There is no way to write an introduction to this article and it must be quoted directly. A new United Nations report has warned that “the earth’s environmental systems are being pushed towards their biophysical limits,” beyond which loom sudden, irreversible and potentially catastrophic changes.

In a 525-page report on the health of the planet, the agency paints a grim picture: The melting of the polar ice caps, desertification in Africa, deforestation of tropical jungles, spiralling use of chemicals and the emptying out of the world’s seas are just some of myriad environmental catastrophes posing a threat to life as we know it.

Many of us know a derivative of the expression: “I feel like I am at a crossroads, but I am not the person who is driving”. Many also feel the same way about the environment. We may all do our little bit. Here in Malta, we have no excuse. Recycling collections take place twice weekly, and a drop-in site is never far away. One may also take bulkier items to the bring-in sites, free of charge. If you have anything bulkier still, you may call the Bulky Refuse Service to pick it up; again without charge.

But even in doing that, it seems that at every turn, we increase the size of our carbon footprint. Just fixing breakfast and getting to work causes damage to the environment – and we are all contributing.

We may try and recycle, but is that enough? Are we, members of society, doing enough to stop the destruction? Are our national governments demanding enough from us in terms of doing our bit? Perhaps not, on both counts. The truth is that if we do not change and change fast, there is not going to be much left of the planet in a few hundred years.

Are we truly going to be the epoch which destroyed earth as it was once known? The answer, if things stay as they are, is yes. Every continent is like a massive ant’s nest – we spread, we consume, we strip bare and then we try and move on.

But move to where? Is it conceivable that the world should think like this, even?

The UN says that as human pressure on the earth rises... “abrupt and possibly irreversible changes to the life-support functions of the planet are likely to occur, with significant adverse implications for human well-being”.

Such adverse implications include rising sea levels, increased frequency and severity of floods and droughts, and the collapse of fisheries, said the report, which compiles the work of the past three years by a team of 300 researchers.

The bad news doesn’t end there. The report says about 20% of vertebrate species are under threat of extinction, coral reefs have declined by 38% since 1980, greenhouse gas emissions could double over the next 50 years, and 90% of water and fish samples from aquatic environments are contaminated by pesticides.

It adds that of the 90 most crucial environmental goals, little or no progress has been made over the past five years on nearly a third of them, including global warming. Significant progress has been made on just four of the objectives, the report says. Perhaps we ought to change our mindset, now, before it’s too late.