Wild Tobago

Dr Anjani Ganase considers the planetary boundaries that allow human expansion, civilisation and existence.   Last year, I reported on the planetary boundaries that should not be exceeded for human civilisation to continue in the way we’ve known. The last report was produced in 2015, and this year the results have been updated with new information collected over the last eight years. The latest study highlights nine planetary boundaries, six of which are currently being transgressed . All nine components must occur within safe operating zones for humanity.   Here is what you need to know:   All planetary boundaries refer to conditions that have significance for the environment that supports human wellbeing. Three main zones have been defined: zone of safe operation, zone of increasing risk, and zone of high risk. The latter two zones indicate conditions that exceed the planetary boundary. The planetary boundary has a baseline of the Holocene...

Dr Anjani Ganase looks at the planetary boundaries that humans have impacted, moving the earth towards a state that may no longer be hospitable for our species.   The Holocene Epoch marks 11,700 years of recorded human history in which we thrived in a stable environment and ecology. This allowed significant human evolution and in the last 100 years, saw the advance of technology and industry.   In that short time, humans have drastically altered the global environment through resource extraction and pollution of our air and water ways. Some of these conditions have become destabilized resulting in sudden loss of biodiversity, habitats, resources and even shifting climate. Scientists have collated such environmental changes between 1950 to now, to identify the most important boundaries that should not be crossed for the sake of human survival.   The planetary boundaries framework is science-based analysis that observes the risk associated with human ...