How is our planet doing right now?

So where are we now in 2021?

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"We moved from being a part of nature to being apart from nature", according to Mr. Attenborough, and this has had catastrophic effects on our planet.

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• 30% of the fish stocks are reduced to critical levels. An ocean in crisis will create a world in crisis.

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• Shallow-water corals are declining and seagrass beds, which contributes enormously to carbon capture and cleaning up our atmosphere, have been reduced by more than 30%.

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• Our plastic debris forms vast floating islands in the northern Pacific, with four other garbage patches forming elsewhere in the oceans. This plastic eventually decomposes into tiny micro plastics suspended in the water. Plastic fragments have been found in the stomachs of over 90% of seabirds and is invading oceanic food chains.

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• We currently cut down over 15 billion trees per year - since humans have started felling trees we have cut down roughly 46% of the worlds trees. The top driver is beef production, with soy production and palm oil production accounting for much of the rest. Half of the world's rainforests have been cleared since the 1960's . They are the home to 50% of the worlds species. Biodiversity decline around the world from habitat loss, pesticides and changing climates is causing a mass extinction of species on Earth. This threatens the entire fabric of the complicated and interdependent web of life on this planet.  

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• Half of the fertile land on Earth is now farmed.

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• 70% of the birds on Earth are domesticated, mostly chickens. 

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• Over 96% of the mass of all mammals on Earth today are made up of ourselves and the animals we raise to eat. The remainder- wild mammals of the world -  account for just 4%!

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• In 1937, 66% of the world was wilderness. In 2021, this has reduced to 35% of the entire world. 

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It's those last two that really get me- just 4% of all living mammals are wild and wilderness on Earth has shrunk to just 35% of the entire world! It's seems we have done a great job filling the planet with ourselves, domesticated animals and the places we live and work. 

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And this is not to mention the shrinking polar ice caps, warming atmosphere, huge loss of habitat and the ongoing release of polluting gases into our atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels.

 

In his  straightforward opinion, David Attenborough calls it like it is:  

 

"We have overrun the Earth."

 

And who can disagree?

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One of the most important points that his book makes is that we live in a closed, and finite world. Once we run out of resources on Earth, or destabilize Earth's systems to the point of no return, there is no exit to a better place. This is as good as it gets! All our resources on this planet are limited and fragile. Every living thing plays a role in the overall health of the planet, has something else depending on it, and it is this biodiversity of life on Earth that is key to life, according to Mr. Attenborough.

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It seems obvious that we must step back as a species ourselves, before we chew threw the lifeline that sustains us in the first place.

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Mr. Attenborough continues that, by the 1970's, humans had innovated ourselves to be the dominant species on the planet;

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"Our behaviour and our societies had become increasingly detached from the natural environment that surrounds us. There was nothing left to restrict us. Nothing to stop us. Unless we stopped ourselves, we would continue to consume the Earth's physical resources, until we had used them up."

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Fifty years later, during which time we unfortunately did not stop ourselves, we are starting to witness the horrific consequences.  We can not afford to ponder on this again in another fifty years, in the rear view mirror. Not even 10 years from now. The day has come and gone to START to act.  Now we must catch up on the runaway train and hit reverse.   

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The dreaded Direct Truth - Tipping Points 

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Nobody wants to hear about tipping points, not unless it involves a seesaw and a balmy summers day. But, it seems there is a nastier type of tipping point lurking on the horizon. 

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In his book, Mr. Attenborough explains that Scientists have defined nine critical thresholds, a buffer zone within which we can operate and sustain ourselves and the planet.

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Going beyond the buffer zone of one of those thresholds could destabilize our whole life system on Earth. 

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"We have already pushed through four of the nine boundaries."

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So, ​it seems that YES, things are going to pot. So I take from this the real truth -

 

Your actions do matter, and mine, and our governments - all our actions now matter.

 

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David Attenborough's Vision?

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It's simple - biodiversity will save us.

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He urges us to Rewild the World. He urges us to follow the path for sustainable living that is being laid out for us and let Nature reboot itself in the space we give back.

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The insatiable human desire for more, for infinite progress, must stop so we can give Nature a chance to replenish itself. We must look at other ways of measuring success as a species, rather than profit and GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The health of our oceans, our forests, our atmosphere and our biodiversity has value- lets start to balance our bank balance with our Nature balance.

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Because robbing our Nature balance to add to our bank balance is just chasing fools gold.  

 

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Links

Resources - Climate Ambassador - Climate Change Resources - From Climate Ambassador.ie find out all you need to know about Climate Change from this reliable, Irish, site. 

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