Planet Earth has been in existence for 4.5 billion years. Human evolution began in Africa about 7 million years ago; however, modern humans have been on the planet for about 315,000 years. So, if you consider 4.5 billion years as 24 hours, the modern human has been around just for 3 seconds. The world’s 7.6 billion people represent just 0.01% of all living things, yet since the dawn of civilization (industrialization), within 3 seconds, we have delivered a destructive impact on the planet.
- The planet’s average temperature has risen about 1.1°C since the late 19th century due to human-induced GHG emissions, causing droughts, wildfires, extreme rainfall, sea ice loss, accelerated sea level rise, and longer, more intense heat waves.
- 20% of species are at critical risk of extinction.
- Due to deforestation and the rise in temperature, wild mammal biomass has declined by 85%, marine mammals by 80%, plants by 50%, and fish by 15%.
- Soil erosion destroys a football field’s worth of crop production every five seconds.
- We pump 300-400 million tonnes of industrial waste into our oceans and waterways yearly.
- According to analysis, ocean acidity has increased by 30% in the last 200 years – a level that the ocean has not been at in over 20 million years.
- We have created 400 dead zones in the ocean, areas with so little oxygen almost no life survives
- We are extracting seafood from our oceans at an alarming rate. The world will run out of seafood in 2048.
- 40% of the world’s insect species are currently at risk, threatening the planet’s ecosystems and crops.
- Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares of forest have been cut down annually.
- 91% of the world population lives in places where pollution levels exceed World Health Organization limits.
- Now, only 0.5 percent of the water on earth is usable and available freshwater. Moreover, sea-level rise is projected to extend groundwater salinization, decreasing freshwater availability for humans.
- Since 2000, flood-related disasters have risen by 134 percent compared with the two previous decades.
Imbalance of Extraction and Regeneration
We are extracting more from the earth than what its biosphere can regenerate. Because of the growing population and no change in our consumption patterns, we are threatening the balance of the ecosystem. Pollution of air, water, and land is endangering health, biodiversity, and the built environment. 8.9 million people are killed by air pollution every year; this is 3 times more than AIDs, TB, and Malaria combined.
We are extracting 88 BILLION tons of natural resources from the earth EVERY YEAR.
- Biomass: 22.5 billion tonnes
- Fossil fuels: 15 billion tonnes
- Metal ores: 9.1 billion tonnes
- Non-metallic minerals: 41.7 billion tonnes
We are roughly 8 billion people on the planet. So it means Each Individual consumes 11 BILLION tons of natural resources annually. That’s a lot.
How many Earths do we need to continue our business?
Ecological Footprint
The Ecological Footprint measures how fast we consume resources and generate waste COMPARED TO how fast nature can absorb our waste and generate new resources. It’s an accounting that measures the demand and supply of nature. Each city, state, or nation’s Ecological Footprint can be compared to its biocapacity or that of the world.
Earth Overshoot Day
Each year Earth Overshoot Day marks the date we (all of humanity) have used more from nature than our planet can regenerate in the entire year. Earth Overshoot Day moved from late September 2000 to July 28 in 2022, which indicates that our consumption rate has increased substantially.
How many earths do we need?
- If everyone lives like an average American, we need 5.1 Earths
- If everyone lives like an average German, we need 3.0 Earths
- If everyone lives like an average Brazilian, we need 1.6 Earths
But we only have 1 Earth!
You can calculate your Ecological Footprint and see if everyone lives like you, how many earths do we need? Please use the footprint calculator at http://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
Stubborn Optimism – The Ozone example.
We must move beyond the blame and start acting practically to address the situation before it is too late. The ozone layer is renowned for absorbing harmful UV rays; walking outside would be unbearable without an ozone layer. World governments agreed in the late 1980s to protect the earth’s ozone layer by phasing out ozone-depleting substances emitted by human activities under the Montreal Protocol. Global consumption of ozone-depleting substances has reduced by some 98% since then. As a result, the ozone layer is showing the first signs of recovery; a recent assessment by the UN shows it is steadily recovering. Much of the ozone layer is on pace for nearly full recovery by 2040. This is an excellent example of all governments and humanity coming together to address the challenge. We are aware of the impact our business-as-usual activities have on the planet. We must start acting as consumers, citizens, policymakers, business leaders, politicians, and custodians of a safe future for the next generations.
As per World Economic Forum, start with these simple 5 changes in your lifestyle:
- Change the way you eat: Reduce your meat content by half to cut your carbon footprint by 50%. Stop wasting food to reduce your carbon footprint.
- Change how you get around: Instead of driving, walk or cycle.
- Help nature near you: Support projects that help local wildlife and forests. Grow food, trees, and flowers.
- Shop less: Buy fewer items. Buy secondhand. Re-use what you buy. Donate items you don’t need instead of throwing them out which means sending them to a landfill.
- Ask your leaders to protect nature.
Additionally, see if you can take the following steps:
- Educate people around you on facts and action plans.
- Vote! for a leader who has similar values towards nature as yours.
- Optimize energy usage at home.
- Buy local, durable and low-carbon products.
- Consider changing your vehicle to EV and consider train or bus over air travel.
- Speak up.
As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. If we start to bring change in our lifestyle by doing most of the above things, I am sure we would get into 4th second with a smile.
