Planetary boundaries report: Seven of nine limits exceeded

The Planetary Health Check 2026 report, prepared by over 60 scientists, indicates that seven of the nine planetary boundaries have been exceeded. These boundaries are indicators used to assess Earth's capacity to maintain stable conditions for humanity.

The seven exceeded limits include climate change, biosphere integrity, land-use change, freshwater change, biogeochemical flows, new entities (such as chemicals and plastics), and ocean acidification. The report, presented by the Planetary Boundaries Lab at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, notes that all seven areas continue to show deterioration, with the exceeded limits reaching their highest recorded levels of degradation. Ocean acidification is the most recent process to cross its safety threshold.