GEO 108 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Social Capital, Industrial Revolution, Our Common Future
17 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Briefly explain the purpose of applying the planetary boundaries framework and identify at least four of pbs discussed in the reading. Applying the planetary boundaries framework is essential because it provides a science-based analysis of the risk that human perturbations will destabilize the earth system at a planetary scale. Calculating planetary boundaries is essentially a risk analysis so that we know how far we can push before the tipping point. Some planetary boundaries discussed in the reading are: biosphere integrity, climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, ocean acidification, biochemical flows, freshwater use, land-system change. This framework ensures that there is a certain level of uncertainty which allows us to be more safe before assuming that what we are doing is acceptable and still sustainable. Safe limits are an acceptable range of human impact which are deemed to be both sustainable and safe within the planetary boundary. Biochemical flows (nitrogen, phosphorus) and biosphere integrity (genetic diversity) are beyond the zone of uncertainty.
