climate
From species extinction to heat – report shows risk tipping points
The once massive ice body of the Tyrolean Jamtal Glacier. photo
© Johann Groder/EXPA/APA/dpa
A few weeks before the next climate conference, a UN report warns of tipping points at which essential systems such as groundwater supplies could collapse. This has already happened in some countries.
The report’s lead author, Zita Sebesvari, told the German Press Agency: “By excessively exploiting our water resources, destroying nature and biodiversity and polluting both the Earth and space, we are moving dangerously close to the edge of several risk factors. tipping points.” According to the report, such a point is reached when a system is no longer able to mitigate risks and fulfill certain functions. “Our actions endanger these important buffer capacities on which we urgently rely,” added Sebesvari. The environmental disasters of recent years such as droughts, floods and hurricanes have shown this clearly.
Escalating species extinction
If a certain animal or plant species goes extinct, this has consequences for other species. Example: the gopher tortoise. It digs holes that are used by more than 350 other species as hiding places, breeding grounds or escape places in extreme temperatures. The result: If the turtle dies out, it also endangers other species. The report also warns that if an ecosystem loses several particularly well-connected species, it will eventually collapse.
Depletion of groundwater
More water is being withdrawn from more than half of the world’s major groundwater reservoirs than can be replenished naturally. This can result in the loss of water sources, according to the report. According to the report, this tipping point in groundwater extraction has already been reached in Saudi Arabia. “In Germany, too, agriculture is increasingly relying on groundwater reserves. We should now think early on how far we want to go with our use,” appealed Sebesvari.
Glacier melt
Glaciers retreat when their ice melts faster than new snow is formed. According to the report, glaciers worldwide are melting twice as fast as in the past 20 years due to global warming. Once the peak of melting has passed because the glacier has shrunk significantly, the amount of meltwater decreases – and this has significant consequences for the water supply, which many areas depend on, according to the report. Long periods of drought can result.
Space junk
“Space has a garbage problem,” the report says. “This is because satellites that no longer function are left in orbit as space debris.” Since space debris moves at a speed of more than 25,000 kilometers per hour, even a small piece of debris can cause massive damage in a collision, thereby creating even more space debris. The International Space Station and functioning satellites would therefore have to regularly carry out evasive maneuvers. The report sees the risk of a chain reaction if two large objects were to collide. This could affect the operation of satellites and the associated weather observation. “We urgently need to think about regulation here,” said Sebesvari. Otherwise we risk destroying our space infrastructure.
Unbearable heat
In some regions temperatures are already reaching where people can hardly stay outside for long periods of time without aids. According to the report, this will occur in more and more areas due to climate change. Only rich people can afford cooling through air conditioning and fans. In addition, according to the authors, they only delay the point at which the tipping point of “unbearable heat” for humans is reached. They could even contribute to further global warming if they run on fossil fuels, Sebesvari said.
Loss of insurability
Increasingly serious disasters drive up insurance costs until they are no longer affordable. Once this point is reached, people no longer have an economic safety net.
The report concludes that solutions implemented today focus on delaying tipping points rather than truly addressing the root causes. “Our actions are geared too much to the now,” criticized Sebesvari. “The options of future generations are not taken into account enough.”
The authors mention many possible steps for improvement. In general, it is necessary to better respect the needs and well-being of nature and to see it as a global system of interconnected parts, “of which we humans are only one.”