The Second Warning to Humanity provides a clarion call for wetland researchers and practitioners given the loss and degradation of wetlands, the declining availability of fresh water, and the likely consequences of climate change. A coordinated response and approach to policies has the potential to prevent further degradation and support resilient wetlands that can provide a range of ecosystem services, including buffering wetlands from climate impacts, and avoiding major climate amplification from temperature-induced release of additional carbon dioxide and methane while addressing the causes and consequences of global climate change. The Warning to Humanity also provides an opportunity for organisations such as the Society of Wetland Scientists to raise the profile of wetlands and to initiate a discussion on how to respond and change direction from the destructive development trajectory that led to wetland loss and degradation. It also provides a signal for a reappraisal of the effectiveness of the implementation of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands as an international mechanism for ensuring the sustainability of wetlands.
1.Charles Sturt Univ, Inst Land Water & Soc, Albury, NSW, Australia 2.BSC Grp Inc, Worcester, MA USA 3.Tufts Univ, Fletcher Sch, Ctr Int Environm & Resource Policy, Medford, MA 02155 USA 4.Tufts Univ, Global Dev & Environm Inst, Medford, MA 02155 USA 5.McGill Univ, Dept Geog, Montreal, PQ, Canada 6.Woods Hole Res Ctr, Falmouth, MA USA 7.Virginia Inst Marine Sci, Coll William & Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062 USA 8.Nature Conservancy, Bethesda, MD 20814 USA 9.Univ Maryland, College Pk, MD 20740 USA
Recommended Citation:
Finlayson, C. M.,Davies, Gillian T.,Moomaw, William R.,et al. The Second Warning to Humanity - Providing a Context for Wetland Management and Policy[J]. WETLANDS,2019-01-01,39(1):1-5