A new study updates the structure of planetary boundaries and shows that human activities are increasingly affecting the planet, thereby increasing the risk of initiating serious changes in the general conditions of the Earth. For more than 3 billion years, interactions between life and climate have controlled general environmental conditions on Earth. Human activities such as replacing nature with other land uses, changing the amount of water in rivers and soil, releasing synthetic chemicals into the open environment, and releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere affect these interactions.
Respecting and maintaining interactions within the Earth system to remain similar to those that have controlled conditions on Earth over the past approximately 12,000 years is critical to ensuring that human activities do not cause dramatic changes in Earth conditions; these changes will reduce Earth’s climate. ability to support modern civilizations.
The nine “planetary boundaries” represent components of the global environment that govern the stability and habitability of humans on the planet. The degree to which safe limit levels are violated is due to human activities affecting the components.
By applying the latest scientific understanding of the functioning of the Earth system to define a “safe operating space” for humanity, the Planetary Boundary Framework proposes limits on the degree to which human activities can affect critical processes without risking potentially irreversible changes in Earth conditions. keep us afloat.
Metrics for all borders are presented for the first time. Six boundaries have been found to be violated, and violations are increasing for all boundaries except the depletion of the Earth’s ozone layer. Global attention to climate is not enough. The development of Earth system models that accurately reproduce interactions across boundaries, particularly climate and biosphere integrity, is an urgent priority.
A published study Science Developments It represents the third update of the system by 29 scientists from eight different countries.
The world’s “tension” is too high
Kathryn Richardson, professor at the Globus Institute, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at the University of Copenhagen and leader of the study, explains that the trend towards increased border violations is worrying: “Crossing the six borders does not always mean disaster in itself, but it is a clear warning signal. It is like our own blood pressure.” “We can consider it. Blood pressure over 120/80 is not a guarantee of a heart attack, but it increases the risk of a heart attack. That’s why we’re trying to reduce it. For our own sake and the sake of our children, we need to reduce the pressure on these six planetary boundaries.”
An important conclusion of the study is that more attention should be paid to the interaction between borders. “If we want to protect the earth system from irreversible damage, it is not enough to focus on human-caused climate change,” says Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and one of the framework’s original initiators in 2009.
“Alongside climate change, the integrity of the biosphere is the second pillar of our planet’s stability. Our study shows that reducing global warming and preserving a functional biosphere for the future must go hand in hand,” says co-author Wolfgang Lucht. World highlights Head of PIC’s Systems Analysis Department.
Biomass use affects biodiversity
The need to respect the limits of land use change focuses attention on the increasing global use of biomass as an alternative to coal, oil and gas. Biomass is the product of the process of photosynthesis, in which plants convert solar energy into energy that can be used by other living organisms, thus providing the energy that sustains biodiversity.
“Our research shows that humans allocated the equivalent of ~30% of the energy available to support biodiversity before the Industrial Revolution,” says Richardson.
“Of course, the extraction of so much energy that would otherwise be available to nature must be the driving force behind biodiversity loss. “Therefore, we propose to adopt human allocation of net primary production (HANPP), i.e. biomass use, as one of the two indicators when assessing human impact on biodiversity.”
Better models of the world system are needed
“A world that thrives within the boundaries defined by science is the only way to navigate our current situation of increasing and potentially catastrophic risks on a planetary scale. We already know this in relation to climate, where the Paris Agreement recognizes planetary climate limits to achieve the 1.5°C Limit. Similarly, the world recognized planetary limits to biodiversity when COP15 in Montreal and Kunming decided to halt and reverse biodiversity loss on land and in the ocean in 2022,” says Johan Rockström.
“But our research shows that this is far from sufficient. Planetary Boundaries Science provides a ‘guide to action’ if we truly want to achieve prosperity and justice for everyone on Earth, and this goes far beyond just climate to protecting, restoring the planet with new Earth System Modeling and Analysis.” and requires systematic efforts to restore the sustainability of the planet”.
“I hope this new research serves as a wake-up call for many and increases the international community’s attention to the need to limit our impact on the planet in order to preserve and protect the conditions on Earth that allow advanced human societies to thrive,” says Catherine Richardson. Source
Source: Port Altele
