A first-of-its-kind ‘scientific health check’ shows global life-support systems are outside the limits at which humanity evolved and civilisation emerged

Reported by Robert Lea

For the last ten millennia, humanity has existed in a fine balance with Earth, with the actions of our species affecting aspects F of Earth’s system, such as climate and the existence of other forms of life, all of which also impact this finely tuned natural machine. Since the Industrial Revolution, however, humanity’s relationship with the Earth system has been skewed out of balance. As a species we put more waste back into the system than it can handle while simultaneously removing vital elements, such as habitats needed by other species, which simultaneously deletes these species with an intensity currently approaching that of mass extinctions previously experienced by our planet.

Now, the first comprehensive ‘global health check’ has revealed that Earth and its life-support systems are “now well outside of the safe operating space” for humanity as a result of this one-sided relationship with nature. The research suggests the planet’s resistance to humanity’s influence is failing, something which could threaten the goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) – a key tipping point for Earth, beyond which lies a dramatic increase in the risk of events such as extreme flooding, drought, wildfires and food shortages. These dramatic changes signal the beginning of a new epoch for humanity and for Earth as a whole.

An overview of around 2,000 individual studies, with the work published in the journal Science Advances, indicates that Earth is heading into the Anthropocene epoch, which despite being named after humanity – anthro comes from the Greek word for ‘man’, or ‘human’ – may be disastrous for our species and life in general. The team behind the research, led by University of Copenhagen researcher Katherine Richardson, found that six of nine key planetary boundaries have been exceeded, with the reason for these violations identified as human activities.

The limits represent levels for these boundaries slightly above those found globally during the Holocene epoch and are what’s required to keep Earth safely in an interglacial state similar to that found across the globe during this time period. This is significant as it was during the Holocene, which began around 11,700 years ago at the end of the last major ice age, that the entirety of human agriculture and civilisation developed. While humanity has demonstrated its ability to exist and function over the relatively stable and warm planetary conditions characterised by the last 10,000 years, the conditions that will define the Anthropocene epoch are uncertain, as is our species’ ability to prosper under more dramatic changes to the Earth system that could lie ahead. The boundaries were established in 2009 and then revised in 2015, but prior global health checks had only been able to consider seven of the nine parameters this study looked at.