Our Planet in Peril: How Earth's health is declining in seven of eight major parameters

Mother Earth is in danger. According to a ground-breaking study, human activity has placed the world in danger—not just for a warming planet that is losing its natural areas, but also for the health of those who live on it. Beyond climate change, the Earth Commission study provides alarming evidence that rapid changes are undermining social and economic systems based on unsustainable resource exploitation and consumption and are driving the Earth towards irreversible destabilisation. The study, which was released in Nature on Wednesday, is the most comprehensive effort yet to link indicators of human welfare with key markers of planetary health. Let’s take a closer look. What does the study say? According to the study, in practically every area, the situation is critical. Setting global standards is difficult. “We are in a danger zone for most of the Earth system boundaries,” said study co-author Kristie Ebi, a professor of climate and public health at the University of Washington. Air pollution is dangerous at local and regional levels, while the climate was beyond the harmful levels for humans in groups but not quite past the safety guideline for the planet as a system, the study from the Swedish group said, according to Associated Press. [caption id=“attachment_12676992” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A swan stands between dumped plastic bottles and waste at the Danube river in Belgrade, Serbia. AP[/caption] The study found “hotspots” of problem areas throughout Eastern Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, parts of Africa and much of Brazil, Mexico, China and some of the US West — much of it from climate change. About two-thirds of Earth don’t meet the criteria for freshwater safety, scientists said as an example. In terms of the climate, the world has already set a goal to reduce global warming to 1.5C (2.7F) below pre-industrial levels. The world has so far warmed about 1.1 degrees Celsius (two degrees Fahrenheit), so it hasn’t crossed that safety fence, study lead author Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, and Joyeeta Gupta, the Earth Commission co-chair and professor of environment and development in the global south at the University of Amsterdam, said, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t being hurt. “What we are trying to show through our paper is that even at one degree Centigrade (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) there is a huge amount of damage taking place,” Gupta said, pointing to tens of millions of people exposed to extremely hot temperatures. The planetary safety guardrail of 1.5 degrees hasn’t been breached, but the “just” boundary where people are hurt of one degree has been. Because many people are already suffering greatly from the intense heat, droughts, and floods that occur with the current level of approximately 1.2 degrees Celsius, the Earth Commission notes that this is a dangerous threshold. The situation is even worse for groundwater systems because the safe limit is that aquifers do not run dry before they can be refilled. However, the world’s river basins are depleting at an alarming rate of 47 per cent of them. Cities with high populations, like Mexico City, and regions with heavy agriculture, like the North China Plain, struggle with this issue greatly, The Guardian reported. The only category of pollutants where this limit has not been exceeded is aerosol pollutants, which gathers from factories, coal, oil, and gas power plants, and automobile emissions. Rockstrom said, “It is an attempt to do an interdisciplinary science assessment of the entire people-planet system, which is something we must do given the risks we face. We have reached what I call a saturation point where we hit the ceiling of the biophysical capacity of the Earth system to remain in its stable state. We are approaching tipping points, we are seeing more and more permanent damage of life-support systems at the global scale.” Gupta, added, “Our doctor would say the Earth is really quite sick right now in many areas. And this is affecting the people living on Earth. We must not just address symptoms, but also the causes.” The analysis is intended to serve as the scientific foundation for the next generation of sustainability targets and practises, which go beyond the current emphasis on climate to include other indices and environmental justice. The Earth Commission was founded by dozens of the world’s top research institutions. It anticipates that businesses and communities will use the targets to gauge the effectiveness of their operations. Also read: The countries most vulnerable to climate change: Where does India stand? What can be done? A safe and just climate target, according to the researchers, is one degree Celsius, which would necessitate a significant effort to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They observe that maintaining the climate is difficult without safeguarding ecosystems. The “safe and just” barrier is set at having largely natural ecosystems occupy between 50 and 60 per cent of the planet. However, approximately 45–50 per cent of the planet’s biosphere is actually intact. [caption id=“attachment_12677002” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Villagers gather during a visit by United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths, in the village of Lomoputh in northern Kenya. AP[/caption] According to the commission, in order to maintain ecosystem services like pollination, water quality regulation, pest and disease control, and the health and mental health benefits provided by access to nature, at least 20 to 25 per cent of the land in human-altered areas like farms, cities, and industrial parks must be set aside for semi-natural habitats like parks, allotments, and groups of trees. But around two-thirds of transformed landscapes fall short of this objective. The report also aims at reducing the imbalance between the northern and southern hemispheres’ aerosol concentrations, which has the potential to affect weather patterns like the monsoon season, according to The Guardian. At a local level, the report adopts the World Health Organization’s decision to set a limit of 15 micrograms per cubic metre of mean annual exposure to PM2.5, a type of fine particulate matter that can harm the heart and lungs. Given that many of them are concentrated in vulnerable places, poorer, frequently predominately black communities frequently suffer the harshest outcomes in this situation. The standard for surface water is that no catchment area should have more than 20 per cent of the flow of rivers and streams impeded since this results in poor water quality and habit loss for freshwater species. Hydroelectric dams, drainage systems, and development have already beyond this “safe boundary” on a third of the world’s territory. Farmers in more affluent nations are spraying more nitrogen and phosphorus than the plants and soil can take in, which is another issue with nutrients. While yields are momentarily increased, runoff into water systems causes algal blooms that make the water unsafe for humans to consume. The key, according to the paper, is global equity. Rich countries need to reduce their excess fertiliser use, while poorer countries need to increase their use. In this instance, the “safe and just boundary” is a worldwide surplus of 61 million tonnes of nitrogen and roughly 6 million tonnes of phosphorus. The time for a cure is running out, but the authors claim that while the planetary diagnosis is dire, it is not yet beyond hope. The Guardian quoted another commission member and the director of coastal seas research and development in the Indian Ocean, David Obura, as saying that the objectives of pre-existing UN climate and biodiversity agreements already provided the policy foundation for returning to safe borders. But he emphasised that dietary decisions also needed to be crucial. “There are a number of medicines we can take, but we also need lifestyle changes – less meat, more water, and a more balanced diet,” he said, adding, “It is possible to do it. Nature’s regenerative powers are robust… but we need a lot more commitment.” With inputs from The Associated Press Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.