A Swedish scientist claims in a new theory that humanity has exceeded four of the nine limits for keeping the planet hospitable to modern life, while another professor told RT Earth may be seeing an impending human-made extinction of various species.

Environmental science professor Johan Rockstrom, the executive director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre in Sweden, argues that there are nine “planetary boundaries” in a new paper published in Science – and human beings have already crossed four of them.

Those nine include carbon dioxide concentrations, maintaining biodiversity at 90 percent, the use of nitrogen and phosphorous, maintaining 75 percent of original forests, aerosol emissions, stratospheric ozone depletion, ocean acidification, fresh water use and the dumping of pollutants.

“The planet has been our best friend by buffering our actions and showing its resilience,” said Rockstrom. “But for the first time ever, we might shift the planet from friend to foe.”

Rockstrom’s planetary boundary theory was first conceived in 2007. His new paper reveals that because of climate stability, which began when the Ice Age ended 11,000 years ago, a planetary calm helped our ancestors to cultivate wheat, domesticate animals, and launch industrial and communications revolutions. But those advances have strained the stability of the planet, and Rockstrom says we have broken four boundaries: too much nitrogen has been added to ecosystems, too many forests have been cut down, the climate is changing too quickly and species are going extinct at too great a rate.

Speaking to RT’s Ben Swann, Professor of Ethics Bron Taylor from the University of Florida said that we have accelerated the extinction crisis through deforestation and ocean acidification, a development which is driving species to extinction.

“[Human] beings have increased, even from 1925, from 2 billion – which is considered to be a sustainable population for human beings, according to northern European consumption standards – to 7.2 billion at this point,” he said.

Is extinction of human life inevitable within several centuries?

Bobby. wrote on Mar 21^st, 2015 at 12:26pm:


  bump

longweekend58 wrote on Mar 21^st, 2015 at 6:19pm:




But there must be a point at which we only damage our environment & it can't recover.

Chopping down every tree is one example.

longweekend58 wrote on Mar 21^st, 2015 at 6:19pm:


The greens have no problem with people using FREE sunlight energy although you have a problem with the idea that it is FREE don't you.

Bobby. wrote on Mar 21^st, 2015 at 6:02pm:


the term 'sustainable' is not defined. the the GREens, sustainable means not digging anything up, using energy or anything else that might make life easier.  Oddly, the predominantly gay greens, don't feel that being gay is NOT sustainable.