EEB428H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter N/A: Planetary Boundaries, Ocean Acidification, Ozone Depletion
27 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
The unusual stability experienced during the holocene (now) is under threat because of the industrial revolution. Now an anthropocene in which humans are the main source of global environmental change. May actually push the earth out of the holocene. These boundaries define the safe operating space for humanity with respect to the earth"s system and are associated with the planet"s biophysical subsystems/processes. Many subsystems have a threshold, that when neared, or past, they can have deleterious consequences for humans. Not all thresholds are well-defined, but some have a critical value for them. Rate of biodiversity lost (terrestrial and marine) 3 of these are much past the boundaries (biodiversity loss, nitrogen cycle, and climate change). The guardrail is no more than 2 c above pre-industrial levels. Based on two parameters: atmospheric concentration of co2 and radiative forcing (rate of energy change per unit area of the globe as measured at the top of the atmosphere).
