According to a new study, published in the journal Science Advances. The world has breached six out of nine planetary boundaries necessary to maintain Earth’s stability and resilience.Scientists have investigated the processes within Earth’s ecosystem that have played a crucial role in maintaining favorable conditions for human existence over the last 12,000 years.
Planetary Boundaries
- The planetary boundaries framework was first proposed by Johan Rockström and a group of 28 internationally renowned scientists in 2009 to define the environmental limits within which humanity can safely operate to maintain Earth’s stability and biodiversity.
Nine Planetary Boundaries
- Climate change.
- Change in biosphere integrity (biodiversity loss and species extinction)
- Stratospheric ozone depletion.
- Ocean acidification.
- Biogeochemical flows (phosphorus and nitrogen cycles).
- Land-system change (for example deforestation).
- Freshwater use (alterations across the entire water cycle over land).
- Atmospheric aerosol loading (microscopic particles in the atmosphere that affect climate and living organisms).
- Introduction of novel entities(consisting of microplastics, endocrine disruptors, and organic pollutants).
Breaching Planetary Boundaries
- Breaching of these boundaries doesn’t indicate an immediate catastrophe but raises the risk of irreversible environmental changes.
- This situation could lead to conditions on Earth that no longer support our current way of life.