The Earth is no longer a safe space for humanity: “The planet is losing the power of resistance”

Earth overtakes “A safe workspace for humanity” In six of nine key measures of your health, two of the remaining three are trending in the wrong direction, according to a new study.

he climatethe Biodiversitythe Landhe water drinkable, pollution By “new” nutrients and chemicals (man-made compounds such as microplastics and nuclear waste) found on Earth out of control, This was stated by a group of international scientists to the journal Science Advances in its Wednesday issue. According to the study, ocean acidity, air health, and the ozone layer are only within limits considered safe, and ocean and air pollution are heading in the wrong direction.

“We are in a very bad situation,” said Johan Rockström, co-author of the study and director of the Institute for Climate Impact Research in Potsdam, Germany. “We show in this analysis that the planet is losing its ability to resist and that the patient is sick.”

In 2009, Rockstrom and other researchers created nine different large border regions and used scientific measurements to judge the health of the Earth as a whole. Wednesday’s study was an update to the 2015 study and added a sixth factor to the insecure category. Rockstrom explained that the water has gone from barely safe to an off-limits area due to the worsening river flow and improved measurements and understanding of the problem.

These limits “determine the fate of the planet,” said climate scientist Rockstrom. He said the nine factors have been “scientifically proven” by numerous outside studies.

If Earth could control these nine factors, it could be relatively safe. But that is not the case, he said.

In most cases, the team uses other peer-reviewed studies to create measurable thresholds for the safe limit. For example, they use 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the air, instead of the 1.5 degrees (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) that temperatures have risen since the pre-industrial era set out in the Paris climate agreement. This year, carbon in the air peaked at 424 parts per million.

The nine factors are intertwined. When the team used computer simulations, they found that worsening one factor, such as climate or biodiversity, degraded other aspects of the Earth’s environment, while correcting one factor helped the others. Rockstrom said this was a simulated stress test for the planet.

The simulations showed “that one of the most powerful means available to humanity to combat climate change” is to clear its lands and save its forests, according to the study. The study suggests that returning forests to late 20th century levels would provide important natural sinks for storing carbon dioxide rather than air, which traps heat.

Biodiversity – the amount and types of living species – is one of the most concerning It does not receive as much attention as other issues, such as climate changeRockstrom said.

“Biodiversity is critical to keeping the carbon cycle and water cycle intact,” Rockstrom said. “The biggest headache we have today is the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis.”

Dean of Environmental Studies at the University of Michigan, Jonathan Overbeck, who was not involved in the study, commented: “It is very disturbing because of its effects on the planet and people should be concerned.

“The analysis is balanced in the sense that it raises a flashing red alarm, but it is not overly alarming,” Overbeek said. “Most importantly, there is hope.”

fact that Ozone Layer Being the only agent for improvement shows that when the world and its leaders decide to acknowledge a problem and act on it, it is possible to solve it and “there are often things we know how to do” to improve the problems that remain, he said. Neil Donahue, professor of chemistry and environment from Carnegie Mellon University.

Some biodiversity scientists, such as Stuart Pym of Duke University, have long questioned Rockstrom’s methods and measurements, saying they render the results worthless.

But Granger Morgan, a professor of environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University who was not involved in the study, said:“Experts don’t agree on exactly where the boundaries lie, or how much the planet’s different systems will interact, but we are getting dangerously close.”

“I’ve often said that if we don’t quickly reduce the way we press the ground, we’ll be toast,” Morgan said in an email. “This article says we are likely to be elites.”

(With information from AP)