Lumen Wirltuti:Warltati 2025 - Flipbook - Page 10
Lumen feature
The (environmental)
future of the planet
In our recent time-themed issue
of Lumen, we asked readers to
tell us what concerned or excited
them about the future.
Climate change. Biodiversity loss. A disconnect with nature.
An unsustainable planet. Water insecurity. Waste and pollution.
Government inaction.
The environmental state of our
planet was prominent in the
responses.
The readers’ disquiet was clearly very real and deeply felt. One
reader imagines mosquitoes at the peak of Mt Everest after the ice
and snow has gone. Others write of their concerns for the future of
their descendants.
These were the themes that echoed through the responses Lumen
readers sent about their fears for our future. They are concerns the
Environment Institute of the University shares and is working
to address.
“The dissociation of humanity from Earth has already
happened… mega cities have replaced natural habitats, leading
to a profound disconnection,” one reader writes.
In this story, the Director of the
University’s Environment Institute,
Andy Lowe, aims to address those
concerns, and explore some of
the work being done by the
University and its communities
to improve our future.
“It frustrates me that despite clear warnings, meaningful action
still feels too slow and inadequate,” writes another.
“The future is terrifying – I have five kids. I wish they didn’t have
such a bleak, hot, dry, catastrophic future ahead of them,” writes
a third.
So, what can we do, and what are we at the Environment
Institute and the University doing?
Perhaps the best way to address readers’ concerns is by giving
a brief oversight of our activities in each of their primary themes.
Further details – and how you can help – can be found at the links
at the end of the story.
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