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Science sets limits on environmental degradation, but humans have already exceeded them

  • May 31, 2023
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Science has established for the first time what limits to safety and justice should not go beyond the main indicators of environmental degradation; and concluded that some of

Science sets limits on environmental degradation, but humans have already exceeded them

Science has established for the first time what limits to safety and justice should not go beyond the main indicators of environmental degradation; and concluded that some of these red lines have already been crossed and many impacts on human well-being are now inevitable.

So, scientists have set a “safe” limit of 1.5 degrees, above which the average temperature of the earth should not rise in order to avoid the high probability of multiple climatic inflections; which hasn’t been cracked yet. But it sets a limit that is considered “fair” at 1 degree to avoid being heavily impacted by the significant damage caused by climate change; this one is already hacked.

Called by the international organization Future Earth, the fifty researchers who make up the Earth Commission, an international platform of scientists who collaborate for a more sustainable world, published their findings in the journal Nature today and point to the thresholds that should not be crossed in order to protect a planet capable of sustaining the well-being of mankind.

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The limits that scientists call “safe” are those that guarantee stable and sustainable conditions on Earth; “fair” are those that minimize human exposure to the most significant harm (for example, loss of life, forced displacement, loss of food or resources such as water, food security, or chronic disease).

SAFE AND FAIR WEATHER LIMITS

In addition to climate, the researchers have established these “safe” and “fair” limits also in terms of biodiversity, fresh water and various types of air, soil or water pollution and have concluded that in most cases they have been overcome and that people are taking on ” colossal” risks and threaten the stability and sustainability of the planet.

They argue, for example, that 50 to 60 percent of global nature should remain intact (unrealized both in terms of security and justice); the percentage change in surface water flow should not exceed 20 percent (non-compliance); or that groundwater use should not exceed the capacity to recharge aquifers (also compromised from both a safety and equity point of view).

Among the fifty researchers from around the world who took part in the work is researcher Noealia Zafra from the Spanish Basque Center for Climate Change (BC3), who highlighted the relevance of this study, as scientific studies of biophysical limits have been carried out. outside the Earth since the seventies of the 20th century, but for the first time calculations are made that include “intra- and intergenerational social justice and with all living beings on Earth.”

In EFE statements, Zafra was exhaustive, arguing that many of these limits have already been exceeded and that some of the consequences of this will be irreversible, but also that “the most important thing now is to know that it is necessary to work, and a lot, so that the consequences of exceeding these limits were as negative as possible.


And it intends, in addition to strict adherence to the Paris Agreement on countering the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis, to promote new social agreements “much wider and on all scales – from global to local – in order to implement all necessary measures in an honest way.”

SYSTEMS DETERMINING THE CAPABILITY OF THE EARTH

The paper presents for the first time quantifiable numbers and a solid scientific basis for assessing the health of the planet, not only in terms of stability and sustainability, but also in terms of human well-being, fairness and justice, emphasized Swedish researcher Johan Rockström in the publication, co-chairman of the Earth Commission, leading author and director of the Research Institute for Climate Impacts in Potsdam, Germany.

“We cannot have a biophysically secure planet without equity; this includes setting fair targets to prevent significant harm and ensure people have access to resources, and fair transformations to achieve those goals,” said Joyita Gupta, co-chair of the Land Commission and professor at the University of Amsterdam.

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The researchers’ paper concludes that the Earth system is in danger and that global goals focus on climate change and limiting global warming, but emphasizes that all scientific evidence clearly shows that all other systems and biophysical processes need to be managed. which determine the habitability of the planet.

The researchers concluded that the safe and fair transformation of the planet into a governance requires urgent collective action by many actors, especially governments and companies that must act within the Earth system to keep the planet’s life support system intact, the researchers concluded and warned that governance is global. a legacy “has never been more urgent or important.”

Source: Aristegui Noticias

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