 So I saw a headline that made me think our human beings literally on an extinction speedrun Like are we trying to kill ourselves as quickly as possible because things like this shouldn't be happening We should be aware of the way that we affect the environment with which we live So the headline reads rising chemical pollution crosses crucial planetary boundary the pace that societies are producing and releasing new chemicals Into the environment is not consistent with staying within a safe operating space for humanity said one Scientist so to my understanding there's a lot of different issues that affect all of us and a lot of these things are Interrelated right climate change is an issue that leads to ocean acidification desertification food shortages and whatnot and then we have this issue which is kind of its own separate thing because of our use of chemicals and One thing that the article which will dive into makes clear is that the rate with which we're producing chemicals as a species just everyone has Increased 50 fold since 1950 and it's set to triple by 2050 So assuming we're able to solve the issue of climate change with at this point in time doesn't seem Very likely not to be too cynical, but it doesn't look good for us at this moment Then there's this issue We're using so much chemicals that it has exceeded the point where it's safe. I Just I don't I don't know what to do I can't not laugh at these stories because of how absurd the situation is the deck is totally stacked against us and late-stage Capitalism has led to us just completely wrecking our planet all for profits all for economies that we made up We chose to make economies and emphasize that over human well-being and it's just it's a It's sad right we can we can rework the system as human beings We've done a lot of stupid things, but I think that we're savvy enough to at least try To not kill ourselves to try to design an economic system try to design a global system that isn't completely Going to get us all killed for lack of a better word So let's get to the article here So Julia Conley of common dreams reports the level of chemical pollution on earth has crossed a planetary boundary and now Threatens global ecosystems that support all life according to a new study on human-made substances whose production has rapidly increased in recent decades researchers at the Stockholm Resilience Center Examined the levels of 350,000 plastics pesticides industrial chemicals and other chemicals and found that human activity is Releasing so many of these substances each year that their production has altered the remarkably stable state earth has remained within For 10,000 years since the dawn of civilization the pace that societies are producing and releasing new chemicals into the environment is Not consistent with staying within a safe operating space for humanity said Patricia Villarubia Gomez a PhD Canada and research assistant who contributed to the report Plastics are a significant driver of the problem with worldwide plastic production skyrocketing by 79 percent between 2000 and 2015 the authors of the report published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology drew on research from 2009 in which a team of international scientists identified nine planetary boundaries that influence the planet's stability The new study relates to novel entities or synthetic chemicals that are created by human activities with largely unknown effects on the earth system According to the SRC the novel entities boundary is the fifth to be crossed according to scientists after climate change and global Heating land system change biochemical flows and the loss of biodiversity Freshwater use stratospheric ozone depletion and ocean acidification are still within the safe operating space Identified by scientists, but are also approaching the planetary boundaries. Okay, so the conclusion is we're doomed right Well, I don't necessarily know this is a study that was just published I think that I want to hear from the experts and what they say in terms of how we can stop another Catastrophe that we've brought upon ourselves for purposes of profit But I'm actually Surprisingly encouraged to know that we haven't crossed the entity's boundary for issues like ozone depletion and ocean acidification because I knew that these are issues But I thought oh wow, that's good I thought that we were too far gone there, but there's still hope apparently it's running out But there's there's a little bit of hope hang on to that optimism folks. Hang on to that. Hope you if you can find any But you know something like this. I don't know the impact the article doesn't necessarily state this I don't know the impact that this has I don't know if there's ripple effects I would argue that there probably are I mean anything environmental our ecosystems are all interconnected So if you affect one thing in a certain way, then other things are going to deal with unforeseen Consequences so, you know, I don't know What the unintended consequences of this will be I don't know what else this will affect But what we do know is that chemicals are being used too much and the solution at least for now Maybe this is an oversimplification But the solution is to stop using so much chemicals We need a global push to reduce the use of chemicals reduce production of chemicals So the same way that we are calling on governments all from around the world to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions There also needs to be a parallel push to reduce the use of chemicals because if we don't do that Then we're going to slowly but surely poison ourselves