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Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries

  • Katherine Richardson
  • , Will Steffen
  • , Wolfgang Lucht
  • , Jørgen Bendtsen
  • , Sarah E. Cornell
  • , Jonathan F. Donges
  • , Markus Drüke
  • , Ingo Fetzer
  • , Govindasamy Bala
  • , Werner von Bloh
  • , Georg Feulner
  • , Stephanie Fiedler
  • , Dieter Gerten
  • , Tom Gleeson
  • , Matthias Hofmann
  • , Willem Huiskamp
  • , Matti Kummu
  • , Chinchu Mohan
  • , David Nogués-Bravo
  • , Stefan Petri
  • Miina Porkka, Stefan Rahmstorf, Sibyll Schaphoff, Kirsten Thonicke, Arne Tobian, Vili Virkki, Lan Wang-Erlandsson, Lisa Weber, Johan Rockström
  • University of Copenhagen
  • Australian National University
  • Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
  • Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
  • Stockholm University
  • Indian Institute of Science Bangalore
  • Kiel University
  • University of Victoria
  • University of Saskatchewan
  • University of Potsdam
  • Waterplan (YC S21)

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

2723 Citations (Scopus)
145 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This planetary boundaries framework update finds that six of the nine boundaries are transgressed, suggesting that Earth is now well outside of the safe operating space for humanity. Ocean acidification is close to being breached, while aerosol loading regionally exceeds the boundary. Stratospheric ozone levels have slightly recovered. The transgression level has increased for all boundaries earlier identified as overstepped. As primary production drives Earth system biosphere functions, human appropriation of net primary production is proposed as a control variable for functional biosphere integrity. This boundary is also transgressed. Earth system modeling of different levels of the transgression of the climate and land system change boundaries illustrates that these anthropogenic impacts on Earth system must be considered in a systemic context.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbereadh2458
Number of pages16
JournalScience Advances
Volume9
Issue number37
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Sept 2023
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 14 - Life Below Water
    SDG 14 Life Below Water

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