BREAKING: Earth's 8.7 million species call for immediate system change
60% of primate species are threatened with extinction, 75% are declining.
Main threat: habitat destruction due to logging/agriculture.
Hunting, road construction, oil & gas extraction, mining, pollution, disease, and climate change are also key threats. theconversation.com/60-of-primate-…
40-60% of tree species are threatened with extinction.
more than half of species are only found in one country, suggesting vulnerability to potential threats, such as deforestation from extreme weather events or human activity.
40% or more of plant species are threatened with extinction.
'this is just what we already know about. Researchers say there are huge gaps in our knowledge of plants, and more work is needed to assess the conservation status of more species.'beta.ctvnews.ca/national/clima…
40% of shark and ray species are threatened with extinction.
At least a quarter of the world’s estimated 8.7 million species might already be on the move, experts have warned, pushed out of their habitats by the changing climate and human activities.
'Our findings strongly suggest that where species can survive in nature is determined by the temperature at which males become sterile, not the lethal temperature.
..perhaps half of all species will be vulnerable to thermal infertility.'
Human society is yet to appreciate the implications of unprecedented species redistribution for life on Earth. Even if greenhouse gas emissions stopped today, responses required in human systems to adapt to the most serious effects would be massive. science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…
“Say there are 100 species [of fungi] that cycle carbon through a forest. Can we lose one of them? Ten of them? 50? 60? Maybe we can lose 99 of them. How many species can we afford to lose before we reach a tipping point, and we’re in some sort of trouble?”nationalgeographic.com/environment/ar…
Ecologists estimate that 15%- 37% of plant & animal species will go extinct as a direct result of the rapidly changing climate. But current models don't account for the complexities of impacted ecosystems so these extinction rates are likely underestimated.news.arizona.edu/story/climate-…
'34% of animals and 57% of plants' will lose over half their habitat by 2080 if temperatures rise 4°C
estimates are “probably conservative” as rising extreme weather, disease, and pests aren't accounted for in the study
'We have already observed impacts of climate change on agriculture. We have assessed the amount of climate change we can adapt to. There’s a lot we can’t adapt to even at 2C. At 4C the impacts are very high and we cannot adapt to them.' theconversation.com/ipcc-expert-wr…
It looks likely there's much we can't adapt to at 1.5/1.75°C (see 1.25°C impacts now).
We must try to limit the doom, protect species. The answers lie in the knowledge & wisdom of indigenous communities, not industrialised western 'civilzation'.
medium confidence that approximately 20-30% of species assessed so far are likely to be at increased risk of extinction if increases in global average warming exceed 1.5-2.5°C (relative to 1980-1999)
Intensive agriculture identified as the main driver for insect declines in Europe. Main culprits in other parts of the world: climate change & deforestation.
Non-climatic threats plus 1.6°C-2°C by the 2030s? Extinction hell.
'Ten to twenty percent of the world’s terrestrial bird species could be threatened with extinction by 2100 due to climate change and habitat destruction'.
'Even under the most optimistic scenarios, roughly 10 percent of parasite species will go extinct by 2070. In the most dire version of events, fully one-third of all parasites could vanish.
Economic growth continues to make global warming of 1.8°C - 2.4°C and rising by 2040 or so look unavoidable.
'Globally, the percentage of species at high risk of extinction will be 9%-14% at 1.5C, 10%-18% at 2C, 12%-29% at 3.0C..' carbonbrief.org/scientists-rea…
BREAKING: scientists warn humanity has 66 months to organise and implement a massive unprecedented transformative shift away from today's short term profits and economic growth to halt biodiversity destruction and curb extinction rates which are now the fastest in Earth history🧵
1. Corporations block change
Achieving the Biodiversity Plan will require massive, unprecedented transformation and shifting from short term profits to long term sustainability..high ambition must prevail..halt and reverse biodiversity destruction by 2030.iucn.org/cbdcop16
2. 'moving away from the conception of economic progress based solely on GDP growth'
See joint IPCC-IPBES 2020-2021 report totally ignored by mass media.
2. Abrupt climate change is just one (major) compounding factor in extinction catastrophe. Scientists dreaming of 1.4-1.5°C by 2100 face a new reality. The recently updated best-case scenario 1.6-1.8°C by ~2050 is very unlikely. Expect 1.9-2°C by 2030-2050.nature.com/articles/s4155…
BREAKING: new terrifying best-case global warming scenario of 1.6-1.8°C and falling is based on profoundly speculative assumptions with 95% of scientists actually fully expecting 1.9-2.1°C and rising fast towards 21st century extinction for the majority of Earth's species 🧵
1. Few IPCC experts expect the extraordinary emergency action in the coming years of capitalism required (in theory) to avoid 2.7-3.3°C. They expect 1.9-5°C.
Change this Extinction Economy now while it's still too late to protect species and everyone.
2. With the consensus best case scenario now realistically ~1.75°C, time to recall the IPCC second best scenario has been shown to have a 66-68% chance of >2°C by 2044-2065 in a major study recognised by mainstream scientists.
BREAKING: out of control methane emissions are following the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s most pessimistic greenhouse gas scenarios implying a cataclysmic global temperature increase of 1.9-2.1°C and rising in the next decade or two 🧵
1/emissions soaring to record highs
trend “cannot continue if we are to maintain a habitable climate
currently no technologies capable of removing gas from atmosphere
researchers found little evidence world is making progress on pledges to cut emissions euronews.com/green/2024/09/…
2/'The growth in emissions they observed follows the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s most pessimistic greenhouse gas scenarios. This could mean a global temperature increase of more than 3C above pre-industrial times by the end of the century.' euronews.com/green/2024/09/…
BREAKING: horrific extreme temperatures of 2023/2024 unlikely to be a blip with 1.75-2°C of global warming projected to hammer Earth's species within years 🧵
1. A range of projections show 1.75-2°C as likely to hit by 2030-2043, so in less than one or two decades. Conservative estimate: 2°C by ~2048.
'some combination of forcings or changes in feedbacks may be driving higher global temperatures going forward'