Six of our nine planetary boundaries have now been crossed – and industrial agriculture are the main culprit. That is what a team of scientists under Johan Rockström reported in an article published in September..
First, a reminder: planetary boundaries are thresholds of disturbance beyond which our Earth’s system are put on an uncontrollable and irreversible path that undermines the very conditions for life. This notion of overstepping boundaries is clear in regard to the best-known limit of them all: that of climate change. In order to cap global warming at 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, and prevent it from escalating beyond bearable conditions (even if this is not enough to stop climate disruption already underway), we need to keep the proportion of atmospheric CO₂ below a certain limit. And to achieve this, we need to reach carbon neutrality, quickly.
