"The milestone comes with grim ramifications for marine ecosystems and human livelihoods. More than three-quarters of the Earth's support systems are not in the safe zone, Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany, said in a statement announcing the 2025 evaluation of the planetary boundaries. Humanity is pushing beyond the limits of a safe operating space, increasing the risk of destabilizing the planet."
"But as societies industrialized and began widely burning fossil fuels in the 19th century, greenhouse gases built up in the atmosphere, trapping heat and transforming Earth and its climate in many ways besides raising global temperatures. Beginning in 2009, PIK flagged and prioritized research on nine geophysical limits that make up a sort of planetary life-support system; staying within these limits, they argue, is the best hope for maintaining the clement climatic conditions we and most of Earth's other denizens have adapted to."
Earth has been pushed past multiple physical and chemical boundaries crucial for keeping the planet livable. Rising temperatures, biodiversity loss, chemical pollution and ocean acidification have exceeded scientists' thresholds. Breaching ocean acidification threatens marine ecosystems and human livelihoods dependent on oceans. More than three-quarters of Earth's support systems fall outside the safe zone, indicating a growing risk of planetary destabilization. Humans and many other species evolved under Holocene climate conditions, but industrial-era fossil fuel combustion has increased greenhouse gases, trapping heat and transforming global climate. Research beginning in 2009 defined nine geophysical limits as a planetary life-support system; staying within them offers the best chance to maintain clement conditions.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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