Three minutes to talk about popular science
Global warming is coming, does humanity have a future?The world faces five climate tipping points, and if temperatures continue to rise, three more could be added by 2030, once it erupts, it will have a huge impact on the future of mankind.
A few days ago,More than 90 international organizations jointly released the "Tipping Point Report", saying that the earth's ecology is facing five "tipping points".If you are not careful, it is likely to lead to "ecological collapse", and where should humanity go?
Humanity is meeting to discuss the climate problem, but global warming is not waiting for humanity to come up with a solution。While countries were busy meeting, an iceberg crept in.
The iceberg, named A23A, is currently the largest iceberg in the world, with an area roughly equivalent to 2 Shenzhen and 4 New YorkDetached from the Antarctic continental shelf and drifted slowly with ocean currents on the surface of the sea
The reason why it has attracted so much attention is because fromSince 1986, the Soviet Union has established a scientific research station on this icebergSince then, the subtle changes of the iceberg have been observed by humans.
For the past almost 40 years, there have been no signs of icebergs moving, and then untilAt the beginning of December 2023, a British research ship suddenly encountered this huge iceberg on its way to Antarctica, caught off guard, there was almost a ship collision accident.
Experts build models to speculate on the direction of movement of icebergs, according to the most reliable informationThe trillion-tonne iceberg will be held back in the mountains of the South Georgia Islands by the dual effects of wind direction and ocean currents
Fortunately, these islands are in the way, otherwise huge icebergs will drift on the surface of the sea, and they may drift to the international shipping route at any time, which may cause incalculable damage.
"Antarctic glaciers are melting at an accelerated rate!”The Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, Petri Taalas, warned at the summit. In fact, even if he doesn't say it, people all over the world know that the world's glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate due to climate warming.
According to the relevant data disclosed by the World Meteorological OrganizationAntarctic sea ice extent continues to hit record lows, with 1 million square kilometres less this year than in the same period last year, which is larger than the land area of many countries in the world.
In fact, the melting of Antarctic glaciers and the detachment of icebergs from the continental shelf are just a microcosm of global warming. Under the influence of human activities, the global climate is facing five major tipping points, which are:The extinction of the Linglan ice sheet, the total collapse of the Antarctic ice shelf, the widespread melting of permafrost, the death of coral reefs in warm waters, and the collapse of the North Atlantic atmospheric circulation
In terms of geographical location, the location of these five critical points seems very far away from us, does this meanEven if the five critical points erupt, it doesn't have much to do with usIf you think so, you are very wrong.
The global climate is an inseparable whole, affecting the whole body. LikeThe nuclear-contaminated water discharged into the Pacific Ocean seems to be very far away from the United States, Australia, and Europe, but in the end, there is no place in the world that is immune from pollution
The most direct impact of the extinction of the Linglan ice sheet and the total collapse of the Antarctic ice shelf is the influx of large amounts of ice water into the ocean, resulting in global sea level rise and the inundation of low-altitude areas by seawater
Some island countries in the Pacific are already facing this threat. In a few countries, a small number of people can move to other places after their homes are submerged, and if the submerged area exceeds a certain area, a large number of people will be left homeless, which can only lead to a tragic war, because everyone has to fight for survival.
In addition, the economically developed and densely populated areas of many countries are distributed in coastal areas, and once these regions are wiped out, the economies of many countries will also be hit hard, and the already crisis-ridden global economy will inevitably worsen, and then trigger a deep economic crisis.
Widespread thawing of permafrost is likely to lead to a resurgence of ancient virusesBall. Permafrost refers to the land that has been continuously frozen for two years or more, and most of the existing permafrost was formed during the last ice age.
In the Northern Hemisphere,Permafrost accounts for about 1 5 of the land areaIn the event of thawing, the ground will collapse in these places, and the remains of ancient creatures and viruses sealed in the permafrost will likely be rediscovered.
In addition, the thawing of permafrost will alsoLarge amounts of methane and carbon are released into the atmosphere, further exacerbating the phenomenon of global warming, which then causes the permafrost to melt further, and the interaction falls into an endless cycle in which global warming will not be able to be contained.
In the case of coral reef deaths in warm waters, the impact is also significant. Coral reefs occupy only 0 percent of the ocean floor2%, but they provide habitat for many marine organisms and are also the basic protein of marine organisms**
If coral reefs die in large numbers, a large number of marine life will inevitably be devastated, and marine ecosystems may also face collapse. us80% of the oxygen in the atmosphere comes from the oceansOnce the marine ecology collapses, the entire atmospheric environment will be seriously affected, and then the reaction will be on humans.
Finally, the collapse of the North Atlantic atmospheric circulation will lead to a drop in temperature in the North Atlantic, disrupting the global climate pattern. At that time, the North Atlantic and Northern Europe will be colder and drier, and other regions will also appearMore extreme weather such as floods, typhoons and droughts
So-calledThe "tipping point" is not a process waiting to slowly evolve and then erupt, but a state that, if not properly addressed, can erupt at any time.
The five "tipping points" mentioned in the Tipping Point Report are already at risk of being breached. What's even more terrifying is that if global temperatures continue to rise, more than 1 before the Industrial Revolution5 degrees Celsius,Three new "tipping points" are likely to be added by 2030
Professor Tim Renton of the Global Ecosystems Institute at the University of Exeter warns that these "tipping points" are more likely to occur than any other threat in human history, because each "tipping point" erupts like dominoes that trigger a cascade of ecological catastrophes.
The "tipping point" is a threshold, which is not a gradual process like global warming, but:Once this threshold is breached, it can lead to a sudden change in the ecology of the planet, which in turn will permanently change the way the planet operates
Like the Antarctic glaciers and the Greenland ice sheet, they do not melt slowly, but rather strip large chunks of glaciers from their original continental shelves in the form of icebergs.
A large number of icebergs drifting in the sea, willSeriously disturb the normal temperature of ocean waters, which in turn triggers a chain reaction, for example, changing the direction of the Atlantic circulation. Such a change will exacerbate the occurrence of El Niño events around the world and bring more extreme weather.
What is the threshold at which this tipping point will be, no one knows exactly when it will come, and no one is sure for sure. The only thing that is certain is that if humanity does not take action, perhaps it will not have to wait until 2030, and three other "tipping points" will also arrive.
The three "tipping points" include:Mangrove forests, large-scale extinction of forests in boreal high latitudes, and seagrass meadows。Seagrass meadows, also known as "blue forests", provide habitat and habitat for fish, seahorses, sea turtles and other marine life, and sustain the world's largest fisheries.
It is an important part of marine ecology, storing 18% of marine carbon, and can also filter and recycle marine nutrients and pollutants, improving marine water quality and reducing seafood pollution.
Seagrass meadows also play a huge role in their subsequent mitigation, although they are currently in danger because:Coastal development, ocean acidification, and rising temperatures are causing meadows the size of football fields to disappear every half hour
Because the ecological crisis caused by human activities cannot be ignoredPreventing global warming and protecting biodiversity have always been regarded as protecting the earth's home for mankind。Are these actions of human beings really protecting the earth or protecting human beings themselves?
Actually, protecting the planet is just a beautiful rhetoricThe real goal is to protect humanity itself. The earth does not need human protection at all
For more than 4 billion years, the earth has experienced high temperatures and extreme cold, and the rulers of the earth have changed one after another, and the only thing that remains unchanged is that the earth still exists well, and the disappearance and appearance of species is as if the earth is purifying itself.
For the planet,Over the course of a long history, humans have not been much different from creatures in the past。Humanity is dead, and after tens of millions of years of development, perhaps a new species will begin to rule the earth.
Just like the soldiers of the iron battalionThe earth is the iron camp, and human beings are just one of them。Therefore, no matter what kind of damage is suffered, the earth does not need human protection, and the destruction of the earth by human beings will eventually react on itself, and the greater the damage, the faster it will die.
Currently,The only way is for humans to change their behaviour and stop wantonly destroying the environment in order to save themselves from the crisis。With the continuous progress of science and technology, human beings think that they are omnipotent in heaven and earth, in factIn the face of the true power of nature, it is completely like a small ant, and the ant is still greedy for life, presumably human beings will not seek their own death.