A Tale of Species, Temperatures, Emissions Standing on the Brink

Last year, greenhouse gas emissions reached their highest levels in the last eight hundred thousand years, with carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide recording ever frightening figures, hitting levels potentially not seen in millions of years.

Last year, global temperatures reached their highest levels in the last 146 years, when serious continuous temperature record-keeping started, as the planet’s average daily temperature climbed to 17.18 degrees Celsius in July, beating the previous record of 16.82 degrees Celsius set on August 14,2016.

Last year, the extinction rate of species reached their highest levels in the last 65 million years, with the species extinction rate estimated to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times times higher than the natural extinction rate, while bacteria, fungi, plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians,fish, invertebrates, and others disappeared with frightening speed.

The world stands on the edge of a cliff, as things other than greenhouse gas emissions, species extinction rates, and temperature levels reach their highest rates, with the number of lakes drying up reaching the highest rates, the number of rivers drying up reaching its highest rates, and the depletion of groundwater supplies reaching highest levels.

Coal accounted for 40 percent in global carbon dioxide emissions three years ago, hitting an all-time high of 15.3 billion tonnes, while natural gas emissions climbed above its 2019 levels to 7.5 billion tonnes, with crude oil emissions verging on unsustainable levels, even as global greenhouse gas emissions rates keep the planet on a trajectory to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming before 2030 and 1.7 degrees soon after.

On land, the planet last year recorded 2.10 degrees Celsius above the 1850 to 1900 average, the first year with a land average of more than 2.0 degrees Celsius, while the ocean surface waters reached an unprecedented average of 21.1 degrees Celsius, with some experts saying the combined land and ocean temperature increased at an average rate of 0.06 degrees Celsius per decade since 1850.

In relations to habitats, human activity accounted for the current rate of deforestation at about 160,000 square kilometers per year, with more than 50 percent of habitats suffering from destruction in 49 of 61 old world tropical forests, Sub-Saharan Africa having lost about 65 percent of her tropical forests, alongside Asia, 65 percent of her forests gone.

With areas in the world having 65 percent of their forests gone through deforestation, land and ocean temperatures showing alarming rises, and coal fuelling carbon dioxide emissions, the planet must find itself in the edge of a cliff, recording the highest-ever figures in relations to temperature, species extinction rates, emission of greenhouse gasses, and other indices.

By 2050, under current conditions, global greenhouse gas emissions could rise by 50 percent, driven by a 70 percent increase in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, with the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gasses rising to dangerous levels, about 685 parts per million (ppm) carbon dioxide equivalents.

By 2050, if humans follow a business-as-usual trend, global temperatures could warm the planet  by about 1.5 degrees Celsius and two to four degrees Celsius by 2100, meaning both land and ocean temperatures will show higher increases than present-day numbers.

By 2050, with humans fueling climate change and all, species extinction could accelerate even more, with nearly 40 percent of species currently residing on the planet becoming extinct, or facing population pressures, undergoing contractions, or becoming functionally extinct.

Today, the world reaches its highest levels in relations to temperature, species extinction rates, and emissions of greenhouse gasses, but the highest levels of today could be a child's play compared to even higher levels by 2050, when species extinction escalates, along with global temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions.

Possibilities exist for the management of global warming, but greenhouse gas emissions will have to show a decline by nearly half by 2030, reaching net zero in the near future, an idea subscribed to by over 90 nations.

Possibilities exist for the control of global temperature, but ocean-based renewable energy initiatives must be implemented, as this could slash greenhouse gas emissions to 3.6 gigatonnes per year by 2050.

Possibilities exist for the management of global species extinction rates, but farmers must use best practices to produce more food on less land, meaning deforestation could be slowed, as only half of the present total area of croplands would be needed.

When only half of croplands need cultivation, habitat loss declines, bringing down the rate of species extinction, while the highest levels of indices reached in relations to temperature and greenhouse gas emissions could be mitigated, through accelerated renewable energy generated.

What to Eat

Vegan food from Romania, Credit, The Romanian Cookbook