Step Back from the Abyss T

he launch of Starship by SpaceX has sent reverberations around the world. True it was a spectacular failure, but out of failure comes eventual success. Soon, may be too soon, humans will land on the moon to begin lunar resource exploitation.. Next destination may be Mars, which is the target of Starship.

Humanity is eyeing celestial bodies as the next major milestone of progress after Christopher Columbus discovered the New World.

But what about our only home –The Blue Marble, the pale blue dot, the fourth rock from the sun – the Spaceship Earth? These intrepid explorers may leave behind a dying planet, too hot for sustaining healthy living and well-being, recurrently prone to violent storms and other destructive weather events, and declining agriculture, water scarcity reducing options for development, and creating a degraded ecosystem.

Doomsday scenario? This is what the IPCC’s latest report outlines unless the world wakes up to the accelerating global warming.

Temperatures are showing a rising trend such that unless strong measures are taken now, by 2030 we will cross the point of no return – a temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels.

It is not that people are unaware of the dangers, the IPCC report lists out in great detail what needs to be done but human events are working against these recommendations. The prolonged war in Ukraine is creating an ecological and environmental disaster, and the recovery from the wastelands created will consume precious resources.

Worse still, a hiatus in phasing out of fossil fuels will aggravate the problem. The oceans are equally under pressure as are vulnerable island nations. Already due to extreme weather events, agricultural output is being globally affected.

In this scenario, sustainable urban planning and management, accelerated adoption of non-fossil energy resources, efficient agriculture, and preservation of forests are some of the key activities that need immediate attention.

Geospatial systems for monitoring the earth, oceans and atmosphere already exist. Their data must be made available without parochial mindset and overtly regulatory approach. The technology exists to enable data access, but the laws are quite restrictive. Similarly, data analytics need to mature and become easily accessible. Geospatial must break silos and become mainstream across all human endeavors.

Information Technologies, particularly geospatial systems, are ready to meet the needs of sustainable development which can restrict global warming. It is up to governments, industries, and communities to work together seamlessly and take proportionate share of the efforts to ensure that the earth remains sustainable for future generations –those who will be left behind, as well as those whose ancestors colonized the Moon and Mars.