The 'Ecological Foundations of Society' are In Peril, a Massive UN Report Warnshttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/03/13/millions-could-die-prematurely-without-unprecedented-action-clean-air-water-new-un-report-warns/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c7443e4ce4caHuman activities are degrading the global environment at a pace that could endanger the "ecological foundations of society" and human health, according to a landmark United Nations report released Wednesday.The authors say that with unprecedented action on a global scale -- including drastically cutting carbon emissions, improving water management and reducing pollution -- humans can achieve a future with less poverty and hunger while preserving the environment.
... our window for action is closing fast. If we continue business as usual, the authors warn, we can expect:
- Millions of premature deaths caused by air pollution across large swaths of Asia, the Middle East and Africa by the middle of this century.
- The continuation of a major species extinction event, impairing Earth's capacity to meet human food and resource needs.
- Freshwater pollutants making antimicrobial-resistant infections a major cause of death by 2050.
The
740 page report is the sixth Global Environment Outlook and is the UN's most comprehensive report on the state of the global environment since the fifth edition in 2012. More than 250 scientists and experts from more than 70 countries contributed to the assessment.
The authors echo findings from last fall's UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that, to avoid disastrous levels of global warming, urgent changes to all aspects of society are needed.
Unfortunately, greenhouse gas emissions have locked the world into a period of climate change defined by rising seas, more frequent and intense storms and food security crises, the report says.Climate change is hardly the only environmental crisis unfolding due to human activity that the report urges action to address.
Species extinction rates continue to increase at a pace that could compromise Earth's ability to meet human needs, the report says.The authors also detail how feeding the growing human population remains a challenge that is taking a toll on the environment. Land is getting less fertile and useful. The report says degradation “hot spots,” where it’s difficult to grow crops, now cover 29 percent of all land areas.
... it comes on the heels of another U.N. report, issued in October, which said that
the international community has 12 years to limit the disastrous effects of climate change. https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/27652/GEO6SPM_EN.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/video/planet-focus-global-environment-outlook ------------------------
Environment is Deadly and Worsening Mess, but Not Hopeless: U.N.https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/13/world/science-health-world/environment-deadly-worsening-mess-not-hopeless-u-n/#.XIkbMyJKjIU 
... “There is still time but the window is closing fast.”
The sixth Global Environment Outlook, released Wednesday at a U.N. conference in Nairobi, Kenya, painted a dire picture of a planet where environmental problems interact with each other to make things even more dangerous for people.
It uses the word “risk” 561 times in a 740-page report.The report concludes “
unsustainable human activities globally have degraded the Earth’s ecosystems, endangering the ecological foundations of society.”
“Time is running out to prevent the irreversible and dangerous impacts of climate change,” the report says, noting that unless something changes, global temperatures will exceed the threshold of warming — another 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above current temperatures — that international agreements call dangerous.
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