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Earth now way outside "safe operating space for humanity," says new report [1]

['Carla Sinclair']

Date: 2023-09-13

In brighter news today, "Earth is now well outside of the safe operating space for humanity," says a report in the journal Science Advances.

According to the article, there are nine connected systems, or "planetary boundaries" (e.g., climate change, biodiversity, and freshwater and land use), that need to stay in balance in order for the earth to remain human-friendly. And 29 scientists from eight countries have determined that six of these boundaries have been "transgressed."

"We are in very bad shape," said John Rockstrom, the study's co-author.

From AP News:

Earth's climate, biodiversity, land, freshwater, nutrient pollution and "novel" chemicals (human-made compounds like microplastics and nuclear waste) are all out of whack, a group of international scientists said in Wednesday's journal Science Advances. Only the acidity of the oceans, the health of the air and the ozone layer are within the boundaries considered safe, and both ocean and air pollution are heading in the wrong direction, the study said. These boundaries "determine the fate of the planet," said Rockstrom, a climate scientist. The nine factors have been "scientifically well established" by numerous outside studies, he said. If Earth can manage these nine factors, Earth could be relatively safe. But it's not, he said. … The simulations showed "that one of the most powerful means that humanity has at its disposal to combat climate change" is cleaning up its land and saving forests, the study said. Returning forests to late 20th century levels would provide substantial natural sinks to store carbon dioxide instead of the air, where it traps heat, the study said. University of Michigan environmental studies dean Jonathan Overpeck, who wasn't part of the study, called the study "deeply troubling in its implications for the planet and people should be worried."

And from CNN:

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