{"id":79664,"date":"2023-09-21T01:00:10","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T01:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/climate\/2023\/09\/21\/the-worlds-first-scientific-health-check-shows-a-majority-of-planetary-boundaries-have-been-broken\/"},"modified":"2023-09-21T01:00:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T01:00:10","slug":"the-worlds-first-scientific-health-check-shows-a-majority-of-planetary-boundaries-have-been-broken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/climate\/2023\/09\/21\/the-worlds-first-scientific-health-check-shows-a-majority-of-planetary-boundaries-have-been-broken\/","title":{"rendered":"The world\u2019s first \u201cscientific health check\u201d shows a majority of planetary boundaries have been broken"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>The first complete \u201cscientific health check\u201d reveals global systems are well beyond<\/strong> stable range:<\/strong> Six of the world\u2019s nine planetary boundaries \u2014 the environmental thresholds within which ecosystems can self-regulate and humanity can safely operate \u2014 have been broken due to \u201chuman-caused pollution and destruction of the natural world,\u201d The Guardian<\/a> reported, citing a study (pdf)<\/a> published in ScienceAdvances. Another two of the boundaries \u2014 air pollution and ocean acidification \u2014 are currently at risk of collapsing, while four biological boundaries \u2014 climate, biodiversity, land use, and biogeochemical cycles \u2014 are either at or close to the highest risk level. While air pollution is globally still within the boundary, the study showed that the boundary has been crossed in some regions such as South Asia and China. The assessment \u2014 which was based on 2k previous studies \u2014 concluded that Earth's systems have been thrown out of equilibrium, making future global environmental conditions uncertain, the study concluded.<\/p>\n

When were the boundaries crossed? <\/strong>The boundary for biosphere integrity \u2014 which concerns the functioning of ecosystems \u2014 was broken in the late 1800s, while the boundary for land use \u2014 the loss of forest \u2014 was breached in the last century. In the late 1980s, the safe boundary for climate change was surpassed, while the freshwater boundary was exceeded in the early 1900s. Other boundaries include nitrogen and phosphorus flow and synthetic pollution, both of which have been broken due to excessive use of fertilizers.<\/p>\n

Atmospheric ozone is the only boundary relatively intact: <\/strong>\u201cThe one boundary that is not threatened is atmospheric ozone, after action to phase out destructive chemicals in recent decades led to the ozone hole shrinking,\u201d The Guardian explains.<\/p>\n

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-<\/strong><\/p>\n