Publication
The planetary boundaries framework sets precautionary limits to keep humanity within a safe operating space, aiming to maintain a stable, Holocene-like Earth system. Current methods for estimating these limits, however, create an imbalance by overstating biogeochemical risks relative to climate change. Here we propose a revised, flow-based, method for estimating
The planetary boundaries framework sets precautionary limits to keep humanity within a safe operating space, aiming to maintain a stable, Holocene-like Earth system. Current methods for estimating these limits, however, create an imbalance by overstating biogeochemical risks relative to climate change. Here we propose a revised, flow-based, method for estimating the climate change boundary, aligned with the other biogeochemical flow boundaries. We find that under a consistent approach, climate change is in greater violation than nitrogen and phosphorus. This is consistent with the widely accepted view that greenhouse gas emissions constitute one of the most pressing biogeochemical issues in environmental protection.
Wolfram, P., Niazi, H., Kyle, P. and McJeon, H. Ensuring consistency between biogeochemical planetary boundaries. Nat Sustain (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-026-01770-6