Environmental Science
Planetary Boundaries and Human Activity
Quick fact
As of 2023, four planetary boundaries have been crossed: climate change, biosphere integrity (genetic and functional diversity), land-system change (deforestation), and biogeochemical flows (nitrogen and phosphorus cycles).
Why this is interesting
We treat the Earth as an infinite resource, but science has identified nine critical limits that, if crossed, could destabilize the entire planet. How many have we already passed?