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Ecological crisis: Difference between revisions
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* '''Climate change''' - s''ince records began in 1880, nineteen of the twenty hottest years have occurred since 2000''<ref>NASA, Global Temperature: https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/</ref>''.'' | * '''Climate change''' - s''ince records began in 1880, nineteen of the twenty hottest years have occurred since 2000''<ref>NASA, Global Temperature: https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/</ref>''.'' | ||
*'''Biodiversity loss''' - there has been a 68% average decline in the population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish between 1970 and 2016<ref>IPBES, Media Release, Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’ May 2019. https://ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment</ref>. | *'''Biodiversity loss''' - there has been a 68% average decline in the population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish between 1970 and 2016<ref>IPBES, Media Release, Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’ May 2019. https://ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment</ref>. | ||
*'''Nitrogen cycle''' - ammonia factories supplement the enzymatic magic of microbial nitrogen fixation with the brute forces of temperature and pressure, extracting close to 100 million metric tons of nitrogen from the atmosphere each year. This results in the creation of Nitrous Oxide which is a 200 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO<sub>2</sub><ref> | *'''Nitrogen cycle''' - ammonia factories supplement the enzymatic magic of microbial nitrogen fixation with the brute forces of temperature and pressure, extracting close to 100 million metric tons of nitrogen from the atmosphere each year. This results in the creation of Nitrous Oxide which is a 200 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO<sub>2</sub><ref>Effects of Nitrogen Fertilizer Types on Nitrous Oxide Emissions. Martin Burger and Rodney T. Venterea Understanding Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agricultural Management. January 1, 2011 , 179-202 DOI:10.1021/bk-2011-1072.ch011</ref>. | ||
*'''Deforestation''' - more than half the world’s tropical forests have been destroyed since the 1960s<ref>International Union for Conservation of Nature. (2021, February). ''Deforestation and forest degradation''. <nowiki>https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/deforestation-and-forest-degradation</nowiki></ref>. | *'''Deforestation''' - more than half the world’s tropical forests have been destroyed since the 1960s<ref>International Union for Conservation of Nature. (2021, February). ''Deforestation and forest degradation''. <nowiki>https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/deforestation-and-forest-degradation</nowiki></ref>. | ||
* '''Ocean acidification''' - more CO2 in the atmosphere means more acidity in the oceans. | * '''Ocean acidification''' - more CO2 in the atmosphere means more acidity in the oceans. | ||