New measurements by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research (PIK), which announced that seven of the nine "planetary limits" have now been exceeded, record a dangerous exceeding of the Earth's natural strengths.
According to the 2025 tally, the limit of ocean acidification has passed the critical point compatible with stable ecosystems. The scientists stressed that the absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the seas – which accounts for about 30% of global fossil fuel emissions – leads to a rapid increase in acidity, with an immediate risk to corals, crustaceans and plankton species that are critical to the food chain.
The concept of "planetary limits" was introduced in 2009, with the estimate at the time that three had been exceeded. The situation, however, is steadily deteriorating.
The six remaining limits that have already exceeded the safety limits concern:
- climate change,
- biodiversity loss;
- land use,
- freshwater cycles,
- biogeochemical cycles (nitrate and phosphate fertilizers),
- the introduction of new chemicals, such as plastics.
Only two limits remain within safe limits: aerosol air pollution and the ozone layer in the stratosphere.
Scientists warn that exceeding these critical balance points leads to irreversible changes for the planet and ecosystems, with serious implications for human life.
