Planetary boundaries: guiding human development on a changing planet

Will Steffen; Katherine Richardson; Johan Rockström; Sarah E. Cornell; Ingo Fetzer; Elena M.  Bennett; Reinette Biggs; Stephen R. Carpenter; Wim de Vries; Cynthia A. de Witt; Carl Folke; Dieter Gerten; Jens Heinke; Georgina M. Mace; Linn M.  Persson; Veerabhadran Ramanathan; Belinda Reyers; Sverker Sörlin

doi:10.1126/science.1259855

Planetary boundaries: guiding human development on a changing planet

Will Steffen, Katherine Richardson, Johan Rockström, Sarah E. Cornell, Ingo Fetzer, Elena M. Bennett, Reinette Biggs, Stephen R. Carpenter, Wim de Vries, Cynthia A. de Witt, Carl Folke, Dieter Gerten, Jens Heinke, Georgina M. Mace, Linn M. Persson, Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Belinda Reyers, Sverker Sörlin

3090 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The planetary boundaries framework defines a safe operating space for humanity based on the intrinsic biophysical processes that regulate the stability of the Earth system. Here, we revise and update the planetary boundary framework, with a focus on the underpinning biophysical science, based on targeted input from expert research communities and on more general scientific advances over the past 5 years. Several of the boundaries now have a two-tier approach, reflecting the importance of cross-scale interactions and the regional-level heterogeneity of the processes that underpin the boundaries. Two core boundaries-climate change and biosphere integrity-have been identified, each of which has the potential on its own to drive the Earth system into a new state should they be substantially and persistently transgressed.

Original language	English
Journal	Science
Volume	347
Issue number	6223
Number of pages	10
ISSN	0036-8075
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1259855
Publication status	Published - 13 Feb 2015

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Steffen, W., Richardson, K., Rockström, J., Cornell, S. E., Fetzer, I., Bennett, E. M., Biggs, R., Carpenter, S. R., Vries, W. D., de Witt, C. A., Folke, C., Gerten, D., Heinke, J., Mace, G. M., Persson, L. M., Ramanathan, V., Reyers, B., & Sörlin, S. (2015). Planetary boundaries: guiding human development on a changing planet. Science, 347(6223). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1259855

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AU - Biggs, Reinette

AU - Carpenter, Stephen R.

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AU - Folke, Carl

AU - Gerten, Dieter

AU - Heinke, Jens

AU - Mace, Georgina M.

AU - Persson, Linn M.

AU - Ramanathan, Veerabhadran

AU - Reyers, Belinda

AU - Sörlin, Sverker

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AB - The planetary boundaries framework defines a safe operating space for humanity based on the intrinsic biophysical processes that regulate the stability of the Earth system. Here, we revise and update the planetary boundary framework, with a focus on the underpinning biophysical science, based on targeted input from expert research communities and on more general scientific advances over the past 5 years. Several of the boundaries now have a two-tier approach, reflecting the importance of cross-scale interactions and the regional-level heterogeneity of the processes that underpin the boundaries. Two core boundaries-climate change and biosphere integrity-have been identified, each of which has the potential on its own to drive the Earth system into a new state should they be substantially and persistently transgressed.

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Planetary boundaries: guiding human development on a changing planet

Abstract

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