One More Sign of the Damage Already Done
It keeps being said that we need to do something about the environment before it’s too late. Unfortunately, recent signs show that we might have passed that point already. Studies have shown that even if humanity would completely stop harming the environment from now on, the destructive process would still continue. We have already pushed Nature too far for neutrality to be enough anymore. If we are to still have a chance, we actually must have an impact on the environment, but it must be positive, repairing the damage already done.
One more proof of that is a recent piece of news saying that Canada’s forests are so damaged by the effects of global warming that they’re now releasing more carbon than they absorb.
Explaining it very plainly, the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere causes an increase in temperature. That means the winters aren’t as harsh anymore, and harsh winters were what had so far kept the mountain pine beetle population in check. Since the mountain pine beetles now flourish, they kill more and more trees. Living trees absorb carbon dioxide, but dead trees just rot, therefore releasing the carbon they had absorbed during their lives. As a result of the extensive damage, the forests end up releasing more carbon than they absorb. In turn, that worsens the greenhouse effect, making the entire process more and more damaging as time passes.
If this is not clear evidence that we have passed the tipping point, I don’t know what is…
Yes, barring an extreme greenhouse effect as the one seen on Venus, Earth would likely eventually recover. But that would probably only happen after conditions would become too bad for advanced life forms to tolerate, possibly leaving only simple plants and bacteria to restart the evolutionary process. That means the reason we need to do something is not as much to save Earth as to save ourselves… Ourselves and all the other species we share this planet with, species we should care for, not exploit.
