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19 November 2010

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Limits to Nature’s

Resources Defined

 

A group of prominent scientists has released a study on the capacity of the planet’s biosystems to support life

 

A study of nine biophysical parameters suggests that humanity is stressing the entire Earth system. Unless people change their ways catastrophic environmental damage will be caused.

 

Nine Biophysical Limits Studied

The report of a study by 28 environmental scientists has been published in the journal Nature (September 2009).

 

Nine areas were studied: climate change, stratospheric ozone, land use change, freshwater use, biological diversity, ocean acidification, nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to the biosphere and oceans, aerosol loading, and chemical pollution.

 

Interestingly, the researchers have assigned numerical values to each factor and are, therefore, able to set a tipping point for each.

 

They say humans have already crossed the threshold in three areas and need to pull back.

 

Scientists Stress Biosystems Study is Preliminary

The study team was led by Johan Rockström of the Stockholm Resilience Centre and, according to Nature, the scientists say the values chosen as boundaries are somewhat arbitrary as are some of the indicators of change.

 

For example, says an editorial in Nature (September 2009), “There is, as yet, little scientific evidence to suggest that stabilizing long-term concentrations of carbon dioxide at 350 parts per million is the right target for avoiding dangerous interference with the climate system.”

 

The point of the study, say its authors, is to start a scientific discussion which will lead to a refinement of the numbers.

 

Safe Operating Space for Selected Earth Boundaries

The scientists have placed numbers that biophysical boundaries should not be pushed beyond. They are:

• Climate change - Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations not to exceed 350 parts per million; the current concentration is 387 ppm;
• Biodiversity loss - Biodiversity loss should be no more than ten times the background rates of extinction; currently species loss is between 100 and 1,000 times the natural rate;
• Nitrogen concentration – Reduce the flow of new reactive nitrogen into watercourses and oceans to 25 percent of its current value, or about 35 million tonnes of nitrogen per year.

 

Environmental Threats are Interconnected

According to the report, Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity, each of the nine areas of concern has to be tackled at the same time. If one boundary is crossed there is a negative effect on the others.

 

“For instance,” say the authors, “significant land-use changes in the Amazon could influence water resources as far away as Tibet. The climate-change boundary depends on staying on the safe side of the freshwater, land, aerosol, nitrogen–phosphorus, ocean, and stratospheric boundaries.”

Prelude to Copenhagen Conference

Between December 7 and December 18 2009, senior officials will gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark to try to negotiate a climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

 

United Nations negotiators had been working for several years to lay the groundwork for this conference. But, the meeting ended in disarray and almost nothing to show in the way of progress.

 

In the end, the so-called Copenhagen Accord was rolled out to a muted fanfare. The document was drawn up behind closed doors among Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and the United States.

 

Under the Accord, no nation is obliged to do anything to reduce greenhouse gases. The Montreal Gazette summed up the document as an agreement to reach an agreement at some time in the future.

 

Even some of the key players didn’t appear very happy about what they had achieved:

• “We have much farther to go.” U.S. President Barack Obama;
• The Copenhagen conference was “at best flawed, at worst chaotic.” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown;
• “The leaders were united in purpose, but they were not yet united in action.” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

 

Image credits

Wallyir

John LeGear

 

Sources

“Earth’s Boundaries.” Nature, September 24, 2009.

“Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity.” Johan Rockström et al, Stockholm Resilience Centre, September 2009.

“Obama’s Jet Plane Diplomacy.” Jeffrey Sachs, Project Syndicate, December 21, 2009.

“The Toxic Ten.” Harry Hurt III, Conde Nast Portfolio, February 19, 2008.

 

© Canada and the World, November 2010

All rights reserved

 

“Two years of climate change negotiations have now ended in a farce in Copenhagen.”

 

Jeffrey Sachs, Project Syndicate

Global Resource Crisis

ENVIRONMENTAL VILLAINS AND ANGELS

 

In February 2008, Conde Nast Portfolio, a business-oriented website published a list of what it called The Toxic Ten; U.S. corporations that were performing badly as stewards of the environment:

 

1. J.R. Simplot Co., is a supplier of billions of kilos of french fries to McDonald’s and other fast food outlets, “But some of the company's non-edible products—including phosphate, phosphorus, and nitrate compounds—have made it infamous among environmentalists.”

 

2. Cargill. The grain company is said to be a huge source of carbon monoxide and to be guilty of dumping toxic waste in the Shenandoah River.

 

3. Boeing. The company’s aircraft are a major contributor to greenhouse gases.

 

4. Southern Company provides electricity to four million customers but the Environmental Protection Agency says it runs six of the dirtiest coal-fired power plants in the U.S.

 

5. Massey Energy. The mining company “owns a controversial sludge reservoir that lies less than 400 yards from a West Virginia elementary school.”

 

6. Alcoa. The company’s aluminum smelters emit more than 2.77 million kilos of pollution annually.

 

On the other hand Conde Nast’s Harry Hurt III found some good corporate citizens:

 

1. Bank of America brought in a recycling program that saves the equivalent of 200,000 trees a year.

 

2. Ceres is a coalition of investors that works to improve corporate behaviour on environmental issues.

 

3. Dupont. The chemical giant has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions and the release of cancer-causing agents.
 

4. General Electric has made a major contribution to solar panel technology and has cleaned up its PCB dump near the Hudson River.

 

5. Innovest has created a global environmental ratings system for corporations.

 

6. Organic Valley is a cooperative of more than 1,200 farmer-owned organic agricultural enterprises.

 

7. Starbucks “ ‘bean-to-cup’ approach creates eco-accountability at every stage of its supply chain.”

 

8. Tesla Motors has produced a zero-emission hybrid car.