cover image: Planetary Health Check 2024: A Scientific Assessment of the State of the Planet

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Planetary Health Check 2024: A Scientific Assessment of the State of the Planet

24 Sep 2024

The Planetary Health Check 2024 is the inaugural edition of an annual report by PBScience, providing a comprehensive assessment of the planet's current environmental stability. Using the Planetary Boundaries framework, the report monitors nine crucial Earth system processes, six of which have already breached their safe operating levels: Climate Change, Biosphere Integrity, Land System Change, Freshwater Use, Biogeochemical Flows, and the Introduction of Novel Entities. The findings indicate increasing environmental pressure, with the transgressed boundaries showing trends toward further deterioration. The report emphasizes the interconnectedness of these boundaries and the urgent need for global cooperation to mitigate their effects. It calls for immediate action to address critical risks, such as rising atmospheric CO2 levels, loss of genetic diversity, and freshwater imbalances. The report provides evidence that continued transgressions could push the Earth toward irreversible tipping points, affecting global climate, ecosystems, and biodiversity. The Planetary Health Check serves as both a scientific update and a call to action for policymakers, urging coordinated efforts to return to a safe operating space for humanity and the planet.
sustainable development climate change novel entities planetary boundaries freshwater use biogeochemical flows environmental tipping points land system change earth system resilience global sustainability biosphere integrity

Authors

Levke Caesar, Boris Sakschewski, Lauren Seaby Andersen, Tim Beringer, Johanna Braun, Donovan Dennis, Dieter Gerten, Adrian Heilemann, Jonas Kaiser, Niklas H. Kitzmann, Sina Loriani, Wolfgang Lucht, Josef Ludescher, Maria Martin, Sabine Mathesius, Anja Paolucci, Sofie te Wierik, Johan Rockström

Pages
96
Published in
Germany

Table of Contents

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