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Sep 13, 2021 35 tweets 12 min read Read on X
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.

dumptheguardian.com/environment/20…

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.

bbc.com/news/science-e…
50% of amphibian species are threatened with extinction.

nationalgeographic.com/animals/articl…
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.

ecowatch.com/shark-species-…
40% of invertebrate pollinators are threatened with extinction.

newsweek.com/40-percent-bee…
>33% of marine mammals are threatened with extinction.
un.org/sustainabledev…
33% of insect species are threatened with extinction, 41% are in decline.

climateandcapitalism.com/2020/06/10/ind…
30% of freshwater reptile species are threatened with extinction.

20% of all reptile species are threatened with extinction.

science.time.com/2013/02/15/rep…
14% of birds are threatened with extinction, 40% are in decline.

40%-65% of N. American birds are threatened with extinction by likely 1.5°C-3°C of warming, suggesting extreme danger for species globally.

e360.yale.edu/digest/climate…

ourworldindata.org/birds

e360.yale.edu/digest/forty-p…
10%-60% of fish species are threatened with extinction depending on global warming levels this century (1.5°C to 4°C-5°C).

dumptheguardian.com/environment/20…
50%-55% of all species are threatened with extinction by increasingly likely 2.5°C-4°C

Extreme warming scenarios, 55% of species lost:
edition.cnn.com/2020/02/21/wea…

Perhaps half of all species will be vulnerable to thermal infertility:
phys.org/news/2021-05-i…

qz.com/1280872/keepin…
We are in an abrupt climate-extinction experiment during ultra-destructive capitalism/imperialism.

It will never be too late to try to protect species and everybody by aiming to limit the damage via rapid, profound system change.

Thread:

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.

18% of the world’s plant species & 22% of mammals will go at 2°C.
euronews.com/green/2020/11/…
Climatically determined geographic range losses of >50% are projected in

* 49% of insects, 44% of plants, and 26% of vertebrates at 3.2°C

* 18% of insects, 16% of plants, 8% of vertebrates at 2°C

* 6% of insects, 8% of plants, 4% of vertebrates at 1.5°C
science.org/doi/full/10.11…
'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.'

So, at 1.5C-2.5C?phys.org/news/2021-05-i…
A common fingerprint of a warmer world is a range shift..

80% of relevant studies found fingerprints among species, from grasses to trees and molluscs to mammals.

A recent review found 8-50% of all species will be threatened by climate change as a result.theconversation.com/climate-change…
Earth may be heading for far more extinctions than previously anticipated

2℃ dramatically reduces coral sperm bundle production/egg size

Salinity, chemicals, poor nutrition may compound thermal infertility

Do findings extrapolate to mammals like humans?theconversation.com/fly-infertilit…
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

humans can't adapt to 4°C impacts
news.mongabay.com/2013/05/climat…
'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'.

Thread:
From 2008:

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)

3.5°C extinction risk for 40-70% of species
grist.org/article/media-…
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.

Economic system change now.
m.dw.com/en/how-to-stop… Image
'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'.

From 2007

news.mongabay.com/2007/06/10-20-…
15% of world’s 10,000 bird species extinct/committed to extinction by 2100 (business as usual)

'things are getting worse, so this number is likely to be higher, as many as 2 out of 5 bird species

up to 30% of land birds may go extinct by 2100'

July 2008
news.mongabay.com/2008/07/birds-…
'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.

This kind of die-off would have myriad unfortunate consequences.'
smithsonianmag.com/science-nature…
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…

Local extinctions are already widespread at 1°C - 1.5°C.

Many global extinctions are anticipated.

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More from @ClimateBen

Mar 30
DOOM: For 250 years between 1720 and 1969, the US, UK, & Europe were the main CO2 emitters and the key wreckers of biodiversity. These criminal countries subsequently blocked any attempts to change the deeply entrenched economic system away from deadly capitalism and growth. Share of global CO2 emissions- Our World in Data
1. The US knew by the 1950s/60s that systems change was required to avoid global catastrophe. Scientists informed the President. However, the priorities remained power and wealth.

Read 6 tweets
Mar 24
Earth's species will suffer global warming of 2, 2.5, or 3°C in 12 to 14 years. (No scientist really thinks we won't hit at least 1.96°C for the first time by 2038 after hitting 1.68°C in 2024.) Primates like humans are unlikely to survive for very much longer. Time to rethink.🧵 Headline excerpt : the world will see 3°C much faster than expected
1. "a rise in global temperatures of 3.1C is not compatible with human survival." @jeremycorbyn
Organise for political and economic system change action while it's still too late to protect species and everyone.
dumptheguardian.com/commentisfree/…
3°C trend from 2045.
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.108…
Read 9 tweets
Mar 4
New research shows we're heading for rapid mass extinction at 3-5°C of global warming even if we avoid the so-called worst-case scenarios. 🧵 SSP scenarios will result in far more warming than thought
3 to 4 or even 5°C with the 'moderate' SSP2-4.5 emissions scenario.
SSP3-7.0 looks closer to reality to me, so 4-5°C.

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…
We should in fact anticipate 3.5-5°C by 2075-2125.

See new research from December 2024:
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…

x.com/Peters_Glen/st…
Read 5 tweets
Mar 2
COLLAPSING:  scientists indicate civilisation-wrecking conditions are already developing as rapid mass extinction accelerates with billions set to be killed from 2029- 2048🧵
Current generic extinction rates likely to greatly accelerate in coming decades due to economic growth & overconsumption by the rich.
Economic activities during capitalism are destroying the conditions that make human life possible.
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…
salon.com/2023/09/19/exp…
Plastic contamination will soon be "catastrophic" for human health and is slowly "killing the human race"

more cancer, more allergic diseases, more infertility

microplastics are everywhere

google.com/amp/s/news.sky…
Read 7 tweets
Feb 22
DOOM:  majority of scientists think difficult-or-impossible-to-survive warming of 1.9-2.1°C and rising is now unavoidable and set to begin wiping out species within years 🧵
1. 'New assessment warns area the size of the USA will become too hot during extreme heat events for even healthy young humans to maintain a safe body temperature if we hit 2°C'
kcl.ac.uk/news/half-a-de…

"if we hit 2°C"?

Virtually all scientists expect 2°C.agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…
2. Even before new research confirming warming is accelerating, the overwhelming majority of climate scientists fully expected ~2°C (in most cases much more).

'perhaps half of all species will be vulnerable to thermal infertility'
phys.org/news/2021-05-i…
x.com/ClimateBen/sta…
Read 5 tweets
Feb 19
COLLAPSE: scientists indicate all aspects of human societies will be wrecked by 2029-2092 as habitat destruction and pollution intensify with unsurvivable accelerating warming of 1.95-2.15°C and rising now unavoidable even with capitalism's best-case emissions reductions 🧵
1. 'Most scientists concur..2°C of warming above the temperature during preindustrial time would harm all sectors of civilization - food, water, health, land, national security, energy & economic prosperity
scientificamerican.com/article/earth-…
Best-case: 1.96°C, 2.18°C
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…
2. Economic growth means habitat annihilation..

"The 2C target is dead, because the global energy use is rising, and it will continue to rise”.. global heating is likely to reach 2C by 2045
dumptheguardian.com/environment/20…

2°C by 2030-2082
esd.copernicus.org/articles/12/25…
news.stanford.edu/stories/2023/0…
Read 4 tweets

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