‘Unlimited growth is an illusion’: Scientists urge fossil fuels phase down as Earth at tipping point

Several of the Earth’s ‘vital signs’ have hit record extremes, showing that climate breakdown is imminent, a group of senior climate scientists says. 

Out of 35 identified planetary health markers, including air and ocean surface temperature and sea ice extent, 25 are now at their worst level ever recorded. 

With the threat of ecological overshoot looming, climate experts fear a possible societal collapse. 

They warn that hundreds of millions or even billions of people will be displaced if business as usual continues, leading to greater geopolitical instability and conflicts. 

Climate change could cause many millions of additional deaths worldwide by 2050, they add, stressing that since last year, heatwaves have already killed more than a thousand people just in Asia.

“The future of humanity hangs in the balance,” experts stress, in a state of the climate report published yesterday in the journal BioScience. 

“Climate change could contribute to a collapse by increasing the likelihood of catastrophic risks such as international conflict or by causing multiple stresses, resulting in system-wide synchronous failures.”

In 2024, several indicators have hit record highs, including the number of human and animal livestock populations, per capita meat production and world GDP. 

Symptoms of an overuse of resources, numerous climate indicators were also higher than ever before, including the concentration of CO2, methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. 

Sea surface temperatures also reached an unprecedented peak as did ocean acidity, resulting in a lowered capacity for the number one carbon sink to sequester this planet-heating gas. 

Ocean heat also hit a record high, driving one of the worst global coral bleachings ever witnessed.