Climate change. These are two words that, although they are relatively new, refer to global events that have been happening since the origin of planet earth. However, never before has there been a species that could have as great an impact on the world as humans do.
We are an intelligent race. We have managed to colonize all parts of the world, and now we are on our way to 10 billion. But at the cost of what? Some believe that the natural balance has been broken and that we are about to enter a new geological era: the Holocene. According to a study, climate changes 170 times faster due to human activity than natural forces. What consequences can this have? It is not known.
The study, from the Australian National University (ANU) and published in The Anthropocene Review, examines the Earth as a complex system and evaluates the impact that human beings have on its trajectory. Thus, the researchers were able to find out that greenhouse gas emissions emitted by humans in the last 45 years have increased the rate of rise to 1,7ºC per century.
While this does not mean that natural forces are not contributing. Professor Will Steffen said in a statement that "in terms of their impact in such a short period of time, they are now negligible compared to our own influence».
Can anything be done to prevent the situation from getting worse? According to Steffen, yes: bet on a zero emissions economy. But time is fast running out. By 2050, the human population is expected to reach nine billion. More people means more demand for resources, which will inevitably have an even more serious impact on the planet, unless our way of life is changed.
You can read the study here (In English).