A projection for the future
- According to the projections, the indirect and direct drivers that will affect ecosystems over the next 50 years will be mostly the same ones as today. However, the relative importance of different drivers will change. Climate change and high nutrient levels in water will become increasing problems, whereas population growth will become relatively less important. The projections predict that the rapid conversion of ecosystems for use in agriculture, cities, and infrastructure will continue. Moreover, habitat loss will lead to a significant loss of biodiversity by 2050.
- Human uses of ecosystems will increase substantially. This will deteriorate ecosystems, particularly if they are used unsustainably. Overall, human health is expected to improve in the future in most scenarios. Only the scenario which
combines regionalization with reactive ecosystem management might lead to a negative spiral of poverty, declining health, and degraded ecosystems in developing countries. In the scenarios, proactive management of ecosystems is generally beneficial, particularly when conditions are changing. However, both proactive and reactive approaches have costs and benefits. More...
- Some ecosystem problems have been reduced by innovative local responses. However, the “threats” observed at a global level may be difficult to estimate from a more local perspective. Moreover, consequences of actions that go beyond the
actor’s immediate perspective are often overlooked. Therefore, institutions are needed at multiple levels to strengthen the adaptive capacity and effectiveness of sub-national and local responses.
- Different drivers of ecosystem change take more or less time to react to changes. For example, some species might become extinct quickly when they lose their habitat, but for others, like trees, it can take centuries. This delay provides opportunities for restoring habitats and rescuing species. Most changes in ecosystems are gradual and, in principle, detectable and predictable. Other changes are more difficult to predict, because they are gradual only until they reach a certain threshold, at which large changes occur suddenly. Examples of abrupt changes include the start of epidemics, the collapse of a fish population, and bursts of algae growth.
- Human interventions in ecosystems make abrupt changes more likely. Loss of biodiversity, for instance, makes it more difficult for ecosystems to recover from damage. Once an ecosystem has undergone an abrupt change, recovery to the original state is slow, costly, and sometimes even impossible.
Suggested Solutions
- Reducing some important uncertainties about ecosystems and their services could significantly improve the ability of assessments to provide the information needed by policy-makers. Better theories and models are needed to understand the links between ecosystem change and impacts on human well-being and to assess the economic consequences of ecosystem change. Conditions and trends in ecosystems are difficult to assess because of gaps in information, due for instance to incomplete monitoring systems, inventories of species, and models. Better models could provide decision-makers with detailed information that directly links local, national, regional, and global projections on the future of ecosystem services.
- There is limited information on the costs and benefits of alternative policy options in terms of total economic value (including non-marketed ecosystem services). Moreover, not enough is known about the importance placed by different cultures on cultural services, how this changes over time, and how it influences trade-offs and decisions
- Reversing the degradation of ecosystems while meeting increasing demands for their services is a major challenge. Changes in policy can decrease many of the negative consequences of growing pressures on ecosystems. However, the actions needed for this are much larger than those currently taken. Most ecosystem services have already suffered, but the damage would have been even greater without the conservation actions taken so far.
- The assessments identified many types of positive actions that would bring long- term benefits for both ecosystems and human well-being. Examples of actions include: increasing international coordination, developing and diffusing technology, and improving the use of information.
- Decision-making processes and their effects on ecosystems and human well-being can be improved by a series of elements such as transparency and public participation - In spite of these problems, there are a few things that we can do to protect ecosystems. The first step in the solution is to become aware. The second step is analyzing how we can influence the laws governing pollution and ungoverned industrialization. You can make yourself visible to society regarding ecosystems.
Small things like, reducing ones litter can also influence the structure. Basically, reduce, recycle and reuse that which we can. Cut down on carbon emissions wherever possible. Basically, learn to think Eco-friendly.
- One's carbon footprint is determined by many variables which we tend to overlook. Don’t just plant a tree, read about the ecosystem where you live, what thrives there and how to protect it. Is the plant alien doing more damage to the said ecosystem? We should be considering ourselves as guardians of this unique world we live in and yet we do more damage unconsciously than we realize.
- The environmental cycles, or continuous circulation of water, carbon and other nutrients, are vitally important for ecosystems. Ecosystems suffer from water withdrawals from rivers and lakes for urban uses, irrigation and industrial
applications. According to the website Green Facts, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by one third since 1750, the time industrialization began.
francis1897 answered the question on February 28, 2023 at 05:30