Jakarta –
Scientists state that the Earth has exceeded the limits of being a safe place for humans or out of habitability standards. This is related to the many problems faced, such as pollution, depletion of the ozone layer, and climate change.
In research published in the journal Science Advancesan international team of 29 experts found that the Earth is now starting to fall outside its habitable standards due to human activity.
Quoted from Reuters, it is known that the Earth has now passed six of the nine “planetary boundaries” or safe limits for human life in various fields such as the integrity of the biosphere, climate change, and the use and availability of clean water.
Overall, eight of the nine borders were under greater pressure than in the 2015 assessment.
Launching the magazine page TIMECurrently, only the acidity of the oceans, the health of the air, and the ozone layer in the sky are improving and considered safe, raising the risk of dramatic changes to living conditions on Earth.
“We are in very bad shape. We show in this analysis that the planet is losing its resilience and the patients are getting sick,” said study co-author Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.
The Earth is No Longer Safe
According to Rockstrom, the limits of measuring the health of the Earth determine the fate of nine factors that have been carried out scientifically. If Earth can manage these nine factors, Earth can be relatively safe.
But in fact, Rockstrom says Earth is starting to become unsafe. To prove this, in most cases, teams of scientists use peer-reviewed science to find out measurable thresholds for safety.
For example, by using 350 parts per million carbon dioxide as the level in the air instead of the 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit warming according to the Paris climate agreement. This year carbon dioxide in the air increased at 424 parts per million.
The nine factors used are mixed with each other. When the team used computer simulations, they found that if one factor worsens, such as climate or biodiversity, then Earth’s other environmental problems could decline. Meanwhile, other factors need to be improved.
Saving Forests
According to studies, one of the ways humans have to deal with climate change which is getting worse on Earth is to save forests.
Scientists say that by improving forests in the late 20th century, there would be a natural sink for carbon dioxide.
This is also in line with concerns about increasing deforestation, consumption of plants for fuel, and the proliferation of plastics and chemicals.
Apart from that, according to Rockstrom, biodiversity issues receive less attention than other problems, even though these problems are just as important.
“Biodiversity is very important to maintain the carbon and water cycles. The biggest problems we are experiencing are the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis,” said Rockstrom.
On the other hand, scientists also explain that the current rate of species extinction is estimated to be ten times faster than in the last 10 million years. This indicates that the Earth has passed a safe limit for biodiversity.
Jonathan Overpeck, dean of environmental studies at the University of Michigan, said this latest research has huge implications for the Earth and people should be worried about it.
“This analysis is balanced because it provides a warning. The important thing is that there is still hope,” explained Overpeck.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, the boundary measurements carried out by Rockstrom also received objections from biodiversity scientists, Duke Stuart Pimm and Granger Morgan from Carnegie Mellon environmental engineering.
Pimm stated that Rockstrom’s measurements did not provide much value. Meanwhile, Morgan stated that experts did not agree with Rockstrom’s limits.
“Experts don’t agree on what the boundaries are, or how much the planet’s systems interact, but we’re getting closer,” Morgan said.
Even so, Morgan still said that the condition of the Earth was very worrying. If it is compared, it is very likely that we (humans) are burnt toast.
Watch the video “The Pope is the solution to overcoming Earth’s climate change”
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2023-09-20 11:30:26
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