**This article has been translated automatically and will be reviewed soon.**
Our planet has its limits: The science alert
This is the Netflix movie to watch about the climate crisis. In fact, in the “Must See Documentary” category, it ranks in the top 1.
The film is from 2021, but I could have said that it was just released because it is still so relevant. In short, if you haven't seen it, it's THE film to see in 2022. And if you're reading this in 2023, it's THE film to see in 2023.
A FILM ON THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY
If you are aware of the multiple issues of the current environmental crisis, if you are aware of the IPCC, if you follow the news on the climate emergency, if you are familiar with the planetary limits, the film will be a nice summary of everything that you already know, with a few bonus concepts and the ultimate solutions that we all want to know to really have an impact on our collective future.
If you didn't know that we are in the middle of a climate crisis, this is the perfect film to learn it! Basically, it talks about planetary boundaries and basically, it's a really great summary of what's happening on the planet right now.
To summarize the film in 1-2 sentences: Things are not going well (but really not good) for the climatic stability of our planet. But hey, scientists still have hope that we can get out of this... or finally, there are solutions.
LEARN MORE ABOUT PLANETARY BOUNDARIES
The planet hasn't always been in a fun geological era. For millions of years the Earth has experienced ice ages and it has only been 12,000 years since we entered the Holocene; a time that brings us predictable seasons, a stable climate, food, clean water and clean air.
On the other hand, man is increasingly disrupting this fragile balance. Scientists speak of the end of the Holocene and the beginning of the Anthropocene, as water becomes precarious, crops are in dire straits and 9 out of 10 people breathe polluted air.
Johan Rockström , a Swedish scientist, sought to understand which systems regulate the state of the planet, what maintains its stability?
With around twenty other researchers, Johan defined 9 planetary boundaries .
These are thresholds that must not be exceeded because this could jeopardize the survival of our species.
And we are in the process of passing at least 4 out of 9.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Since the industrial revolution, we have reached 350 parts per million of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere. The planetary climate limit is 350ppm. We have already been in the red for a long time. In fact, at the moment, we are at an atmospheric CO2 concentration of 416ppm . We are in the middle of the danger zone.
We are already feeling it through droughts, heatwaves, more frequent fires and the melting of glaciers.
The “high risk” zone is at 450ppm. We are at 416…
This is why we talk a LOT about climate change in the media. Because it is extremely urgent. We also often talk about 1.5° not to be exceeded. We are at 1.1°…
To avoid exceeding the ultimate threshold, we would have to live without fossil fuels in 30 years. Good luck to everyone!
THREATENED BIOMES AND BIODIVERSITY
Deforestation itself impacts several limits. Researchers have calculated that a loss of 25% of the world's forests risks triggering serial disasters.
Well, we have razed more than 40% of the forests.
Cutting down trees has an impact on ecosystems, but also on the release into the atmosphere of all the carbon that the tree had kindly accumulated, thereby increasing the CO2 in the air (which raises the ppm).
It's a wheel that turns, because the increase in CO2 is causing tropical areas to dry out, which become savannahs. Trees die and release, once again, CO2 into the air.
We are also going through an unprecedented biodiversity crisis. We are completely in the red. We have seen so many species disappear and we have destroyed so many ecosystems. Insects are in great danger, wild species are in decline, wild mammals only represent 4% of the biomass.
It's not just humans who are in danger, but all living things as well.
LIVING WITH NEW STANDARDS
" I'm mad. I'm not discouraged, I'm angry. The science is clear, it has been warning us for 30 years and we are still not moving in the right direction. » - Johan Rockström
We are talking about serious consequences, a tipping point, a point of no return.
At some point, we will no longer be able to say “ok, we’ll take care of it”. We will rather say “Oh, oops! » because it will be too late.
No one imagines that the consequences can happen quickly and yet, this is what we are seeing now. Melting ice, the savannahization of the Amazon or even the immense forest fires and coral bleaching in Australia are all new norms.
Science even says that there will be no more standards.
SOLUTIONS TO THE CLIMATE CRISIS
The planetary boundaries are known. It's possible to change direction instead of continuing to move forward in the red.
“We can no longer prioritize economic growth on the one hand and put in place measures to reduce pollution on the other. We must put the planet at the heart of everything we do. »
The solution is quite simple:
We must reduce our CO2 emissions at all costs .
If we continue to emit 40 gigatons each year. We have 7 years left. We can't do without carbon overnight, so imagine Arruda saying we need to flatten the curve! It's exactly that.
By reducing emissions by 6 to 7% per year, we can still use fuels moderately while we make radical changes.
So, how do we do that in our little human lives?
We can decide to halve our emissions every 10 years.
In 30 years, we will no longer have a carbon footprint. How do we know our footprint? You can use this tool: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/
Besides, I analyzed this tool in another blog article to see what could tip the scales and reduce our footprint and there are things that overlap with what is included in the film!
3 CHANGES TO ADOPT TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS
- We plant trees.
Trees help capture CO2 and filter the soil.
You don't know where/how to plant a tree?
Go visit this site: https://carboneboreal.uqac.ca/compenser/
Or something free and super simple: use ECOSIA as your default search engine .
And make sure we don't cut down any more trees! Boat boat is there for precisely that.
- We cut our meat consumption.
We are talking about it more and more, breeding is problematic on so many levels. It may be abstract, but our meat consumption has a real impact on planetary boundaries.
We can reduce, but we must reduce drastically. I call it an ecolotarian diet or ecolotarism. I talked about it here and I give you some tips for moving towards a more eco-responsible diet.
- We reduce/reuse our waste.
Our resources must be renewed and not destroyed.
Look at your trash can. What do you see?
If it's food waste, compost!
If it is recyclable waste, recycle!
If it's food packaging, we know it's a scourge, but you have purchasing power over it. You can decide here and now not to buy them anymore because it's over-packaged. You can also contact the company to mention it to them.
IN CONCLUSION
It is in all of our interests to stay below planetary boundaries. For our planet, but also for our health: the air will be healthier, life expectancy will be better, our children will be less sick.
The choices we make now (not in a century, but in the coming decades) are decisive for the future of humanity.
We have the choice to make changes to our lifestyle now instead of experiencing irreversible consequences. Because at a certain point, there's no going back. It will be too late.
