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Ecological crisis: Difference between revisions
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'''Our planet is dying from over consumption.''' '''In the 1960s, humans took about three-quarters of what the planet could regenerate annually'''<ref name=":1">'''Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future'''. Front. Conserv. Sci. Published on 13 January 2021, accessed on 19 June 2022 via: [https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2020.615419/full https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2020.615419]</ref>''', by 2016 this rose to 170 percent.''' | '''Our planet is dying from over consumption.''' '''In the 1960s, humans took about three-quarters of what the planet could regenerate annually'''<ref name=":1">'''Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future'''. Front. Conserv. Sci. Published on 13 January 2021, accessed on 19 June 2022 via: [https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2020.615419/full https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2020.615419]</ref>''', by 2016 this rose to 170 percent.''' | ||
We are now amidst''',''' a [[Ecological Crisis Timeline|great race]] between how fast we can get to a [[social tipping point]] versus the time it takes to reach a [[global ecological tipping point]]. [[CO2|CO<sub>2</sub>]] is not the only issue (see '''Figure 1'''), there are actually 9 planetary boundaries ('''Figure 2''') and we have already transgressed five: | We are now amidst''',''' a [[Ecological Crisis Timeline|great race]] between how fast we can get to a [[social tipping point]] to curb human activity versus the time it takes to reach a [[global ecological tipping point]]. [[CO2|CO<sub>2</sub>]] is not the only issue (see '''Figure 1'''), there are actually 9 planetary boundaries ('''Figure 2''') and we have already transgressed five: | ||
*'''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>'''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>'''Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’''' May 2019. https://ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment</ref>. | ||
*'''Nitrogen cycle''' - ammonia factories (used for water purification, plastics, fabrics, pesticides and dyes) 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 200 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than [[CO2|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 [https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bk-2011-1072.ch011 DOI:10.1021/bk-2011-1072.ch011]</ref>. | *'''Nitrogen cycle''' - ammonia factories (used for water purification, plastics, fabrics, pesticides and dyes) 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 200 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than [[CO2|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 [https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bk-2011-1072.ch011 DOI:10.1021/bk-2011-1072.ch011]</ref>. | ||
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* '''Ocean acidification''' - more [[CO2|CO<sub>2</sub>]] in the atmosphere means more acidity in the oceans<ref>'''Ocean acidification''' - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce. Last updated April 1, 2020, accessed on 1 May 2023 via [https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-acidification - https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-acidification]</ref>. | * '''Ocean acidification''' - more [[CO2|CO<sub>2</sub>]] in the atmosphere means more acidity in the oceans<ref>'''Ocean acidification''' - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce. Last updated April 1, 2020, accessed on 1 May 2023 via [https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-acidification - https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-acidification]</ref>. | ||
* '''Microplastics via overconsumption''' - ''posing a significant threat to the environment, including the wildlife and the ecosystem as a whole''<ref name=":0">'''Avoiding a ‘Ghastly Future’:''' Yale Environment 360: Hard Truths on the State of the Planet. Accessed on 3rd March 2022 via:https://e360.yale.edu/features/avoiding-a-ghastly-future-hard-truths-on-the-state-of-the-planet</ref>. | * '''Microplastics via overconsumption''' - ''posing a significant threat to the environment, including the wildlife and the ecosystem as a whole''<ref name=":0">'''Avoiding a ‘Ghastly Future’:''' Yale Environment 360: Hard Truths on the State of the Planet. Accessed on 3rd March 2022 via:https://e360.yale.edu/features/avoiding-a-ghastly-future-hard-truths-on-the-state-of-the-planet</ref>. | ||
* '''Climate change''' - s''ince records began in 1880, nineteen of the twenty hottest years have occurred since 2000''<ref>'''NASA, Global Temperature'''. Live data source can be obtained via: 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'''. Live data source can be obtained via: https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/</ref>''. More recently, the 7 hottest days on Earth in the last 100,000+ years all happened in the first week of July 2023''<ref>'''Climate Reanalyser dataset''', Climate Change Institute, University of Maine: Two meter temperature world Graph. https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/t2_daily/</ref>''.'' | ||
*'''Ozone depletion, the phosphorus cycle...''' | *'''Ozone depletion, the phosphorus cycle...''' | ||