Living in a global environmental emergency ward – the need to address problems with science, action and speed

EDITORIAL Living in a global environmental emergency ward -the need to address problems with science, action and speedWelcome to the new Issue of the PNSIS.This piece is being written at the end of the summer, midway through another hurricane season in the Maritimes and this one purported to be noteworthy.So far, three storms have barreled up the Atlantic coast, with post-tropical storm Lee hitting us directly and with more predicted to come.This follows several months of unsettled weather, resulting in Nova Scotia being marred by wildfires, excessive rain, unusual and tragic flooding, and a slow recovery from last years, massive subtropical storm Fiona.Wildfires continue in Quebec and out west in Alberta, BC and the NWT, causing people to evacuate and resulting in enormous loss of forests, homes and other community infrastructure.It has made Canadians across the country, especially residents of Nova Scotia, much more aware of extreme weather events and the changing climate, and wondering what the future holds for their descendants.During times of reflection about such issues, the environment in general, and with my head in an excellent autobiography penned by a distinguished environmental biologist (Ehrlich 2023), it appears as though we are currently living in an environmental emergency ward, the patients (forests, waters, coastal and ocean ecosystems, wildlife, our homes and communities, us!) coming in faster than they can be diagnosed, stabilized and treated.Although the gravity of these events may be accentuated by the 24 hour news cycle, it is clear that the problems we face are real, serious and a bit overwhelming.Throughout much of my career as a marine environmental scientist, I have felt that based on the facts, humanity is in a dire environmental situation.This was predicted by some but until recently, not generally recognized.My first wake-up call to the challenges was as a young zoology graduate student involved in a global population conference in Fall,1968 (Regier and Falls 1969).It alerted me to the population explosion that was occurring throughout the 20th century (3.45 billion in 1968, now 8 billion in 2022), with many implications for society.Soon afterwards, I read the literature on global issues of concern

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