Tipping Points

30 Oct Tipping Points

This article covers “Daily Current Affairs” and the topic details “ Tipping Points”. This topic has relevance in the Environment section of the UPSC CSE exam.

For Prelims:

About Tipping Points?

For Mains:

GS 3: Environment

Identified Tipping Points?

Way Forward?

Why in the news?

In a recent report by the United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), the world is edging closer to six interconnected risk tipping points. These points denote immediate and escalating threats on a global scale, encompassing various aspects of the environment and human security.

About Tipping Points

• In environmental science, a tipping point represents a critical threshold. Once this threshold is crossed, it triggers substantial and often irreversible changes in an environmental system.
• A risk tipping point signifies the moment when a socio-ecological system can no longer effectively mitigate risks and fulfill its expected functions. Beyond this juncture, the potential for catastrophic impacts on these systems significantly increases.

Identified Tipping Points

• Extinctions: The risk of irreversible loss of species.
• Depleting Groundwater: Affecting the availability of this essential resource.
• Melting Glaciers: The accelerated retreat of glaciers due to climate change.
• Space Debris: The proliferation of debris in space, posing risks to satellites and space missions.
• Unbearable Heat: Escalating temperatures leading to heat-related challenges.
• Uninsurable Future: The point at which certain risks become uninsurable due to their extreme nature.

Accelerated Extinctions

• Human-induced activities, such as land-use alteration, overexploitation, climate shifts, pollution, and the introduction of invasive species, have significantly hastened extinctions. While extinctions are part of Earth’s natural evolution, the past century has witnessed the obliteration of over 400 vertebrate species.
• Shockingly, the survival of approximately one million plant and animal species remains at risk. Additionally, a substantial 32 million hectares of primary or regenerating forests vanished between 2010 and 2015.

Domino Effect on Ecosystems

• The disappearance of a single species can trigger a domino effect leading to the extinction of other dependent species, amplifying the strain on already fragile ecosystems. A prime example is the endangered gopher tortoise, which creates burrows used by more than 350 species, including the critically endangered dusky gopher frog.
• The absence of gopher tortoises could trigger the downfall of the dusky gopher frog, disrupting the balance in the entire forest ecosystem.

Depleting Groundwater Reserves

• Global aquifers, vital stores of groundwater, face a critical state, crucial for the primary freshwater source for over two billion people. Notably, 70% of this water is allocated for agricultural use. Alarmingly, 21 out of the world’s 37 largest aquifers are depleting at a rate faster than they can be replenished.
• The complexity lies in the fact that aquifer water accumulation took millennia, rendering the resource effectively non-renewable, with recharging efforts demanding a similar timescale. In India, specifically in the state of Punjab, an overwhelming 78% of wells have been excessively tapped or overdrawn. Moreover, the north-western region of the country anticipates critically low groundwater levels by 2025.

Melting Glaciers: 

• One critical tipping point relates to melting glaciers, which serve as vital water sources for drinking, irrigation, hydropower, and ecosystems. Due to global warming, the world’s glaciers are melting at a rate twice as fast as in the preceding two decades, posing risks to approximately 9 billion people.
• Between 2000 and 2019, glaciers lost a staggering 267 gigatons of ice annually, equivalent to the mass of approximately 46,500 Great Pyramids of Giza.
• Even if global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, we are projected to lose around 50% of glaciers by 2100, excluding those in Greenland and Antarctica.

Space Debris: 

• Space debris, comprising objects ranging from tiny flecks of paint to sizable chunks of metal, presents another alarming tipping point. Among the approximately 34,260 objects orbiting Earth, merely a quarter are operational satellites, while the remainder consists of defunct satellites and discarded rocket stages.
• Additionally, an estimated 130 million fragments, measuring between 1 millimeter and 1 centimeter, are too small to track. Travelling at speeds exceeding 25,000 kilometers per hour, even the smallest debris can cause significant damage, including collisions among functional satellites.

Unbearable Heat:

• The “unbearable heat” tipping point is associated with a “wet-bulb temperature” exceeding 35°C, which combines temperature and humidity. High humidity impedes sweat evaporation, exacerbating heat effects and resulting in organ failure and brain damage, making it a dire concern.

Uninsurable Future: 

• The “uninsurable future” tipping point arises from the escalating frequency and severity of extreme weather events worldwide. These events have substantially increased damage costs, complicating the provision of insurance. Since the 1970s, losses from weather-related disasters have surged sevenfold, with 2022 alone witnessing $313 billion in global economic losses.

Charting the Path Forward

In confronting these formidable challenges, a strategic way forward beckons. It necessitates a collective global effort encompassing the following actions:

• Global Cooperation: Prioritize and strengthen international collaboration to tackle the shared challenges faced by the world.
• Aggressive Emissions Reductions: Commit to robust measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, combat climate change, and limit the melting of glaciers and other environmental degradation.
• Invest in Sustainable Energy: Direct investments towards sustainable and renewable energy sources, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and mitigating environmental risks.
• Biodiversity Protection: Implement strategies to safeguard biodiversity and halt the accelerating rate of species extinction.
• Enhanced Global Health Systems: Strengthen and prepare global healthcare systems to cope with the consequences of unbearable heat and health-related challenges associated with extreme environmental conditions.
• Conflict Resolution Mechanisms: Enhance international mechanisms for resolving conflicts, as cooperation and diplomacy are essential in the face of shared environmental threats.

SOURCE: UN University report warns about risk tipping points with irreversible impacts on people and planet – The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)

Download plutus ias current affairs eng med 30th Oct 2023

Q.1 Consider the following statements regarding tipping points:

1. Tipping points trigger substantial, but reversible changes in an environmental system.
2. A risk tipping point denotes when a socio-ecological system can no longer mitigate risks effectively.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? 

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Check Answer

Q.2 Regarding wet-bulb temperature, consider the following statements:

1.  Wet bulb temperature is the highest temperature to which air can be heated by the addition of water vapor at a constant pressure.
2. Wet bulb temperature represents the point beyond which humans can no longer tolerate high temperatures due to the combined effects of heat and humidity.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? 

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Check Answer

Q.3 Environmental tipping points represent a critical juncture in the balance between human activities and the Earth’s ecosystems. Elucidate.

rishabh