A United Nations report warns the world is "perilously close" to triggering tipping points that could have "irreversible, catastrophic impacts for people and the planet" — but it's not too late to act.
Lots of exciting stuff in there to look forward to!
Numerous global systems humans rely on for survival — including ecosystems, groundwater, insurance and the space industry — are on the precipice of catastrophic tipping points, according to a new report by the United Nations University.
The report warns whole societies will have to make “unprecedented” changes to avert disaster, but says the actions of individual people do play a significant role in influencing positive tipping points.
“Some tipping points trigger abrupt changes in our life-sustaining systems that can shake the foundations of our societies,” says the report, authored by five researchers from the UN University in Bonn, Germany.
So I think we see the potential for full chaos," says Dr Nalau, who was a lead author on the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.
Dr O’Connor, an Australian based in Germany, says the risk of ecosystem collapse is also particularly dire in Australia, as it has one of the worst records in the world for animal extinctions.
Doing more than merely delaying the impacts of these tipping points — and actually avoiding their catastrophic effects — will require “unprecedented” changes to society, the UN report warns.
The original article contains 615 words, the summary contains 180 words. Saved 71%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Numerous global systems humans rely on for survival — including ecosystems, groundwater, insurance and the space industry — are on the precipice of catastrophic tipping points, according to a new report by the United Nations University.
The report warns whole societies will have to make “unprecedented” changes to avert disaster, but says the actions of individual people do play a significant role in influencing positive tipping points.
“Some tipping points trigger abrupt changes in our life-sustaining systems that can shake the foundations of our societies,” says the report, authored by five researchers from the UN University in Bonn, Germany.
So I think we see the potential for full chaos," says Dr Nalau, who was a lead author on the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.
Dr O’Connor, an Australian based in Germany, says the risk of ecosystem collapse is also particularly dire in Australia, as it has one of the worst records in the world for animal extinctions.
Doing more than merely delaying the impacts of these tipping points — and actually avoiding their catastrophic effects — will require “unprecedented” changes to society, the UN report warns.
The original article contains 615 words, the summary contains 180 words. Saved 71%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!