A recent Planet Health Check study found that ocean acidification is accelerating as a result of global warming — largely attributed to human activities — further confirming that we have reached yet another milestone in surpassing the six planetary boundaries (climate change, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, the amount of synthetic chemicals and plastics, the scarcity of fresh water and the balance of the nitrogen cycle) which indicate a danger for the sustainability of the human kind.
While governments turn a deaf ear to the cries of alarm from scientists and leave the field free to the big oil companies in their exploitation of black gold, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, for its part, foresees an increase in the demand until 2050. Major drilling projects continue unhindered in formerly protected natural regions now subject to spills, always “accidental”, which can destroy their ecosystems, while investors watch with greedy eyes the growth curves of their companies on the world’s stock markets.
However, our elected officials and private investors should look at other graphs, much more tangible than those of the imaginary world of finance or the stock market. I am talking here about the curves of environmental deterioration, global warming and the general decay of the planetary biosphere, which, one day or another, will undermine the climate of confidence necessary for the smooth running of “business”. and undermine the famous company growth curves, so important for investors.
And possibly soon, faster than we believe, when the climatic situation becomes unbearable, a major generalized shutdown will be necessary, a bit similar to the suspension of stock market activities during a period of financial crisis (1929, 1987, 2008) or the pandemic containment measures of 2020. These were in some ways a preparatory exercise for what awaits us if we want to save the furniture, rethink our way of life and give nature a chance to recover its rights — as we have seen with the improvement in air quality during the pandemic and the decrease in CO2 of fossil origin in the atmosphere — for the sake of all life on Earth…
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