Declining biodiversity, changing weather patterns and global warming are just three of numerous threats to human security; through them we may find unity. Crowdsourcing can help the international community collaborate to combat the issues that threaten our society.
National Research Defense Council's (NRDC's) "Beat the Heat: Fight Global Warming One Person at a Time" and "Its Your Nature" programs are interactive ways for everyone to share their stories, read others' or offer solutions to these sorts of human security issues. Beat the Heat hosts an interactive map where US residents can confer about global warming issues they encounter and pose answers to them. The website has titled the US the "leading global warming polluter" and the organization has accomplished such things as suing the US Navy to prevent the unnecessary murder of marine mammals by means of hi-frequency sonar.
Other Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) such as the International Agency For Research on Cancer (IARC) exemplify how the global community unites to find scientific cures for threats to human health. There are forums for people with stories about AIDS and Cancer but, beyond that, these NGO's provide a forum for collective knowledge and Research. They collaborate with the WHO to maximize capabilities. Not everyone can help cure cancer, but we can support the cause and spread the word!
The first reading from Wired entitled "The Rise of Crowdsourcig" discussed the science forum for people to compete to solve company's problems. InnoCentive is great because companies pay much less for the information and people can make a big bonus if they have the knowledge. Retired scientists and chemistry whizzes who never finished their degree can make money off their seemingly fruitless talents through this symbiotic relationship. This relates back to the IARC as it practiceses this same tactic except on a higher level. NGOs make money off donations as well, so they can pay scientists even more. InnoCentive is for scientists with a little less education than those hired to cure AIDS and Cancer.
LibriVOX also helps form this "Great Ball of Knowledge". It is not only a way for people to share great literature; it is also a symbol and model for recording and distributing history. This way we can only build further on those generations past and collectively gain knowledge as a global society. With Citizen Journalism, we are writing an Oral History of our era; one by the people and which is not written by the elite. This history is written and/or recorded by you and me.
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