Ecological crisis
Our planet is dying from over consumption. In the 1960s, humans took about three-quarters of what the planet could regenerate annually[1], by 2016 this rose to 170 percent.
We are now amidst, a 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 is not the only issue, there are actually 9 planetary boundaries (Figure 1) 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[2].
- 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[3].
- Deforestation - more than half the world’s tropical forests have been destroyed since the 1960s[4].
- Ocean acidification - more CO2 in the atmosphere means more acidity in the oceans.[5]
- Microplastics via overconsumption - posing a significant threat to the environment, including the wildlife and the ecosystem as a whole.[6]
- Climate change - since records began in 1880, nineteen of the twenty hottest years have occurred since 2000[7].
- Ozone depletion, the phosphorus cycle...
Root Cause
In the study of medicine, when a symptom develops, a bad doctor will only treat the symptoms. A good doctor will treat the symptoms whilst looking for the root cause (See Figure 3).
We are currently concentrating on the most pressing symptoms of climate change, our remedy is divesting from fossil fuels and investing in renewables however, this distracts from the other growing symptoms and reduces the collective alarm to persist and address the root cause.
Perhaps it's all too complicated and we should give up? Or is it just the nature of the machines we have invented that in order to feed us?
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future. Front. Conserv. Sci. Published on 13 January 2021, accessed on 19 June 2022 via: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2020.615419
- ↑ Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’ May 2019. https://ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Deforestation and forest degradation. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Published 2021, February. Accessed via https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/deforestation-and-forest-degradation
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 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
- ↑ NASA, Global Temperature. Live data source can be obtained via: https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/