Earth is quite sick: Scientists warn that humans are risking civilisation’s future

The report by the Earth Commission, an international group of leading natural and social experts, warned that humans are taking colossal risks with the future of civilisation

Hyderabad: According to a study that was published in the journal ‘Nature’, Earth is in danger zone since it has exceeded seven of the eight scientifically determined safety limits and is now steadily approaching tipping points.

The report by the Earth Commission, an international group of leading natural and social experts, warned that humans are taking colossal risks with the future of civilisation and everything that lives on the Earth.

---

Research states that Anthropocene is a newly proposed geological epoch where human pressures have pushed the Earth system on a trajectory moving rapidly away from the stable system.

Researchers examined the climate, air pollution, phosphorus and nitrogen contamination of water from fertilizer overuse, groundwater supplies, fresh surface water, the unbuilt natural environment, and the overall natural and human-built environment. Only air pollution wasn’t quite at the danger point globally.

“We are in a danger zone for most of the Earth system boundaries,” said Kristie Ebi, one of the co-authors of the study and a professor of climate and public health at the University of Washington. If planet Earth just got an annual checkup, similar to a person’s physical, “our doctor would say that the Earth is really quite sick right now and it is sick in terms of many different areas”.

The team said that science clearly shows there is a need to manage all the other biophysical systems and processes on Earth that determine the livability of the planet. Given that the current rate of climate change is already harming tens of millions of people, the globe reportedly has already passed the safe and just climatic threshold, which is set at 1 degree Celsius over pre-industrial temperatures.

The planet can recover if it changes, including its use of coal, oil, and natural gas and the way it treats the land and water, the study stated.

The team of about 40 scientists created quantifiable boundaries for each environmental category, both for what’s safe for the planet and for the point at which it becomes harmful for groups of people, which the researchers termed a justice issue.