It is time to recognize the vital part nature can play in fighting global warming
With temperatures recently soaring across three continents and heatwaves and wildfires scorching parts of the Northern Hemisphere, is the worst global warming still yet to come? Global average temperatures have increased by more than 1℃ since pre-industrial times and the current extreme weather is a stark reminder of the effects of global warming. But nature has a way to help and absorb greenhouse gases which cause global warming. Land-based ecosystems absorbed around 30% of the carbon emissions generated through human activity in the last decade.
Even though most of the world’s population live in cities, we must not forget that we are still connected to nature. Human activities in the past century have had a devastating impact on our planet, not only affecting plants, but also negatively impacting animals. With World Nature Conservation Day celebrated last month, this is the perfect opportunity for us to reflect on our relationship with ecosystems.
Important role of ecosystems
Protecting ecosystems (oceans, soils, forests) is an important part of the solution to combating global warming. An ecosystem is an area where different components form a bubble of life. These components include living parts like plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as non-living things like the weather and humidity, and all of these are codependent. Earth is made up of many aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, all connected in one way or another. The aquatic ecosystems are wetlands, lakes, coral reefs, hydrothermal vents, and others. Terrestrial ecosystems comprise of deserts, savannas, tundras, mountains and forests. For millennia, humans have co-existed with these ecosystems, deriving a livelihood, health benefits and more from them. But today we are the main threat to ecosystems through expansion of cropland and pastures, unsustainable agricultural and forestry practices, urban sprawl, and the development of infrastructure and resource extraction.
Threat of growing global population
As the global human population continues to grow, it has dramatic impacts on ecosystems. For example, thousands of acres of land of the Amazon rainforest have been cleared for agriculture, timber harvesting, mining, and building houses and factories. While these patches of land have allowed people to gain a reliable source of income and food, the destruction of these ecosystems comes at a depressing cost -- different types of animals, from mammals to amphibians to insects, are losing their natural habitat. In total, 18% of Amazon forests have been lost and an additional 17% are degraded[1]. This is also especially worrying as rainforests like the Amazon act as a “carbon sink” removing carbon dioxide from the air and storing it in the soil, cleaning huge volumes of water and slowing down global warming.
How biodiversity loss affects ecosystems and humans
In another clear warning sign that the world’s ecosystems are at risk, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), more than 42,100 species across the world assessed on their Red List are threatened with extinction[2]. But how will this affect ecosystems? The biodiversity of an area is crucial to ecosystem services, such as pollination, climate regulation, flood protection, soil fertility, and the production of food. Reduced biodiversity could lead to devastating consequences for humans such as making food supply more unstable and increasing vulnerability to pests and diseases, and the possibility of losing access to a stable supply of fresh water. The loss of biodiversity can throw an entire ecosystem out of balance and shows that the way we have reshaped our world not only affects flora and fauna, but also humankind in the long run.
We must recognize that we are not separate from Earth’s ecosystems, we are very much a part of them and we have an important role to play in their future. Starting with little habits such as sticking to hiking trails, remembering to take your rubbish with you when you leave a nature reserve, or reducing your water usage are good ways to start helping ecosystems.
#It’sInOurHands to protect the Earth’s ecosystems to preserve our world for future generations.
[1]https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/the-amazon-in-crisis-forest-loss-threatens-the-region-and-the-planet