Environmental Megatrends | Megatrends Watch Institute

Environmental Megatrends

Environmental Collapse

As of today, humanity's demand for natural resources has exceeded the available biological capacity of our planet Earth. If we continue our rates of consumption and waste, we will need an equivalent of 3 planets by 2050. If current trends persist, along with the growing effects of climate change, the loss of natural ecosystems and biodiversity is projected to reach 40% by 2050.

Greenhouse Emissions

Global greenhouse gas emissions have grown markedly, with a 75% increase from 1970 to 2004. The current concentration of CO₂ in the Earth's atmosphere is about 145% higher than the levels before the Industrial Revolution.

Rising Temperatures

Global surface temperatures have risen 1°C in the past century, and it has been estimated that global temperatures could climb from 2.5 to 5.4 degrees by 2050.

Natural Disasters

Changes in temperatures lead to more frequent climate events. The average number of disasters throughout the 1980s was 400. It increased to 630 in the 1990s and to 730 in the past ten years.

Biodiversity Loss

If trends continue, up to 45% of all species could go extinct by 2050, causing unpredictable shifts in the environment of our planet.

Megatrends 2050

Ecological Overshoot

Environmental Collapse