Breaching Planetary Boundaries: Over Half of Global Land Faces Ecological Crisis
More than half of the Earth's land surface has transgressed critical ecological thresholds signaling a breach of the planetary boundary for functional biosphere integrity.
This new study, published in One Earth was led by colleagues from the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact research in collaboration with REMASS researchers Nicolas Roux and others.
The study maps two global indicators that track human pressure on ecosystems as well as ecological disruption.
The indicators are proposed to be included in future assessments of the planetary boundaries framework to represent functional biosphere integrity.
Alarmingly, the study finds that the integrity of ecosystems has already been critically compromised across large parts of the planet, a fraction that has been growing exponentially in recent decades, mostly due to rising global resource use. Ongoing climate warming may further aggravate these challenges.