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

  • discodoubloon
    14•1 year ago

    I’m starting to see car abusers as a serious fucking problem. Burning dinosaur juice just for going somewhere for your own aims? I have never seen so many selfish people that don’t give a fuck. You’re going to kill us all.

    It’s not full ecosystem collapse that’s going to kill us. I bet about 20% of the way there life will become untenable. There is no way that it’s not exponential progress. It will hit us like lightning.

    • @[email protected]
      20•1 year ago

      Everybody focuses on cars and completely ignores everything else fossil fuels are used for and everything that’s being done to stop alternatives from replacing them. Those in charge are trying to shift the blame onto powerless non-rich people like you, and you’re letting them get away with it.

      • TisBe
        3•1 year ago

        Yup. Most plastics are made from the waste product of fuel production. It is the combination of burning and plastic trash that is causing the acceleration. It is fuel to make and transport goods, and the plastics to protect those goods in transit, that are collapsing our environment.

        • @[email protected]
          1•1 year ago

          And there, too, alternatives are being blocked. When’s the last time you heard of a solar-powered cargo ship or freight train? Where are all the bioplastics?

          • Lells
            1•1 year ago

            …or for that matter, when is the first time? Cuz… I haven’t.

          • Charlielx
            1•1 year ago

            pretty sure both of those are energy density issues that need to be solved rather than suppression specifically

      • Rhaedas
        6•1 year ago

        The more accurate description perhaps paints the problem better - millions of years of fossilized sunlight. How do you begin to reverse that, and quickly? You don’t.