The planetary life support systems relied upon by humans have deteriorated to their worst levels ever recorded amid ongoing pollution and habitat destruction, according to a key yet grim annual update by scientists.
Of the nine “planetary boundaries” that help determine whether life can flourish on Earth, seven are being breached at their highest ever levels of transgression, according to the latest planetary health check, a process that was established in 2009.
The seven key indicators in the danger zone include climate change, change in biosphere integrity, land system change, freshwater change, modification of biogeochemical flows, introduction of novel entities and, for the first time last year, ocean acidification.
Only two of the assessed areas, stratospheric ozone depletion and atmospheric aerosol loading, have shown improvement over the last decade, although researchers warn that atmospheric aerosols, which can form air pollution, are still a problem in several regions of the world.
The coalition of 60 scientists who conducted the analysis of the key guardrails for human life under the auspices of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research warned that the consequences of breaching these planetary boundaries is “becoming increasingly clear all around us”.
“The diagnosis is unambiguous – pressure is rising across every planetary boundary already outside the safe operating space,” said Boris Sakschewski, lead author of the report. “It means that the risk of large-scale, persistent and potentially irreversible change is increasing, while our margin for error in tackling these problems is shrinking.”
While there is little time to reverse this parlous situation, humanity does still possess the knowledge and capacity to do so, according to Johan Rockström, a climate scientist and report co-author. “Accelerating action to return to the safe operating space across all planetary boundaries is essential to protect lives and livelihoods, and to deliver on the promise of shared future prosperity,” he said.
The assessment, which pored over the latest scientific data, seeks to establish the state of the defined areas that provide a “safe operating space for humanity”. Human civilization has developed in the past 10,000 years due to a relatively stable climate and natural resources that sustainably provide us with food, shelter and a safe living environment.
These conditions are being badly warped, however, by the ongoing release of huge amounts of planet-heating pollution, from the burning of fossil fuels, and the mass disposal of other pollution such as plastic into our environment. Habitats such as forests and wetlands are being torn apart, fragmented and flattened to make way for agriculture and urban areas, imperiling animal species and natural systems upon which we depend.
The ability of landscapes and bodies of water to cope with this and act as a buffer to the worsening climate crisis is “weakening and may be significantly overestimated”, the new report warns. While forests and oceans have sucked up a vast amount of the carbon dioxide we have emitted, there are signs that these natural systems are faltering.
For example, there is a chance that the Amazon rainforest, a huge carbon store, could reach a tipping point where it becomes a savannah, which would have “serious implications for climate stability, food and water security, and human health around the world”, the report states.
The report comes on the heels of a series of extreme events around the world in the past year that scientists say have been made far more likely by the upending of our environment.
Huge floods hit Pakistan last year, while this year has seen record heat and wildfires across Europe, the hottest ever summer in the US, and a disastrous flood on the Tibet-Nepal border. The oceans, which are absorbing much of this extra generated heat, have hit new temperature records.
“These are not separate emergencies; the planet is telling us, in every region at once, that it is out of balance,” said Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, chair of Planetary Guardians, a coalition of scientists, business leaders and activists.
“I hear this same story wherever I go, whether from a pastoralist watching the rains fail season after season or a coastal community watching the sea rise. The 2026 planetary health check puts data behind what communities on the frontlines already know from living it. We do not have the luxury of treating these as separate crises any longer.”
The report was released on Monday shortly after the start of Climate Week, a major gathering of politicians, business leaders and activists in New York City that leads up to the UN general assembly.
Members of the Planetary Guardians – including Mary Robinson, the former Irish president; Juan Manuel Santos, the Nobel laureate and ex-president of Colombia; and oceanographer Sylvia Earle – attended the launch of the report. They are part of more than 100,000 attenders expected at Climate Week, which organizers said was set to be the largest ever.
Despite the record numbers attending talks, announcements and other events aimed at tackling the climate crisis, however, the head of the week’s non-profit organizer acknowledged a general reticence to talk about global heating.
Helen Clarkson, chief executive of the Climate Group, said that even though the world had been visibly racked by recent climate-fueled disasters, “I’ve not seen this level of ‘green-hushing’ before. Many companies tell us they will be here, but not very visibly.
“But after a summer like this when we saw so much tragedy driven by climate change, this is the time to be loud,” she added. “The world is standing on the edge of the abyss, and people are seeking change.”
