WORLD REPORT • SUSTAINABILITY

HUMANS ARE PUTTING LIFE ON PLANET EARTH UNDER SIEGE

Each day on our television screens hundreds of millions of people from all parts of the world watch as bombs and artillery explode in Ukraine, Gaza and Israel, tearing buildings apart and killing men, women and, more tragically even children. Instead of pursuing war and slaughtering thousands of people around the world, we should be focusing on the current impact humans have on planet earth.

BY Fr Sean McDonagh SSC | ECO-THEOLOGIAN, IRELAND

AN INTERNATIONAL group of scientists recently published a report in the magazine BioScience which states that “the Earth’s ‘vital signs’ are the worst in any time in human history” (Carrington: October 25). This is an astonishing and shocking claim, especially when a similar study in 2019 was endorsed by over 15 000 scientists and came to the same conclusion.

Alarming climate data

Professor Willaim Ripple from the Oregon State University (OSU), is one of the authors of the report (Hale). He states that “life on our planet is under siege.” In 2023 for example, climate records have been broken by enormous margins right across the globe. July 2023 was the warmest month ever and to date the year 2023 has been the hottest recorded on the planet in 100 000 years. Today, warmer oceans are causing serious melting of the ice in the western Antarctic. A new study has shown that, if the western Antarctic continues to melt, the level of the oceans would increase by 5 metres (Carrington: October 24). If this happens within a century or two, millions of people who live in coastal cities like Cork, New York, Mumbai, London and Shanghai will have to find shelter elsewhere. Analysis of this data shows that the rate of melting of floating ice in western Antarctica has been three times faster during this century than it was in the 20th century (Carrington: October 24).

The warming of the oceans is also causing the destruction of many species. The record loss of sea ice in Antarctica in 2022 caused a mass die-off of emperor penguin chicks because the sea ice melted in mid-November, forcing penguins to abandon the colony. If this trend continues, the world’s largest penguin will soon face extinction (Luhn).

Whether we will achieve the goal of addressing climate change is doubtful. In March- April 2023, wild fires in Canada demolished 10 million hectares of forest and pumped one giga-ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This is significantly more than Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions of 0.67 giga-tons in 2021 (OSU).

Over-exploitation of resources

There has evidently not been enough effort to address the fact that humans are taking more from the earth than it can safely give. This is happening with regards to climate change, biodiversity collapse, food production and water use. The above-mentioned study showed that the prevalence of undernourishment, after declining for many years, is now on the rise again, especially in Africa.

Professor Christopher Wolf, co-author of the report, states that the world that we are creating will be marked by unbearable heat and shortages of food supplies and water (OSU). He believes that by the year 2100, three to six billion people may find themselves outside of what is considered the Earth’s habitable regions. As a result of these changes, human mortality rates will begin to rise, reversing major gains which were achieved during the 20^th century.

COP28: Refusing to accept hopelessness

In Laudate Deum (LD), Pope Francis points out that COP 28 on climate change will take place in the United Arab Emirates in November and December of 2023. He is aware that this country is major fossil exporter. And yet, he is hopeful that a favourable outcome will be achieved. The Pope writes, “to say that there is nothing to hope for would be suicidal, for it would mean exposing all humanity, especially the poorest, to the worst impacts of climate change.” (LD 53). “If there is a sincere interest in making COP 28 a historic event that honours and ennobles us as human beings, then one can only hope for binding forms of energy transition that meet three conditions; that they are efficient, obligatory, and readily monitored. This, to achieve the beginning of a new process marked by three reequipments; that it be drastic, intense and count on the commitments of all.” (LD 59).

There has evidently not been enough effort to address the fact that humans are taking more from the earth than it can safely give.

Surely the important studies I have quoted above are sounding the alarm bells for us now. We need to expand our renewable energy sources much quicker. Unless humans begin to live in a sustainable way across the globe, the future is extremely bleak for future generations.

References:

• Alec Luhn, “Emperor penguin colonies loss of chick due to ice breakup,” NewScientist, September 3, 2023. page 18.
• Damian Carrington, “Rapid ice met in west Antarctica is ‘inevitable’ – even with emissions cut,” The Guardian. October 24, 2023.
• Damian Carrington, “Life on Earth ‘under siege’ as world’s vital signs in crisis, scientists warn,” The Guardian. October 25, 2023.
• Oregon State University (OSU), “Climate report: ‘Uncharted territory’ imperil life on Earth,” BioScience. October 24, 2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-climate-uncharted-territory-imperil-life-htmI. Accessed on November 14, 2023.
• Tom Hale, “Life on Our Planet Is Clearly Under Siege,” says New World Scientists’ Climate Report. October 24, 2023. https://www.iflscience.com/. Accessed on November 14, 2023.