good reason that Time magazine has
just named the Swedish climate campaigner
Greta Thunberg its person of the year.
There are undoubtedly still huge political
battles to be fought on the issue. But, thanks
to the likes of Thunberg, public acceptance
of the basic science of climate change, and
awareness of the dangers it poses, has, of
late, grown hugely across the globe, even in
parts that were previously resistant, such as
the US. As we report on page 20, the world
seems to be waking up to the need for
radical action on this and other serious
environmental challenges.
There is every reason to hope that this may
be the harbinger of a growing acceptance ofT
HERE are many who believe, as this
decade comes to a close, that the world
is going to hell in a handcart. The failure
to take dramatic action on climate change,
the perceived coarsening of public debate,
the rise of instantly transmitted fake news
and populist movements that rail against
experts and facts are all taken as evidence that
humanity is in the grip of a downward spiral.
We know you, as readers of New Scientist,
share our love of evidence and rational
problem-solving. So you probably already
know that the facts don’t support this
narrative. In fact, by most measures, the
world is getting better – for humans at least.
That is largely due to science and technology
delivering humanitarian and progressive
solutions to problems such as disease, hunger,
lack of access to clean water, education and
family planning. For most people in most
places, life in 2020 will be objectively better
than it was in 2010.
At the same time, our knowledge of the
universe and our place in it has continued to
grow. In the world of scientific research, we
have seen a constant stream of exciting and
transformative discoveries in the decade that
is now ending, from the first direct picture of a
black hole to new revelations about humanity’sThe leader
Signs of hope
These are testing times, but we are far from doomed
>Greta Thunberg
protests outside
the Swedish
parliament on
August 28, 2018MI
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