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Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. [2] Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish.
Ecological overshoot expressed in terms of how many Earths equivalent of natural resources are consumed by humanity each year. Ecological overshoot is the phenomenon which occurs when the demands made on a natural ecosystem exceed its regenerative capacity. Global ecological overshoot occurs when the demands made by humanity exceed what the ...
For people, "overshoot" is that portion of their demand or ecological footprint which must be eliminated to be sustainable, or the delta between a sustainable population and what we currently have. [1] [2] Excessive demand leading to overshoot is driven by both consumption and population. [3] Population decline due to overshoot is known as ...
In 2015/2016, this caused food shortages affecting over 60 million people. [142] El Niño-induced droughts may increase the likelihood of forest fires in the Amazon. [143] The threshold for tipping was estimated to be between 3.5 °C (6.3 °F) and 7 °C (13 °F) of global warming in 2016. [21]
Similarly, it was found that climate change had intensified drought conditions in Southern Africa in 2007, which elevated food prices and caused "acute food insecurity" in the country of Lesotho. Agriculture in Southern Africa was also adversely affected by drought after climate change intensified the effects of 2014–2016 El Niño event.
World leaders are meeting in Paris this month in what amounts to a last-ditch effort to avert the worst ravages of climate change. Climatologists now say that the best case scenario — assuming immediate and dramatic emissions curbs — is that planetary surface temperatures will increase by at least 2 degrees Celsius in the coming decades.
Geographic, or place-based vulnerability to climate change is an important dimension. The most geographically vulnerable locations to climate change are those that will be impacted by side effects of natural hazards, such as rising sea levels and by dramatic changes in ecosystem services, including access to food.
Habitat degradation is caused by the depletion of resources, in which human activities are the primary driving force. [48] [49] One major impact that the depletion of fish stocks causes is a dynamic change and erosion to marine food webs, which can ultimately lead to ecosystem collapse because of the imbalance created for other marine species.