'Dangerously close to 6 tipping points': UN report warns of catastrophic risks to Earth

NEW DELHI: From unbearable heat to space junk, the world is now moving dangerously close to six "tipping points" that could cause irreversible damage to the planet, the research arm of the United Nations warned on Wednesday.
The report said that climate change and overuse of resources have put the world on the brink of six interconnected tipping points that "could trigger abrupt changes in our life-sustaining systems and shake the foundation of societies."
The UN University's Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) defined these "tipping points" as the moment at which a given socioecological system is no longer able to buffer risks and provide its expected function.Following this, the risk of catastrophe increases significantly.
"Once these thresholds are passed, the system fails to function as it normally would, and you get new risks cascading out, and these new risks can transfer to other systems," said UNU-EHS researcher Jack O'Connor, lead author of the report.
"We should be expecting these things to happen because in certain areas they are happening already."
What are the six tipping points?
The report, which was published ahead of COP28 climate talks next month, identified accelerating rates of extinction, groundwater depletion, mountain glacial melt, unbearable heat, space debris and an "uninsurable" future as the major interconnected threats.
Extinction: The report warned that 1 million plants and animals could be wiped out "within decades", with the loss of key species to "trigger cascading extinctions of dependent species" and raise the likelihood of ecosystem collapse.
Groundwater depletion: It also said many of the world's biggest aquifers are already depleting faster than they can be replenished, with Saudi Arabia, India and the United States already facing grave risks.
Unbearable heat: The UN report warned of extreme heatwaves, which could pass the point when our natural self-regulation of temperature by evaporating sweat fails us. Moreover, droughts also are expected to become more frequent due to global heating.
Glacial melt: Mountain glaciers that store vast amounts of freshwater meanwhile are melting twice as fast as they did in the past two decades. "Peak water" - the point when a glacier produces its maximum amount of water runoff due to melting - has been reached or is expected to be reached within the next ten years across small glaciers in Central Europe, Western Canada and South America.
"The 90,000+ glaciers of the Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountains are at risk, and so are the nearly 870 million people that rely on them," the report added.
Space debris: The researchers also warned of the growing risks posed by space debris, with collisions set to render the earth's orbit "unusable" and make future space activity - including satellite monitoring of environmental threats - impossible.
Climate hazards: In another tipping point, worsening climate hazards are now making insurance unaffordable, with half a million homes in Australia alone set to be uninsurable by 2030, they said.
The report said that most solutions currently being implemented focus on delaying problems rather than genuinely addressing the root causes.
"We need to understand the difference between adapting to risk tipping points and avoiding them, and between actions that delay looming risks and those that move us towards transformation," it said.
The report added that once the tipping point is passed, people are left without an economic safety net when disasters strike.
(With inputs from agencies)