SOS for Earth? Planet is Halfway From Being Hospitable to Humans

A Swedish scientist says that Earth is halfway to becoming inhospitable to humans, as we have violated four of the nine so-called planetary boundaries within which we can continue to thrive.

In his recent report in Science Magazine, Swedish environmental science professor and executive director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre Johan Rockström reiterated the anxiety voiced by a group of scientists earlier this year: humanity has already crossed four of nine “planetary boundaries”.

“The planet has been our best friend by buffering our actions and showing its resilience,” he said. “But for the first time ever, we might shift the planet from friend to foe.”

According to the Stockholm Resilience Centre, in 2009, a group of 28 internationally renowned climate scientists devised a framework to monitor Earth’s vital signs based on nine “planetary boundaries” within which human civilization can continue to thrive.

Those boundaries are stratospheric ozone depletion, Loss of biosphere integrity (biodiversity loss and extinctions), Chemical pollution and the release of novel entities, Climate change, Ocean acidification, Freshwater consumption and [modifications to] the global hydrological cycle, Land system change, Nitrogen and phosphorus flows to the biosphere and oceans, and Atmospheric aerosol loading......................................Read more: http://sputniknews.com/art_living/20150321/1019815446.html#ixzz3V1YaQjrI