Editorial

EDITORIAL

ANNUAL EDITION / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022

The Choice is Ours to Make

As the world steps out of the darkness of 2021 and steps into 2022, we find ourselves wishing that the worst is behind us and things will now ‘return to normal’. Why this retrograde wish? Humankind evolves and there is no ‘return’ to any state called ‘normal’ because normal itself evolves — hopefully for the better. Looking back for a moment at the year before COVID struck, was that state desirable and acceptable? The world was hurtling towards an unsustainable future with global warming and climate change. That a tiny virus, which somehow managed to make the jump from bats to humans via an unidentified intermediary, would make this journey extra challenging was never expected — except by a few concerned epidemiologists.

However, the pandemic did show some unexpectedly pleasant outcomes too. As human activities came to a crashing halt, the skies cleared, pollution receded, global warming slowed down, and animals returned to their homes that had earlier been rudely taken away from them in the name of development. This shows that all is not lost.

However, the future is uncertain, as exemplified by COP26 outcomes. The goal is to achieve about 50 percent reduction in emissions by 2030 to limit warming by 1.5ºC, in line with the Paris Agreement aims. Can it be done?

The Boston Consulting Group suggests industry “make bold moves, embed the climate transition, and accelerate change through ecosystems”. It further adds: “Monitor developments in climate tracking and reporting, carbon markets, voice of civil society, and adaptation.”

McKinsey also has suggestions for an orderly transition to a net-zero situation. The company names nine requirements to solve the net-zero equation, which include, among others, technical innovation, collaboration among public-private- and social-sector leaders globally, and support from citizens and consumers.

Thus, there is hope that there will be a newer version of ‘normal’, exemplified by the cover of the National Geographic magazine, January 2022, depicting a health worker standing on a hillside in Kashmir in personal protection gear, holding a cold box of vaccines, and looking into the distance searching for nomadic shepherds Prof. Arup Dasgupta who he has to vaccinate. Managing Editor arup@geospatialworld.net This picture tells a remarkable story of vaccines developed, tested, and cleared for human use within a year of the start of the pandemic. It tells of rapid manufacture worldwide, and its distribution to the remotest corners of countries, and the dedication of the persons at the end of the chain. This is an example of how technology has helped humanity — in metropolises, cities, towns, villages, and even people without a fixed address. Satellites and drones and IoT will continue to create a flood of data using Cloud services, and applications will use artificial intelligence and Big Data analytics to implement technological advances in information systems for agriculture, water, Smart Cities, Digital Twins, and all the rest. At the same time, the challenge will be to address the needs of each person individually or in very small groups. The technology to achieve this is available today. Of course, there is an alternate dystopian view that humans will venture forth to newer worlds and colonize the planets using the Moon as a jump-off point. They will leave Carl Sagan’s Blue Dot a wasteland populated by Wall-Es and other non-biological ‘intelligent’ machines. Maybe the lesson from planet Earth will be finally learnt, or maybe further technological advances will be achieved that will enable the conquest of other planetary systems in the Universe! The direction the world will take will be determined by what steps the governments, industries, and citizens take in 2022 and beyond. The choice is ours to make.