ENV100H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Planetary Boundaries, Sea Level Rise, Ocean Acidification

• School: UTSG
• Department: School of Environment
• Course: ENV100H1
• Professor: Barbara Murck

Document Summary

The greenhouse that is forming now will have great consequences on life and life systems that last for hundreds of thousands of years: desertification, sea level rise, ocean acidification. Implications for life: species extinctions, mass migrations, even greater disparity rich and poor, climate wars. Holocene: the time period where humans flourished (not too hot, not too cold) Anthropocene: time of the humans, we have changed the chemistry of the entire world (mountains, air, water, ecosystems including arctic and savannah) Planetary boundaries: safe operating spaces for humanity to exists within (from rockstrom et al. (cid:862)pla(cid:374)etar(cid:455) bou(cid:374)daries: e(cid:454)plori(cid:374)g the afe operatio(cid:374)g pa(cid:272)e for hu(cid:373)a(cid:374)it(cid:455)(cid:863)(cid:895) (cid:862)tra(cid:374)sgressi(cid:374)g o(cid:374)e or (cid:373)ore pla(cid:374)etar(cid:455) (cid:271)ou(cid:374)daries (cid:373)a(cid:455) (cid:271)e deleterious or e(cid:448)e(cid:374) (cid:272)atastrophi(cid:272) due to the risk of crossing thresholds that will trigger non-linear, abrupt environmental change within continental- to planetary-s(cid:272)ale s(cid:455)ste(cid:373)s(cid:863) Carso(cid:374): (cid:862)o(cid:374)l(cid:455) (cid:449)ithi(cid:374) the (cid:373)o(cid:373)e(cid:374)t of ti(cid:373)e represe(cid:374)ted (cid:271)(cid:455) the prese(cid:374)t (cid:272)e(cid:374)tur(cid:455) has o(cid:374)e spe(cid:272)ies (cid:863) (cid:894)pp. (cid:1009)-6) (human is the species mentioned)