Understanding Global Environmental Risks

Since 1970, humans have killed off three quarters of the world's large wild animals, leading to a significant eco-breakdown. Our actions have devastated most of the forests, grasslands, and oceans, undermining the Earth's life support systems essential for both humans and animals. This destruction affects food system sustainability, exacerbates resource scarcity, and potentially heightens the risk of pandemic disease, all while the looming nuclear threat remains a concern.

The world is facing an eco-breakdown, as clean, fresh water is running out. We lose 75 billion tonnes of topsoil each year, contributing to resource scarcity. Additionally, we have felled two-thirds of our wild forests and are depleting the oceans of fish. Our food system sustainability is jeopardized as we consume the Earth's resources 50% faster than they can regenerate, all while dealing with looming threats like nuclear danger and pandemic disease.

The planet is presently on track for +4 degrees of global warming by 2100, which could lead to significant eco-breakdown and make large parts uninhabitable. The mass release of methane and accelerating ice melt are contributing to climate collapse, with polar melting projected to eventually raise sea levels by 65 metres. This drastic change could intensify resource scarcity and affect food system sustainability, while also heightening the risk of pandemic disease and increasing the nuclear threat over dwindling resources.

The world is home to 12,500 nuclear weapons; fewer than 100 of these could trigger an eco-breakdown and potentially end civilization. The rising nuclear threat is exacerbated by a continuous arms race and the emergence of dangerous new technologies, where AI and robots could make life-and-death decisions. Meanwhile, concerns about pandemic disease and resource scarcity further complicate the landscape, highlighting the urgent need for food system sustainability.

The industrial global food system is unsustainable and, in light of looming eco-breakdown, it simply cannot sustain 10 billion people on a warming planet with diminishing resources. Alarmingly, two thirds of humans now succumb to diet-related diseases, exacerbated by issues such as resource scarcity and the threat of pandemic disease. Our food system desperately requires urgent reinvention to ensure food system sustainability.

Human chemical emissions now reach 120-220 billion tonnes a year—3-5 times the scale of our climate emissions—contributing significantly to the ongoing eco-breakdown. These emissions poison every person on the planet daily, leading to a rise in pandemic disease and many 'lifestyle' ailments. Additionally, they represent a growing threat to our survival and the sustainability of our food system, while also exacerbating resource scarcity and the looming nuclear threat.

Since 2000, there have been nine pandemics, with the acceleration of pandemic diseases attributed to factors like overpopulation, resource scarcity, and the destruction of wilderness. Additionally, the global food system sustainability is under threat from these issues, compounded by escalating travel and changing social behavior, all exacerbated by irresponsible science. This eco-breakdown, alongside the looming nuclear threat, intensifies the urgency for action.

The human population is projected to rise from 8 billion in 2030 to 10 billion in the 2050s, reaching 11 billion by 2100. This growth poses significant challenges, as it may lead to an eco-breakdown, straining our food system sustainability and heightening the risks of resource scarcity. Additionally, this demographic surge could exacerbate concerns around pandemic disease and increase the nuclear threat in resource-limited settings.

New technologies like Artificial Intelligence, killer robots, universal surveillance, nanotechnology, and novel man-made life-forms are emerging far faster than society can comprehend or manage. This uncontrolled techno-risk poses an even greater threat alongside existing issues such as eco-breakdown, resource scarcity, the potential for pandemic disease, and the looming nuclear threat, all of which jeopardize our survival.

The inability of people to recognize the diverse threats we face, such as eco-breakdown, pandemic disease, and resource scarcity, is the greatest barrier to global action for a sustainable future. Disinformation, lies, and false beliefs propagated by politicians, corporations, and other individuals endanger food system sustainability and lead to mass deaths, directly threatening our collective survival amidst looming nuclear threats.