Climate change campaigner holds sign.
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Human actions threaten the stability and stability of the Earth’s biosphere. This has a major impact on the development of civilization, says an international group of researchers in a report published for the first Nobel Prize Gathering, a digital gathering to be held in April to discuss the state of the planet after COVID-19 pandemic. The panel will address two pressing questions: What can we learn from the global pandemic to reduce the risk of future accidents? And what can be achieved in this decade to set the world on a path to a more sustainable, richer future for all of humanity?
“Humanity is now the main force of change on planet Earth,” according to the analysis published in Ambio, a journal of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences.
“The risks we are taking are staggering,” said co-author Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and co-author of the study. “We are at the beginning of what needs to be a transformational decade. The Nobel Prize Gathering is truly a scientific community shouting ‘Wake Up!’
In one human life, largely since the 1950s, we have simplified the biosphere, a system of interactions between life forms and the Earth that has evolved over 3.8 billion years. Now, only a few plants and animals are gaining control of the land and oceans, ”said lead author Carl Folke, director of the Beijer Institute for Ecological Economics and chairman of the Stockholm Resilience Center at Stockholm University. “Our actions make the biosphere more fragile, more stable and more prone to vibration than ever before. Human beings must be efficient planetary stewards. Approximately 96% of mammals weigh us ourselves and our livestock, such as cattle, sheep and pigs. Only 4% of wild mammals such as elephants, buffaloes or dolphins. “
The report summarizes recent research on the scale of human activity: “Seventy-five percent of the Earth’s ice-free land has changed directly as a result of human activity, with nearly 90% of production bare ground net and 80% of global tree cover under direct human influence. “
Humans use most natural geo-resources, such as minerals, rocks, soil and water. Water is stored or diverted, and soil and sediments are cultivated, excavated, transported and recirculated, influencing global sediment patterns. Burning fossil fuels has altered the chemistry of the atmosphere with catastrophic effects on temperature and precipitation patterns.
Rising greenhouse gas emissions mean that “within the next 50 years, one to 3 billion people are expected to have a living condition that is outside the climate of the service climate to civilizations well over the past 6,000 years, ”as population and climate play out, according to the report’s summary.
Co-author Line Gordon, director of the Stockholm Sustainability Center, says, “This is a decisive decade for humanity. In this decade we need to bend the loops of greenhouse gas emissions and the terrible loss of biodiversity. ‘means transforming what we eat and how we cultivate it, among many other changes. “
“Anthropocene is a global pandemic. It is caused by our interconnected relationship with nature and our interconnectedness. But the pandemic crisis opens up the opportunity to change the course of history. It is a moment to accelerate action to stabilize the Earth for future generations, “says Folke.
Instead of listing well-known solutions such as wind power, solar or plant-based diets, the researchers address the obstacles to progress. Two of the biggest barriers are levels of inequality and unsustainable technology that undermine social goals. There is a demand for new reports that reconnect development with the biosphere, the authors say.
Co-author Victor Galaz, deputy director of the Stockholm Rehabilitation Center, says, “As the pressure of human activity accelerates on Earth, so too, it is hoped that technologies such as artificial intelligence will be able to help deal with danger. climate change and environment. However, that will not happen if we work hard in ways that redirect technological change towards planetary stewardship and accountable innovation. “
The report concludes that inequality and environmental challenges are closely linked. Reducing inequality increases trust within societies. Trust is crucial for governments to make long-term decisions, the report argues. Social media and access to reliable experiences have also been identified as a barrier to progress.