SOLUTIONS

STEPS YOU CAN TAKE

To Create a Better Future

I’m glad you’re here. I invite you to join my mission to rally the whole Earthling Tribe to take steps to save the world. 

Why you, why now?

Eight short years ago, the great physicist Stephen Hawking predicted a powerful truth: “Our planet is increasingly precarious…humans could become extinct in 100 years.” That’s in just 92 years (if we’re optimistic). Like Hawking, I’m a physicist. I’m also a husband, a father, a grandfather of 12, and a friend. What scares me, and what should frighten you, is what worried Hawking.

STRATEGIES FOR A BETTER FUTURE

1.

Create the SAVE HUMANITY MOVEMENT as the defining social action of the 21ST Century like the CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT and VIETNAM PROTESTS dominated the 20TH. Its goals would be to provide education on the technology threats, exert pressure to address the threats, and encourage individual activism.

2.

Create the EARTH CORPS, modeled after the PEACE CORPS, with  young volunteers to raise awareness of our possible 100 Years to Extinction, to provide education, and to take action worldwide for the SAVE HUMANITY MOVEMENT. EARTH CORPS organizations could be funded and managed by national governments and/or by non-profit organizations.

3.

Build a COLLABORATIVE effort among the hundreds of national and international organizations devoted to combating the threats from climate change, nuclear weapons, and unregulated technology.  Encourage these organizations to broaden their message to include all the threats, to collaborate on joint actions, and to support the SAVE HUMANITY MOVEMENT.

4.

ACT INDIVIDUALLY to mitigate the technology threats as suggested below.

WONDERS AND DANGERS

The industrial age has brought us a series of fantastic wonders whose misuse carry enormous dangers. Hawking worried about the 19th century’s fossil fuel technology causing climate change, the 20th century’s nuclear technology creating doomsday weapons, and the 21st century’s artificial intelligence and genetic engineering potential for causing human extinction. I also worry about social media misuse and microplastics pollution. Each of these technologies has dangerous applications that can drastically endanger our civilization.

CAN A BETTER FUTURE BE BUILT?

Yes. It is attainable, but we need national and international cooperation to achieve meaningful reduction of the technology threats.

GOALS FOR REDUCING THE TECHNOLOGY RISKS

1. FOSSIL FUEL TECHNOLOGY: We must reduce the burning of fossil fuels that adds CO2 to the atmosphere. That molecule captures the heat escaping Earth and sends half of it back causing GLOBAL WARMING. We must also implement the strategies to capture the CO2 that are already developed.

2. NUCLEAR WEAPONS: Even localized nuclear conflicts could fill the atmosphere with soot that leads to a nuclear winter, in which Earth is deprived of sunlight, causing crop failures and starvation. The resolution of world conflicts would eliminate any need for nuclear weapons. International treaties and cooperation are required for the strict control of fissionable material. An international treaty should be pursued to eliminate any first use of nuclear weapons and take the decision for use out of the hands of just a single individual. We need to  make the United Nations more active and effective. 

3. INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA: Warning labels need to be attached to all social media and other Internet claims that are deemed to be FALSE or MOSTLY FALSE by a nonpartisan committee of recognized experts. This could be a new function for the Library of Congress. User engagement algorithms must be regulated by new legislation to ensure that all sides of an issue are presented equally, not just the chaos and violent aspects. Compliance can be monitored by Artificial Intelligence with stiff penalties for violations.

4. GENETIC ENGINEERING: National and International regulations must be established to control what applications gene editing is allowed to perform and what organizations can employ the technology. All applications should be approved by a peer review panel. In the US, that could be a function administered by the NIH. The United Nations could add this activity for international control.

5. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: National and International  organizations are needed to formulate guardrails that protect humanity and require their inclusion in all AI entities. Regulations are needed to prevent the use of unauthorized deep fakes. Some companies already require a person’s authorization to create that person’s voice font. That should be universally required. The United Nations could add these activities for international control.

6. MICROPLASTICS AND NANOPLASTICS: Regulations must be established and enforced to eliminate the use of microplastics in all products. Some regulations have already been established in the US and European Union. Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2055, created in 2023, restricts the use of intentionally added microplastics in various products and specifies phased deadlines for other product. In addition, strategies need to be developed to clean microplastics and nanoplastics from the environment and our bodies.

BUT IT CAN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT YOU.

Join us. Here are steps you can take:

  1. REDUCE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT: walk, ride a bike, carpool, turn off lights, switch to an electric vehicle, put solar panels on your house, and plant trees.
  1. EMAIL YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES FOR ACTION: The CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY has an excellent system for automatically emailing your Senators and your House Member. Visit: https://community.citizensclimate.org/tools/write-congress#/147/.

    Just enter your address and zip code and compose your message on their form about your concerns and the actions you recommend. Press send and emails go automatically to all three.

  1. HELP SHAPE SCHOOL CURRICULA so that all young people know about the threats to civilization and the remedies they should lobby for.
  1. BE AN ACTIVIST: Join organizations, attend rallies and town hall meetings, speak out, and attend school board meetings. Encourage your children and friends to Make Earth Great Again.
  1. REACH ACROSS NATIONAL BOUNDARIESto join others worldwide to achieve the goals. Join and help create international organizations.
  1. GET THE FACTS. Read the articles in the THREATS PAGEand subscribe to my free newsletter for the facts, the science, and the opportunities to change the 100 Years clock. Click here.
  1. TELL ME WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP. I want to hear from you. Just click here, and tell me how you want to help in your community.

That’s it.

Pick at least one, and that’s all you need to do to become a more active Earthling! 

Yours, 

Peter

P.S. Follow me on Instagram here —and use the hashtag, #100YearsToExtinction to add your own post.

Scroll to Top