Planetary Boundaries News

All life on Earth, and human civilizations, are sustained by vital biogeochemical systems, which are in delicate balance. However, our species — due largely to rapid population growth and explosive consumption — is destabilizing these Earth processes, endangering the stability of the “safe operating space for humanity.” As noted by the main feature in this special Mongabay series, scientists have defined nine planetary boundaries: climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, ozone depletion, atmospheric aerosol pollution, freshwater use, biogeochemical flows of nitrogen and phosphorus, land-system change, and the release of novel chemicals.

Aerosol pollution: Destabilizing Earth’s climate and a threat to health

Caffeine: Emerging contaminant of global rivers and coastal waters

The small cats nobody knows: Wild felines face intensifying planetary risks

Tiny plastic particles accumulating in river headwaters: Study

Preventing the next pandemic is vastly cheaper than reacting to it: Study

As world drowns in plastic waste, U.N. to hammer out global treaty

Safe havens for coral reefs will disappear as oceans warm, study says

Innovative sewage solutions: Tackling the global human waste problem

Efforts to dim Sun and cool Earth must be blocked, say scientists

We’ve breached Earth’s threshold for chemical pollution, study says

In hot water: Ocean warming hits another record high on climate change

The thick of it: Delving into the neglected global impacts of human waste

Scientists on a quest to map worldwide web of fungi beneath our feet

Layers of carbon: The Congo Basin peatlands and oil

‘Tis the season’ for cold-stunned sea turtles — and their rescue — on Cape Cod

Hospital waste, not masks, are plastic scourge of pandemic: Study

Novel chemical entities: Are we sleepwalking through a planetary boundary?

Nitrogen: The environmental crisis you haven’t heard of yet

Sea turtles: Can these great marine migrators navigate rising human threats?

In saving the ozone layer, we avoided even more intense global warming

As populations grow, how will thirsty cities survive their drier futures?

Soil and its promise as a climate solution: A primer

New study says changes in clouds will add to global warming, not curb it

New study finds that minority of animals host majority of zoonotic viruses

A world of hurt: 2021 climate disasters raise alarm over food security

Address risky human activities now or face new pandemics, scientists warn

Old and new solutions pave way to net-zero emissions farming, studies show

Eight of the 10 nations most at risk from climate and toxic pollution in Africa: study

Record heat waves are a taste of what’s to come under a changing climate

As Arctic warms, scientists wrestle with its climate ‘tipping point’

Earth tipping points could destabilize each other in domino effect: Study

New Attenborough film sounds alarm on planetary boundaries, but offers hope

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