Ecological doom-loops: Why ecosystem collapses may occur much sooner than expected
phys.org
Around the world, rainforests are becoming savanna or farmland, savanna is drying out and turning into desert, and icy tundra is thawing. Indeed, scientific studies have now recorded "regime shifts" like these in more than 20 different types of ecosystem where tipping points have been passed. Around the world, more than 20% of ecosystems are in danger of shifting or collapsing into something different.

an ecosystem predicted to collapse in the 2090s owing to the creeping rise of a single source of stress, such as global temperatures, could, in a worst-case scenario, collapse in the 2030s once we factor in other issues like extreme rainfall, pollution, or a sudden spike in natural resource use.

There is no way to restore collapsed ecosystems within any reasonable timeframe. There are no ecological bailouts. In the financial vernacular, we will just have to take the hit.

Paper

  • ShesDayDreaming@kbin.social
    53·
    1 year ago

    I study environmental science and I can believe it, every model I’ve used all the sources I’ve used that predict have been conservative in numbers compared to what’s going on.

    The problem is we are never going to do what needs to be done because capitalism is the literal cause and the world is addicted to capitalism because none of the companies are going to do what they need to do unless it’s profitable.

    • bedrooms@kbin.social
      5·
      1 year ago

      It’s greed or commercialism. Capitalism is synonymous to them in popular discussions, but even if you picked a non-capitalist stance like communism, they’d produce greenhouse gas anyway.