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…
The factory food, fossil fuel, and arms industries are all thriving. Cement, plastics, steel.. This capitalist Extinction Economy is the worst-case scenario. It won't stop emissions. It has condemned us to essentially unsurvivable warming at 1.9-2°C and rising by 2029-41. 🧵
1. Mass media journalists are silent on 2°C by 2032-41 as warming hits 1.38-1.5C increasing by 0.35-0.45C per decade.
'12 months after the peak of the El Niño event and global temperatures are still exceptionally high'
BREAKING: World Meteorological Organization issues Red Alert to humanity as accelerating global warming of 1.4-1.7°C and rising heralds essentially unsurvivable conditions within years not decades 🧵
1. The January –September 2024 global mean surface air temperature was 1.54°C (with a margin of uncertainty of ±0.13°C) above the pre-industrial average boosted by a warming El Niño event according to an analysis of six international datasets used by WMO.
BREAKING: scientists hold back tears and shake their heads sadly as they explain utterly compromised COP29 climate conference was meant to be the last chance to organise rapid and deep emissions cuts for any chance of staying well below essentially unsurvivable 2°C 🧵
1. Time has run out to avoid 1.5°C (now sure to hit in the 2020s) and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. 1.75°C will be exceeded soon after with dire 2°C expected by 2030-2050
2. Abrupt climate change is just one compounding factor in extinction catastrophe.
Biodiversity destruction is a core part of the reality of industrial capitalism.
Change this Doom Economy now while it's still too late to protect species and everyone.🧵⬇️
COLLAPSING: scientists confirm there's no doubt humanity will see the real risk of catastrophic multiple breadbasket failures by 2035-2045 🧵
1. “.. we will, certainly, in the next 15 to 20 years, see continued food crises, and the real risk of multiple breadbasket failures … that’s in addition to a lot of the other risks that might impact us through fresh-water pollution, ocean acidification..”dumptheguardian.com/environment/20…
IPBES report: a market-based focus on economic growth meant the wider benefits of nature – including spiritual, cultural and emotional value – had been ignored x.com/ClimateBen/sta…
2. even under conservative climate projections predicting a 2°C rise, it is evident that plankton cannot keep pace with the rapid warming we are experiencing, which shows no signs of slowing down'
BREAKING: scientists confirm plastic production is unsustainable and must end as their fears that 30-70% of Earth's species will go extinct this century intensify 🧵
1. “What is clear is we cannot manage the amount of plastic we are producing..Only 10% of it gets recycled, something needs to be done"