Week 8: Planetary Boundaries Framework Pt. 3 - Post 2
Planetary Boundaries Framework Pt. 3
Understanding the nine planetary boundaries is vital to understanding and developing a sustainable future for Earth. Terms like biodiversity loss, land and water use change, and the phosphorus and nitrogen cycle cover a broad range of environmental issues. It is important to focus in and define each boundary specifically.
Biodiversity loss plays an incredibly important role in securing a livable state on Earth. Biodiversity covers all living species including vegetation, animals, insects, trees, and pollinators. Without those things there would be no biomass or carbon sequestration. The living things on Earth regulate the flow of freshwater, the flows of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and they control a large percentage of rainfall. The diversity within and among living species creates genetic diversity which is hugely important for long term survival. Diversity in pollinators and organic matter in soil is what allows humans to produce food for massive populations. Despite the importance of biodiversity, society is dangerously mismanaging it. An example of this would be fisheries. Over the last sixty years, and since the beginning of the great acceleration, there has been an exponential rise in demand for fish and other seafood. There was a shift from small scale fisheries to large scale industrial fisheries, which basically vacuumed large tracts of the ocean for fish. All the pressure placed on marine systems from the overfishing caused a whole slew of problems including loss of genetic diversity. Eventually collapses of fisheries ensued, like the cod fisheries in Newfoundland. Once these fisheries cross a tipping point there is a situation where the fish do not come back. Then a new issue is created, as the sea-birds which fed on the fish are now dying at alarming rates due to starvation. Humanity's over use of natural resources puts intense pressures on interconnected living species, which causes dramatic changes in the natural system. Another example, prominently discussed today, is bees. As more and more bees and other pollinators are killed off, humans lose efficiency in modern agriculture. So, to place a barrier on biodiversity loss, scientists look at what is called the extinction rate per million species per year. A strong indicator of the pace of loss of biodiversity over time. The natural background rate of loss is roughly one species per million species per year. The safe operating boundary is placed at ten species lost per million per year. Today we are losing species roughly ten times faster then that rate. So, scientists can safely say that humans have reached a danger zone for biodiversity loss. It is important to remember though, that biodiversity loss is not a measure of the function of biodiversity, scientists also look at local and regional levels of biodiversity function rates to see the danger. Biodiversity function and loss rates are tied together, because loss of species means less species that can carry out a given function.
Land and water use is absolutely critical for regulating the current state of the planet. The type of ecosystems determines the function of the land. The ecosystem determines the land area's ability to regulate freshwater, flows of nutrients and provide habitats. Scientists have found that the number one biome system for regulating the stability of Earth is forests. Rainforests, temperate forests, and boreal forests were all recognized as the most critical systems for regulating resilience. Each of these large scale forests have dramatic effects for local biodiversity, local indigenous communities, and also for the climate system and regional rainfall patterns across vast areas. At the same level of importance as land use, there is also water use. Water use safeguards the management of the freshwater cycle from the local watershed scale to the large global scale. Water is tied to everything, including regulating climate and biomass. The continuing of land and water mismanagement can, and will cause tipping points for large, important ecosystems. When an area's forests are cut down and all the the river basins are dried up from overuse that area actually tips over into a decertified state and then ecosystem function is lost. In a growing world of soon nine billion people, the demand for land and water use will only increase. Population pressures make the planetary boundary for land and water use very important. Back to forests being the most important ecosystem, the safe boundary is about 75% retention of remaining forests, currently though there is only 62% of forests left on Earth. Society is well within the danger zone for land use. However, fortunately these rates can be translated to operation scales of forest management. There is a lot of intricacy with the water use boundary, but scientists know that 25% to 50% of freshwater must be kept in rivers. There is large variation due to differing freshwater systems, but again this boundary can be translated to optimal scale for useful management. More than the other eight, there is hope of rectifying the land and water use boundary.
Lastly, the alteration of global nitrogen and phosphorus cycles are a threat to the Holocene. The global cycles of nitrogen and phosphorous are what link the living and non-living parts of the earth system. Scientists call nitrogen and phosphorous biogeochemicals. These cycles control patterns of interactions between geological and biological processes. As Dr. Sarah Cornell states "It's the way the nutrient elements flow through land, ocean and atmosphere that ultimately regulate all of life on the planet." The problem here is that human activities are changing these fundamental cycles. Humans use nitrogen and phosphorus as chemical fertilizers in modern agriculture because they are macronutrients that stimulate and increase food production. Agriculture, along with industrial processes and fossil fuel based transport systems cause nutrient overloads in groundwater, lakes, rivers, and estuaries. Human's overuse of nitrogen and phosphorus causes atmospheric and water pollution. Huge issues like acid rain, pollution problems, and eutrophication are caused. It is the risk of large and irreversible dead zones in the oceans, caused by eutrophication, that really calls for planetary boundaries for nitrogen and phosphorous.
All of the planetary boundaries are essential in keeping the Earth in the desired Holocene like state. By understanding the intricacies of each of the nine boundaries, global sustainability can be better achieved.
Biodiversity loss plays an incredibly important role in securing a livable state on Earth. Biodiversity covers all living species including vegetation, animals, insects, trees, and pollinators. Without those things there would be no biomass or carbon sequestration. The living things on Earth regulate the flow of freshwater, the flows of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and they control a large percentage of rainfall. The diversity within and among living species creates genetic diversity which is hugely important for long term survival. Diversity in pollinators and organic matter in soil is what allows humans to produce food for massive populations. Despite the importance of biodiversity, society is dangerously mismanaging it. An example of this would be fisheries. Over the last sixty years, and since the beginning of the great acceleration, there has been an exponential rise in demand for fish and other seafood. There was a shift from small scale fisheries to large scale industrial fisheries, which basically vacuumed large tracts of the ocean for fish. All the pressure placed on marine systems from the overfishing caused a whole slew of problems including loss of genetic diversity. Eventually collapses of fisheries ensued, like the cod fisheries in Newfoundland. Once these fisheries cross a tipping point there is a situation where the fish do not come back. Then a new issue is created, as the sea-birds which fed on the fish are now dying at alarming rates due to starvation. Humanity's over use of natural resources puts intense pressures on interconnected living species, which causes dramatic changes in the natural system. Another example, prominently discussed today, is bees. As more and more bees and other pollinators are killed off, humans lose efficiency in modern agriculture. So, to place a barrier on biodiversity loss, scientists look at what is called the extinction rate per million species per year. A strong indicator of the pace of loss of biodiversity over time. The natural background rate of loss is roughly one species per million species per year. The safe operating boundary is placed at ten species lost per million per year. Today we are losing species roughly ten times faster then that rate. So, scientists can safely say that humans have reached a danger zone for biodiversity loss. It is important to remember though, that biodiversity loss is not a measure of the function of biodiversity, scientists also look at local and regional levels of biodiversity function rates to see the danger. Biodiversity function and loss rates are tied together, because loss of species means less species that can carry out a given function.
Land and water use is absolutely critical for regulating the current state of the planet. The type of ecosystems determines the function of the land. The ecosystem determines the land area's ability to regulate freshwater, flows of nutrients and provide habitats. Scientists have found that the number one biome system for regulating the stability of Earth is forests. Rainforests, temperate forests, and boreal forests were all recognized as the most critical systems for regulating resilience. Each of these large scale forests have dramatic effects for local biodiversity, local indigenous communities, and also for the climate system and regional rainfall patterns across vast areas. At the same level of importance as land use, there is also water use. Water use safeguards the management of the freshwater cycle from the local watershed scale to the large global scale. Water is tied to everything, including regulating climate and biomass. The continuing of land and water mismanagement can, and will cause tipping points for large, important ecosystems. When an area's forests are cut down and all the the river basins are dried up from overuse that area actually tips over into a decertified state and then ecosystem function is lost. In a growing world of soon nine billion people, the demand for land and water use will only increase. Population pressures make the planetary boundary for land and water use very important. Back to forests being the most important ecosystem, the safe boundary is about 75% retention of remaining forests, currently though there is only 62% of forests left on Earth. Society is well within the danger zone for land use. However, fortunately these rates can be translated to operation scales of forest management. There is a lot of intricacy with the water use boundary, but scientists know that 25% to 50% of freshwater must be kept in rivers. There is large variation due to differing freshwater systems, but again this boundary can be translated to optimal scale for useful management. More than the other eight, there is hope of rectifying the land and water use boundary.
Lastly, the alteration of global nitrogen and phosphorus cycles are a threat to the Holocene. The global cycles of nitrogen and phosphorous are what link the living and non-living parts of the earth system. Scientists call nitrogen and phosphorous biogeochemicals. These cycles control patterns of interactions between geological and biological processes. As Dr. Sarah Cornell states "It's the way the nutrient elements flow through land, ocean and atmosphere that ultimately regulate all of life on the planet." The problem here is that human activities are changing these fundamental cycles. Humans use nitrogen and phosphorus as chemical fertilizers in modern agriculture because they are macronutrients that stimulate and increase food production. Agriculture, along with industrial processes and fossil fuel based transport systems cause nutrient overloads in groundwater, lakes, rivers, and estuaries. Human's overuse of nitrogen and phosphorus causes atmospheric and water pollution. Huge issues like acid rain, pollution problems, and eutrophication are caused. It is the risk of large and irreversible dead zones in the oceans, caused by eutrophication, that really calls for planetary boundaries for nitrogen and phosphorous.
All of the planetary boundaries are essential in keeping the Earth in the desired Holocene like state. By understanding the intricacies of each of the nine boundaries, global sustainability can be better achieved.
In what ways and in what classes in school could understanding the planetary boundaries be included?
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