We have lived for 250 years embracing the values of the Enlightenment, guided by the ideal of using reason to improve human prosperity. By “reason,” we mean open decision-making, the study of science, history, and the objective evaluation, as much as possible, of ideas and facts. To assess the effectiveness of the age of reason, we can compare the developments over the last 250 years in various dimensions of human prosperity. Life expectancy data show that, historically around 30 years, today it is over 70 worldwide and exceeds 80 in developed countries. Infant mortality, which in the past caused the death of a third of children before the age of five, is now 4% worldwide. Famines, once common, have been drastically reduced and mostly occur in war zones. Extreme poverty, affecting about 90% of the world’s population 200 years ago, is now less than 9%. Wars have decreased, torture has been reduced, slavery is not legal anywhere in the world, and the homicide rate has drastically decreased. Literacy, which only affected 10% of the world’s population a few hundred years ago, is now close to 90%, especially considering people under 25. Looking at these data, it seems that the adoption of Enlightenment ideals, with reason as a guide, has significantly contributed to the prosperity of humanity, or at least a good part of it. However, despite these successes, there is a general concern for the future, as all countries, regardless of the political system, seem to be moving irresponsibly towards common challenges facing humanity.

A 7-year study conducted by 80 scientists from 16 nations, recently published in the prestigious scientific journal “Science,” reveals that the current concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the highest in the last 14 million years and has doubled since the pre-industrial era. During the research, the carbon dioxide concentration of the last 66 million years was reconstructed, highlighting that during the peak of the Eocene thermal maximum, CO2 reached 1600 ppm, four times the current level. At that time, the average global temperature was about 12-13 °C higher than today, around 28-29 °C. The 1600 ppm level was reached over a period of emission lasting about 30/50,000 years, with an average emission of 0.24 billion tons (Gt) of carbon per year. This is in stark contrast to current human activities emitting 35 Gt/year, a much faster pace. The research highlights the significant gap between past natural processes and contemporary human activities, indicating a worrying acceleration of climate change. While the Earth experienced a temperature increase of about 5 °C in 10,000 years, we are now facing an increase of 1°C in less than 100 years. The speed at which these changes occur is a cause for serious concern, drawing attention to the urgent need to address issues related to climate change.

While measurements from the Copernicus observatory have confirmed that 2023 was the hottest year since systematic data collection began, the 198 participants in the UN Cop28 climate conference in Dubai reached an ineffective compromise on actions to reduce the use of fossil fuels, responsible for the majority of the temperature increase. No binding commitments were made for a drastic reduction of fossil sources; if a “transition away from fossil fuels” is hoped for, the final document does not specify binding commitments, a deadline for achieving the vaguely stated goals was not set, and it was not established who should monitor the adoption of effective measures. Fossil-producing countries are unwilling to accept stringent commitments that would have led to net zero global emissions by 2050 to limit the temperature increase to the already critical limit of 1.5 degrees. Global emissions will increase by another 2% this year, while to limit the warming increase, a cut of over 40% in emissions by 2030 is necessary. The unsolved, and perhaps unsolvable, problem is that the economic growth of many emerging countries, especially China and India, will result in an even greater increase in emissions, considering that the United States and Canada are the top countries for per capita emissions. There is indeed a clear relationship between per capita GDP and per capita CO2 emissions that can only be changed by altering energy supply sources. What experts considered an insurmountable limit is already out of reach, and we are heading towards an increase of more than three degrees by the end of the century. Unfortunately, Cop28 has certified the end of the “age of reason,” which perhaps has always highlighted only the positive aspect, while the final bill is starting to be paid now.