The effect of human activity on Earth would result in unpredictable chaos from which there is no return, according to a group of physicists.
The physicists led by Alex Bernadini of the University of Porto in Portugal used a theory conceived to model superconductivity for the study. They showed difficulty in restoring the earth’s equilibrium after a certain point. “A finite amount of human activity could result in a Hothouse Earth from which there is no return,” the scientists said.
“The physicists claimed that all hope to fix the problem would be lost if the Earth System got into the region of chaotic behaviour.
NEW GEOLOGICAL EPOCH
For several years now, the Earth has been experiencing extreme weather conditions. Wildfires, storms and cyclones led to soaring temperature. Burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and increases in farming led to all these catastrophes, according to scientists.
The Physicists say that this led to the proposal of a new geological epoch: theAntrhopocene, a period in which human activity has led to a significant and marked impact on the entire Earth system, comprised of the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.
The Anthropocene would follow the Holocene, which started around 11,700 years ago, and scientists propose its beginning around the middle of the 20th century – the peak of the nuclear era. Bernadini and his colleagues decided to model the transition from Holocene to Anthropocene as a phase transition and calculate its future trajectory accordingly.
With world having a finite amount of habitable space, resources and a finite rate at which it could be used, the researchers decided to map the possible outcomes of the Anthropocene phase transition using a logistic map.
THE RESULT
The physicists show that the Earth runs into havoc. This means that the Earth’s system evolves into chaotic behaviour – extreme seasonal fluctuations and weather events – that precludes prediction of the future behaviour of the system, making it impossible to mitigate. That means it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to claw our way back to a stable climate.
“Even for this simple case, we observed the emergence of chaotic behaviour in the equilibrium points of the Earth system. This leads to potentially important consequences if at least some components of the human activities actually follow logistic maps, which is a quite reasonable hypothesis, given the physical limitations of the planet-wide system we live in,” the study said.
HUMAN EFEFCTS
Human activity has various effects on the Earth system, such as increasing greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, mining, fracking, dam building, and pollution. These effects can trigger climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality, undrinkable water, and even earthquakes. Some of these effects are irreversible and can lead to unpredictable chaos in the ecosystem.
