Follow us on:   

Global warming and degradation put Earth at risk
January 17, 2015, 7:23 am

The scientific reports released this week say that the earth is becoming increasingly inhospitable to humans thanks to degradation of the global ecosystem over the last 60 years [Xinhua]

The scientific reports released this week say that the earth is becoming increasingly inhospitable to humans thanks to degradation of the global ecosystem over the last 60 years [Xinhua]


A number of scientific studies released Friday and earlier in the week indicate the planet we call home is growing less and less healthy thanks to rapid industrialization, rising global temperatures, and human consumption.

In the first set of reports studying global warming, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were among a group of organizations which released data that 2014 was the hottest year on record – since temperatures were registered in the 1880s.

There was consensus among all the scientists involved in the studies that the rise in average global temperatures was due to human interaction with the ecosystem.

The burning of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions are significant contributing factors in how quickly, and drastically, the planet is warming up.

According to a NASA press release, global temperature fluctuations normally occur during weather phenomena such as El Niño or La Niña.

“These phenomena warm or cool the tropical Pacific and are thought to have played a role in the flattening of the long-term warming trend over the past 15 years. However, 2014’s record warmth occurred during an El Niño-neutral year,” the statement said.

NASA scientists say that the majority of the global warming in temperatures has occurred in the past three decades.

Global degradation

But it is two different reports from the Australian National University and the Stockholm Resilience Centre that indicate how quickly the earth and its natural resources are being consumed by human behavior and activity.

The studies conducted by a number of scientists from different countries state that at no time in human history has the Earth’s ecosystem been so quickly eroded as the past 60 years.

Published in the research journal Science, the studies say pollution, overfishing, decline in freshwater, infiltration of chemicals into agricultural land, carbon emissions and “loss of biosphere integrity” are transforming the planet into a system that is less hospitable for human life.

Source: Agencies