Here are 15 environmental issues which could be discussed on Monday the 13th.
- Global Warming:
2023 was the hottest year on record, with global average temperatures at 1.46C above pre-industrial levels and 0.13C higher than the eleven-month average for 2016, currently the warmest calendar year on record. The year was marked by six record-breaking months and two record-breaking seasons.
- Poor Governance:
Economists and environmentalists have urged policymakers for years to increase the price of activities that emit greenhouse gases (one of our biggest environmental problems), the lack of which constitutes the largest market failure, for example through carbon taxes, which will stimulate innovations in low-carbon technologies.
- Food Waste:
Food production accounts for around one-quarter – 26 percent – of global greenhouse gas emissions.
A third of the food intended for human consumption – around 1.3 billion tons – is wasted or lost. This is enough to feed 3 billion people. Food waste and loss account for approximately one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
- Biodiversity Loss:
A 2020 WWF report found that the population sizes of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians have experienced a decline of an average of 68 percent between 1970 and 2016. The report attributes this biodiversity loss to a variety of factors, but mainly land-use change, particularly the conversion of habitats, like forests, grasslands and mangroves, into agricultural systems. Animals such as pangolins, sharks and seahorses are significantly affected by the illegal wildlife trade, and pangolins are critically endangered because of it;
- Plastic Pollution:
A report by science journal, Nature, determined that currently, roughly 14 million tons of plastic make their way into the oceans every year, harming wildlife habitats and the animals that live in them. The research found that if no action is taken, the plastic crisis will grow to 29 million metric tons per year by 2040. If we include micro-plastics into this, the cumulative amount of plastic in the ocean could reach 600 million tons by 2040;
- Deforestation:
Every hour, forests the size of 300 football fields are cut down. By the year 2030, the planet might have only 10 percent of its forests; if deforestation isn’t stopped, they could all be gone in less than 100 years;
- Air Pollution:
Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that an estimated 4.2 to 7 million people die from air pollution worldwide every year and that nine out of 10 people breathe air that contains high levels of pollutants. In Africa, 258,000 people died as a result of outdoor air pollution in 2017, up from 164,000 in 1990, according to UNICEF. Causes of air pollution mostly comes from industrial sources and motor vehicles, as well as emissions from burning biomass and poor air quality due to dust storms;
- Melting Ice Caps and Sea Level Rise:
The climate crisis is warming the Arctic more than twice as fast as anywhere else on the planet. Today, sea levels are rising more than twice as quickly as they did for most of the 20th century as a result of increasing temperatures on Earth. Seas are now raising an average of 3.2 mm per year globally and they will continue to grow up to about 0.7 metres by the end of this century. In the Arctic, the Greenland Ice Sheet poses the greatest risk for sea levels because melting land ice is the main cause of rising sea levels;
- Ocean Acidification:
Global temperature rise has not only affected the surface, but it is the main cause of ocean acidification. Our oceans absorb about 30% of carbon dioxide that is released into the Earth’s atmosphere. As higher concentrations of carbon emissions are released thanks to human activities such as burning fossil fuels as well as effects of global climate change such as increased rates of wildfires, so do the amount of carbon dioxide that is absorbed back into the sea;
- Agriculture:
Studies have shown that the global food system is responsible for up to one-third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, of which 30percent comes from livestock and fisheries. Crop production releases greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide through the use of fertilisers.
60 percent of the world’s agricultural area is dedicated to cattle ranching, although it only makes up 24 percent of global meat consumption;
- Food and Water Insecurity:
Rising temperatures and unsustainable farming practices have resulted in increasing water and food insecurity.
Globally, more than 68 billion tonnes of top-soil is eroded every year at a rate 100 times faster than it can naturally be replenished. Laden with biocides and fertiliser, the soil ends up in waterways where it contaminates drinking water and protected areas downstream;
- Fast Fashion and Textile Waste:
The global demand for fashion and clothing has risen at an unprecedented rate that the fashion industry now accounts for 10 percent of global carbon emissions, becoming one of the biggest environmental problems of our time. Fashion alone produces more greenhouse gas emissions than both the aviation and shipping sectors combined, and nearly 20 percent of global wastewater, or around 93 billion cubic metres from textile dyeing, according to the UN Environment Programme;
- Overfishing:
Over three billion people around the world rely on fish as their primary source of protein. About 12 percent of the world relies upon fisheries in some form or another, with 90 percent of these being small-scale fishermen – think a small crew in a boat, not a ship, using small nets or even rods and reels and lures not too different from the kind you probably use. Of the 18.9 million fishermen in the world, 90 percent of them fall under the latter category;
- Cobalt Mining:
Cobalt is a ferromagnetic metal used for heat-resistant and magnetic alloys.
Cobalt is quickly becoming the defining example of the mineral conundrum at the heart of the renewable energy transition. As a key component of battery materials that power electric vehicles (EVs), cobalt is facing a sustained surge in demand as decarbonisation efforts progress. The world’s largest cobalt supplier is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where it is estimated that up to a fifth of the production is produced through artisanal miners; and
- Soil Degradation:
According to the United Nations, about 40% of the planet’s soil is degraded. Soil degradation refers to the loss of organic matter, changes in its structural condition and/or decline in soil fertility and it is often the result of human activities, such as traditional farming practices including the use of toxic chemicals and pollutants. If business as usual continued through 2050, experts project additional degradation of an area almost the size of South America. But there is more to it. If we do not change our reckless practices and step up to preserve soil health, food security for billions of people around the world will be irreversibly compromised, with an estimated 40% less food expected to be produced in 20 years’ time despite the world’s population projected to reach 9.3 billion people.
COMMENTS:
The good news is that:
- Massive expansion of renewable power opens door to achieving global tripling goal. World added 50 percent more renewable capacity in 2023 than in 2022 and next 5 years will see fastest growth yet, but lack of financing for emerging and developing economies is key issue; and
- The world’s capacity to generate renewable electricity is expanding faster than at any time in the last three decades, giving it a real chance of achieving the goal of tripling global capacity by 2030 that governments set at the COP28 climate change conference last month, the IEA says in a new report.
The bad news is that:
- Our global population is projected to reach 9.9 billion by 2050, which means an additional 2 billion people consuming Earth’s resources and energy, both contributing to and suffering from the effects of climate change; and
- Collectively, we are using the Earth’s resources at a rate that cannot be sustained.