{"id":261,"date":"2022-02-13T13:08:59","date_gmt":"2022-02-13T13:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/earthscaping.dk\/?p=261"},"modified":"2022-04-09T17:42:59","modified_gmt":"2022-04-09T17:42:59","slug":"planetary-boundaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthscaping.dk\/index.php\/2022\/02\/13\/planetary-boundaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Planetary Boundaries"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Credit: Designed by Azote for Stockholm Resilience Centre<\/a>, based on analysis in Persson et al 2022 and Steffen et al 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Planetary boundaries<\/a> is a concept involving Earth system processes that contain environmental boundaries.It was proposed in 2009 by a group of Earth system and environmental scientists, led by Johan Rockström from the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Will Steffen from the Australian National University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group wanted to define a “Safe operating space for humanity” for the international community, including governments at all levels, international organizations, civil society, the scientific community and the private sector, as a precondition for sustainable development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are on average, moving towards four degrees warming this century. And we haven’t been in a four-degree warmer world for the past four million years. So it’s not as if it’s a place we know very well.<\/p>Johan Rockström<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Transgressing one or more planetary boundaries<\/a> may be deleterious or even catastrophic due to the risk of crossing thresholds that will trigger non-linear, abrupt environmental change within continental-scale to planetary-scale systems<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The framework is based on scientific evidence that human actions since the Industrial Revolution have become the main driver of global environmental change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the framework, “Transgressing one or more planetary boundaries<\/a> may be deleterious or even catastrophic due to the risk of crossing thresholds that will trigger non-linear, abrupt environmental change within continental-scale to planetary-scale systems.” The Earth system process boundaries mark the safe zone for the planet to the extent that they are not crossed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research that was published in 2009<\/a> stated that 3 of the boundaries where exceeded. In 2015, the number was increased to 4<\/a>. In 2022, it was increased to 5<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Climate change EXCEEDED <\/mark><\/li>
  2. Biosphere integrity (functional and genetic) EXCEEDED <\/mark><\/li>
  3. Land-system change EXCEEDED <\/mark><\/li>
  4. Freshwater use<\/li>
  5. Biogeochemical flows (nitrogen and phosphorus) EXCEEDED <\/mark><\/li>
  6. Ocean acidification<\/li>
  7. Atmospheric aerosol pollution<\/li>
  8. Stratospheric ozone depletion<\/li>
  9. Release of novel chemicals (including heavy metals, radioactive materials, plastics, and more) EXCEEDED <\/mark><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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    Credit: Azote for Stockholm Resilience Centre<\/a>, Stockholm University (CC BY 4.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The Planetary Boundaries<\/a> framework is closely related to UN<\/a>’s 17 SDG<\/a>’s. The framework focuses on 4 of the SDG<\/a>’s<\/p>\n\n\n\n