Would you operate a machine you depend on daily at or beyond its limits?
Would you not prefer that the limits of how it should be operated are on the safe side?
Then why are we so unconcerned when we routinely 'operate' Earth (the planet we depend upon for everything), so far beyond its limits - beyond the state it would normally be in. Why do we think that somehow, somehow it's going to be ok?
Can we fulfill basic needs for 10 billion humans without destabilizing the Earth system? Can we live in the donut (economy)?
The answer is 'yes', according to this new paper:
"it is theoretically possible to satisfy the basic needs of 10.4 billion people within ecological limits. However, large-scale transformations in all sectors and dietary changes are necessary to guarantee safe climate conditions."
💥💥 Four exciting #Earth system #science#jobs open in my department at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) @PIK_climate near Berlin.
All jobs are at the very forefront of our work on #PlanetaryBoundaries and Earth system modelling. They initially run to 3/2027.
👉 Atmospheric Science position
👉 Biosphere Science position
👉 Earth Monitoring Science position
👉 Earth System Modelling position
Next to GHG emissions, agriculture is the major cause for transgression of #PlanetaryBoundaries, critical to #Earth's stability. 💥
But #farmers are joining the backlash against the EU's #GreenDeal and national environmental regulations: demanding fossil subsidies, curbing of nature restoration, limits to animal welfare and less regulation of nitrogen pollution and pesticides.
Do farmers expect to win an economic race to the bottom? More exploitation is not the answer. It's not sustainable. 🤔
« Realise a mission beyond LISA ». That’s horizon 2050 or beyond 😳
Business as usual, while instead the entire community should be discussing how we can transform astrophysical research so that it becomes more sustainable and fits into the planetary boundaries. @mpi_grav, you should rather be looking for someone to lead the « Beyond carbon » group.
You are much closer to sleeping on the streets than sleeping in the mansion of a billionaire. And the envious desire to sleep in the mansion of the billionaire is what is destroying our environment. We have allowed the greedy and cruel to dominate and their insatiable greed and cruelty will inevitably lead to environmental destruction. https://gerrymcgovern.com/fairness-and-kindness-are-not-weaknesses/
@gerrymcgovern And Kate Raworth's #DoughnutEconomics provides an excellent framework for thinking about how we to move toward that goal. I strongly recommend it.
The exploitation of oil, gas and coal is now destabilizing all nine planetary boundaries and driving a triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. The solution, experts say, is to move from a hydrocarbon-based linear economy to a diversified circular economy.
The Lost Cause is my next novel. It's about the climate emergency. It's hopeful. $LibraryJournal called it "a message hope in a near-future that looks increasingly bleak." As with every other one of my books #Amazon refuses to sell the audiobook, so I made my own, and I'm pre-selling it on #Kickstarter:
We have shot past many of our #PlanetaryBoundaries and there are waves of climate crises in our future, but they don't have to be climate disasters. That's up to us - it'll depend on whether we come together to save ourselves and each other, or tear ourselves apart.
The Lost Cause dares to imagine what it might be like if we do the former. We don't live in a post-enshittification world yet, but we could.
“I imagine the growth-based economy beet-faced, with clenched, pounding fists, demanding more, faster, and now. A bottomless pit for a stomach, it eats with an insatiable appetite anything and everything within reach. This machine has grown so massive and powerful, I’m uncertain if it belongs to us, or if we belong to it.” – Nikayla Jefferson
All #PlanetaryBoundaries mapped out, six of nine crossed: For the first time, an international team of scientists is able to provide a full picture of planetary resilience by mapping out all nine boundary processes that define a safe operating space for humanity.
"Johan Rockström is best known for his work on the Planetary Boundary Framework and as co-director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. In this wide-ranging conversation with Kevin Anderson, recorded in Norway in March 2023, they discuss their respective views on the risks and challenges we face in delivering on our Paris climate commitments." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLq8e73-FAw&list=WL&index=2
Our new #PlanetaryBoundaries paper is in memory of Will Steffen. It was a huge loss when he passed away while we were working on it.
We had worked together on redefining our approach to functional biosphere integrity. It is now based on the total energy flux into the biosphere and human interference with it.
And so it was fitting when yesterday, close to midnight, Australian ABC radio called to ask for an interview - and I could publicly credit Will Steffen's contribution in his home country.
I have a cheeky question - is there an 'idiot's guide' or '#PlanetaryBoundaries for Dummies' that you know of which I could promulgate to non-specialists throughout the world?
If not, even cheekier question, might you be able to write one for us?
Of course, such a document would only be of value if you think #ClimateMitigation still possible? Just.
"Earth ‘well outside safe operating space for humanity’, scientists find"
This is interesting, but the idea of planetary boundaries beyond which 'equilibrium' breaks down is overly simplistic from a scientific perspective. There is no equilibrium, as such, nor hard and fast tipping points. Still, the boundaries concept may be useful when it comes to environmental risk analysis.