Report: Earth May Have Surpassed 7 of 9 'Planetary Boundaries'

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Facts

  • According to a recent study of the planet's life support systems, researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) say industrial civilization is on the verge of or has already crossed the seventh of nine 'planetary boundaries.'[1]
  • The researchers say there has been a breach of the boundaries for climate change, biosphere integrity, land system change, freshwater change, biogeochemical flows, and the introduction of novel entities like synthetic chemicals or plastics.[2]
  • The notion of 'planetary boundaries,' introduced in 2009, highlights nine global objectives related to human-caused changes to the environment's stability and livability. While crossing a boundary does not imply that catastrophic changes will happen right away, they do indicate that the 'patient' is not doing well. [3]
  • Rising CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are becoming unsustainable, approaching a breach of the seventh threshold for ocean acidification. More CO2 dissolves in ocean water as its emissions increase, reportedly making the oceans more acidic.[4]
  • Intensifying ocean acidification negatively impacts corals, shellfish, and phytoplankton, essential for marine organisms. In addition, it disrupts the food supply for billions of people and limits the seas' ability to absorb more CO2 and reduce global warming levels.[4]
  • According to experts, only one of the nine planetary boundaries is currently not at risk — the ozone layer. Man-made chemicals that damaged this shield and caused acid rain were banned in 1987 and have since recovered.[5]

Sources: [1]Guardian, [2]Sustainable Views, [3]SU, [4]Yahoo News and [5]France 24.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by PIK. The release of the first Planetary Health Check Report represents a significant step forward in our understanding and preservation of Earth's stability and resilience. Staying within the safe operating zone of the nine planetary boundaries is critical to establishing a stable and sustainable world. Surpassing a boundary heightens the risk of irreversibly altering Earth's life support systems and crossing critical points. This is a call to action to mobilize political support to help restore already breached boundaries.
  • Narrative B, as provided by The Breakthrough Institute. The notion of planetary boundaries is flawed and may mislead global environmental management initiatives. Six of the nine proposed boundaries don't actually have clear global biophysical limits — land use change, nitrogen levels, species loss, freshwater use, chemical pollution, and aerosol loading. In other words, there are no apparent global tipping points for these boundaries that would cause natural systems to behave differently than they have historically.

Predictions