Our Planet’s Health Crisis

Our planet is experiencing a severe health crisis, with life-threatening symptoms escalating on Earth, according to a new report. The Earth has surpassed multiple physical and chemical boundaries deemed essential for maintaining a habitable planet. Among these boundaries, we have now exceeded the limit of ocean acidification, which has dire consequences for marine ecosystems and human livelihoods.

Exceeding Planetary Boundaries

Since 2009, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research has prioritized research on nine geophysical boundaries that form a kind of life support system for Earth. Staying within these boundaries is the best hope for maintaining the favorable climatic conditions to which we and most other living organisms on Earth have adapted.

In 2023, researchers published a study identifying these boundaries and providing an overview of our position relative to them. At that time, six of these boundaries had been exceeded, with many in a “zone of increasing danger.”

Climate Change and Ocean Acidification

Among the nine boundaries, climate change is one, partially measured by the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide concentrations reached a global record high of 422.7 parts per million last year, compared to 280 parts per million before the Industrial Revolution and 350 parts per million, which many scientists consider a “safe” limit.

Fossil fuels are undoubtedly the reason behind breaching these new boundaries – the ocean absorbs some of the excess carbon from the atmosphere, making its waters more acidic. Since the Industrial Revolution, the ocean’s surface pH has decreased by 0.1, reflecting an increase in acidity of about 30%.

Environmental and Economic Impacts

Ocean acidification can have profound effects on marine ecosystems by depleting seawater of certain carbon compounds needed by coral reefs and shell-building animals to construct their protective homes. At low pH levels, coral reefs and shells can begin to dissolve, potentially destabilizing entire ecosystems and destroying many commercially valuable species like oysters.

According to a report by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2020, ocean acidification could cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars.

Other Challenges Beyond Boundaries

The long list of other boundaries we have astonishingly exceeded includes excess phosphorus and nitrogen from widespread fertilizer use, leading to their runoff into rivers and seas and creating toxic algal blooms. Synthetic chemicals, such as plastics, DDT, and PFAS, accumulate disruptively in food chains.

Agriculture and other land-use changes remove forests and reduce available freshwater. As these problems grow, more and more biodiversity on Earth is disappearing.

Conclusion

The general outlook for the planet’s health is grim, especially as several countries retreat from taking significant actions to address environmental issues. However, the reduction in aerosol pollution and the healing of the ozone layer show that global trends can be reversed. Even if the diagnosis is serious, the window for treatment remains open. Failure is not inevitable; failure is a choice. A choice that must and can be avoided.