Two years ago, we published a blog post that highlighted the top five pressing issues that our planet faces, and it became a foundational piece of content for students, academics, and research institutions.
In honor of this forward-thinking article, we have decided to run an updated version of it with a focus on how .Earth domain users are actively addressing critical issues that face every person on the planet. In addition, the Earth Day Network has kicked of its Earth Challenge 2020 initiative, which is the largest-ever coordinated citizen science campaign.
With the idea of the Earth Challenge 2020 in mind, here’s an update on our five pressing issues:
Pressing Issue #1 – Pollution: Air pollution, land pollution, and water pollution is increasing at an alarming rate. See how these inspiring .Earth domain users are actively addressing these issues:
- WhatYouCanDo.Earth: Designed to motivate citizens to take action to protect our planet, this organization offers these actionable steps for fighting water pollution.
- Rebellion.Earth: Extinction Rebellion has certainly made a name for itself through global activism and protests. The organization offers these articles and resources for reversing the damage from pollution.
- VUMA.Earth: As a platform to help anyone run campaigns to protect Earth, the organization currently has a campaign called #BreakFreeFromPlastic, which has over 19,000 participants.
Pressing Issue #2 – Depletion of Natural Resources: The increasing use and dependency of fossil fuels in different industries to produce energy has resulted in the depletion of natural resources. Not to mention, recent backwards thinking regarding the use of fossil fuels in some developed nations is extremely alarming. Thankfully, these .Earth domain users are making a difference:
- Uniti.Earth: This company is reinventing city transportation with its mass-market electric city car that brings a new approach to safety and sustainability. Be sure to check out our Voices.Earth podcast interview with Uniti’s CEO here.
- SolarBear.Earth: This Minnesota-based solar installation company aims to transform Native American communities through the use of renewable energy. Check out our podcast with Bob Blake, founder of SolarBear.Earth, here.
- Stand.Earth: This advocacy group best known for its “Starbucks Better Cup” campaign, Stand.Earth has also defeated a number of massive oil train terminal proposals on the West Coast of the U.S.
Pressing Issue #3 – Deforestation: Clearly, this is one of the most significant issues that face our planet today, and fortunately a wide-range of .Earth domain users are stepping up to help.
- Mossy.Earth: We are happy to shine a light on our friends at Mossy.Earth, who we partnered with for the .Earth second anniversary, where a tree was planted with every new .Earth domain that was registered in late 2017. The project reached a total of 7,000 trees planted – 500 of which were a direct result of our Mossy Earth Project. Today, Mossy.Earth is involved in expansive rewilding efforts in the Scottish Highlands, Southern Carpathians in Romania, and Côa Valley, Portugal.
- ForestWise.Earth: This company offers wild-harvested rainforest products for cosmetic applications. It also aims to protect the remaining 44 percent of the Borneo rainforest by moving away from the monoculture plantations, which are causing the most significant deforestations. Be sure to check out our recent podcast with Dirk-Jan Oudshoorn, Founder and CEO, ForestWise.Earth, here.
- PlanetAlphaForest.Earth: Planet Alpha Corporation is taking collective action to reduce carbon emissions and greenhouse gases (GHG) by developing new and innovative ways to enhance forest growth through proper planetary management.
Pressing Issue #4 – Depletion of Ozone Layer: Chlorofluorocarbons, released by numerous daily-use appliances and products, is one of the major reasons for the depletion of the ozone layer, which has resulted in global warming, and here are the voices that are helping develop solutions:
- PlanB.Earth: This organization is establishing a networked movement that supports NGOs and other organizations to enact legal action to keep everyone accountable for climate change – especially when it comes to the Paris Agreement. Listen to our insightful podcast with Tim Crosland, Director of Plan B, to feel inspired about how this organization is tackling major issues.
- CO2.Earth: This website offers daily data on global atmospheric CO2, global temperature, global emissions, and pH in seawater. Its goal is to help the public learn more about what is needed to stabilize the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.
- CUA.Earth: The Carbon Utilization Alliance is the trade association for an emerging industry that focuses on recycling carbon emissions to ultimately create negative CO2 emissions.
Pressing Issue #5 – The Sixth Extinction: The sixth extinction is a term given to loss of biodiversity, which is rapidly increasing due to human behavior on Earth. Here are some .Earth domain users helping to change this trajectory.
- Roaring.Earth: Reaching an audience of 10 million people per month – with more than one million “likes” on Facebook – Roaring.Earth publishes dozens of nature-related stories every week. The news site has also advocated for humanity to address the sixth extinction. Learn more about Roaring.Earth by reading this short case study.
- AstronomersforPlanet.Earth: This grassroots movement aims to unite astronomy students, educators, and scientists around the globe to share their astronomical perspective about the Earth and climate change with the public. Addressing the sixth mass extinction is a big part of the organization’s mission.
- Members.Earth: Our friends at Mossy.Earth also offers more than 30 guides and articles to help individuals reduce their impact on the environment on this specialized website. One of its most popular pieces of content focuses on how we can collectively stop the sixth mass extinction.
Stay tuned for more content and news around Earth 2020 this year! In addition, if you are launching an organization, campaign, on even personal blog about saving the planet, and would like your very own .Earth domain, please click here.
