BriCASFR

Planetary boundaries are defined to understand safe ranges for our Earth’s systems. Specifically, safe levels that existed globally prior to the Industrial Revolution.

And for our earth systems and living systems, our planet needs to continue to operate within these safe spaces.

For evaluation, the nine Planetary Boundaries are:

• Stratospheric ozone depletion
• Loss of biosphere integrity (biodiversity loss and extinctions)
• Chemical pollution and the release of novel entities
• Climate Change
• Ocean acidification
• Freshwater consumption and the global hydrological cycle
• Land system change
• Nitrogen and phosphorus flows to the biosphere and oceans
• Atmospheric aerosol loading

And of these, the two core planetary boundaries are climate change and biodiversity integrity.

Specific reports indicate that four of nine planetary boundaries have now been crossed or at threat of being crossed as a result of human activity:

• climate change
• loss of biosphere integrity
• land-system change, and
• nitrogen & phosphorus flows to the biosphere and oceans (i.e., altered biogeochemical cycles). 

In approximately the 2018 – 2020 periods, the biogeochemical flows of nitrogen & phosphorus, and biodiversity loss & extinctions were observed to have crossed into the red or danger zones.

And the climate change and land change boundaries have crossed into the yellow or very concerning zones.

For more information refer to:

Stockholm Resilience Centre – The Nine Planetary Boundaries

and

Impacts