UN: World is on the brink of environmental tipping points – 10/25/2023 – Environment

The world is heading towards a series of environmental tipping points that could cause irreversible damage to water supplies and other life-sustaining systems, a UN research arm warned on Wednesday ( 25).

Climate change and resource overuse have placed the world on the brink of six interconnected tipping points that “could trigger abrupt shifts in our life-sustaining systems and shake the foundations of societies,” said the Institute for Environment and Security Human Sciences at the United Nations University (UNU-EHS).

“When these limits are exceeded, the system stops functioning normally and new cascading risks emerge, which can be transferred to other systems,” said researcher Jack O’Connor, author of the report. “We should expect these things to happen because, in certain areas, they are already happening.”

The Interconnected Disaster Risks report, published ahead of the COP28 climate negotiations – a conference taking place next month in Dubai -, identified accelerated rates of extinction, groundwater depletion, glacial melt and extreme heat as the main threats interconnected.

The document warned that a million plants and animals could be wiped out “within decades.” The loss of important species can “trigger cascading extinctions of dependent species” and increase the likelihood of ecosystem collapse.

Many of the world’s largest aquifers are already depleting faster than they can be replenished — Saudi Arabia, India and the United States already face serious risks. Water runoff from melting glaciers is also declining.

“The heat is causing us to extract more groundwater because of the drought,” said Caitlyn Eberle, another author of the study. “Many of these glaciers in the Rockies, Himalayas and Andes feed these rivers and groundwater systems, so as these glaciers disappear, there is less water available.”

Researchers have also warned of the growing risks posed by space debris, with collisions that could render Earth’s orbit “unusable” and preclude future space activities, including satellite monitoring of environmental threats.

In another inflection point, worsening climate risks are making insurance unaffordable, with half a million homes in Australia alone uninsurable by 2030, they say.

“When this point is passed, people are left without an economic safety net when disasters strike,” the report said.