Johan Rockström: “Planetary Boundaries: Exceeding Earth’s Safe Limits”

New Episode of The Great Simplification

While the mainstream conversation about our planet’s future is heavily dominated by the topic of climate change, there are other systems which are just as critical to consider when thinking about the health and livability of our world. Just like climate change, each of these systems has its own limits within which humanity and the biosphere can continue to develop and thrive for generations to come. However, each also has a critical tipping point – known as a Planetary Boundary – past which Earth’s systems may no longer be able to self-regulate or remain the comfortable and predictable home in which we’ve spent our entire history as a species.

In this episode, Nate speaks with environmental scientist Johan Rockström to unpack his team’s work on Planetary Boundaries and the pressure that humanity is putting on them.

How do these critical systems work to regulate the stability and resilience of the biosphere, and how do we measure their health and tipping points? What are we risking as we continue on our path towards pushing each of these interdependent systems past the point where they can continue to function? Is it possible to reverse the damage that consumptive, growth-based systems have already done to our planetary home and prevent further destruction?