Planetary Boundaries

Hello, I am an ordinary citizen of the world, with an interest in starting a forum for others interested in environmental stewardship.

Here is what inspired me. In a book I am currently reading, "A Life on Our Planet" by David Attenborough, I ran across this graphic.



Has anyone else seen this before? When I search online, I see other versions of the model too.

 Attenborough refers to a team of earth system scientists who have named nine different boundaries that determine whether we can continue to live sustainably on our planet. They came up with a threshold beyond which sustainability is doubtful. It may be difficult to read from the photo I have inserted here, but the nine areas are climate change, ocean acidification, chemical pollution, fertilizer use, freshwater withdrawal, land conversion, biodiversity loss, air pollution, and ozone layer depletion. The dark shading shows those of the nine that have been measured in a quantifiable way. The dark ring is the threshold. 

It doesn't take me long to realize that all of these categories relate to everyday life, even to me, an average citizen. It also makes me feel pretty helpless to do much about the situation. That is why I feel impelled to start some kind of forum to share ideas about things all of us can do. The urgency seems worth the effort.

I am neither a scientist nor a teacher. I want to be taught, and to share whatever I learn, and have it commented on. I need to be pointed in the right direction. Please feel free to comment (respectfully, of course), add information and advice, educate and pose ideas that are helpful.

Thank you. Let's do this.


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