Earth is becoming increasingly uninhabitable for people, according to a new study, which warns that human activity is causing large-scale abrupt or permanent environmental changes.
Six out of nine planetary boundaries have been crossed as a result of human-caused pollution and devastation of the natural world, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances.
The planetary boundaries are a set of frameworks devised by scientists to allow mankind to continue to flourish and thrive for future generations.
In 2009, a group of 29 internationally renowned scientists proposed these nine planetary boundaries.
The nine planetary borders are as follows:
- Biosphere integrity
- Climate change
- Freshwater changes
- Ocean acidification
- Stratospheric ozone depletion
- Atmospheric aerosol loading
- Land system change
- The introduction of novel entities such as synthetic chemicals and nuclear waste.
- Biogeochemical flows such as the movement of nitrogen through global element cycles.
Six of these boundaries have been crossed. They are biosphere integrity, climate change, freshwater changes, land system change, novel entities such as synthetic chemicals and nuclear waste, and biogeochemical movements such as nitrogen migration across global element cycles.
“We are in very bad shape,” said study co-author Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.
“We show in this analysis that the planet is losing resilience and the patient is sick.”
The study’s experts said on Wednesday (Sept 13) that they had revised the list from 2015 and added a sixth element to the risky category.
Water went from “barely safe” to “out-of-bounds” due to deteriorating river run-off, improved measurements, and greater knowledge of the problem, according to Rockstrom.
These parameters “determine the fate of the planet,” he added, adding that several outside investigations have “scientifically well established” nine criteria.
“If Earth can manage these nine factors, Earth could be relatively safe. But it’s not,” he said.
He stated that a lack of resilience might make meeting the 1.5C climate goal unachievable, bringing the globe closer to real tipping points.
According to the study, which was based on 2,000 investigations, numerous planetary limits were crossed a long time ago.
“This update finds that six of the nine boundaries are transgressed, suggesting that Earth is now well outside of the safe operating space for humanity,” the scientists said.
