‘Planetary boundaries’ necessary for flourishing of life have been massively breached, scientists warn — SkimNews
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, with 60 scientists, found 7 of 9 "planetary boundaries" breached at their highest ever levels in its 2026 planetary health check.
- Seven indicators in the danger zone include climate change, biosphere integrity, land system change, freshwater change, biogeochemical flows, novel entities, and ocean acidification (newly added last year); only stratospheric ozone depletion and atmospheric aerosol loading have improved.
- Lead author Boris Sakschewski warned pressure is rising across every boundary already outside the safe zone, with risk of "large-scale, persistent and potentially irreversible change" growing as margins for error shrink.
- Co-author Johan Rockström said humanity still possesses the knowledge and capacity to reverse the situation, calling accelerating action to return to the safe operating space "essential" to protect lives and livelihoods.
- Natural carbon sinks are faltering, the report warns — the Amazon rainforest could reach a tipping point where it becomes savannah, with "serious implications for climate stability, food and water security, and human health."
- Climate Group CEO Helen Clarkson flagged record "green-hushing" — companies attending the largest-ever NYC Climate Week (~100,000 attendees) but staying quiet on climate after a summer of climate-fueled disasters.
Why it matters: With seven of nine planetary life-support systems at their worst recorded breach levels, the scientific case for emergency-scale action has hardened — yet at the very Climate Week where the report launched, organizer Helen Clarkson said corporate "green-hushing" is at unprecedented highs, meaning the political and business momentum is visibly retreating from what the data demands.
Ask SkimNews
