The continuing rise in chemical production has caused a new planetary boundary to be exceeded, the fifth of nine theorised boundaries, a group of scientists estimated in a study published on Tuesday 18 January in the scientific journal Environmental Science and Technology.
These scientists point out that global chemical production has increased 50-fold since 1950 and is expected to triple again by 2050. Plastic production alone increased by 79% between 2000 and 2015, the study notes.
According to its authors, humanity has thus exceeded the planetary boundary for ‘introduction of new entities into the biosphere’, also known as the ‘chemical pollution boundary’.
It is one of nine planetary boundaries conceptualised in 2009 by a group of 28 international scientists. The other eight are: (1) climate change; (2) biodiversity loss; (3) land use change; (4) disruption of the biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen and phosphorus; (5) ocean acidification; (6) freshwater use; (7) atmospheric aerosol loading; (8) stratospheric ozone depletion.
While some scientists believe that the first four boundaries had already been exceeded, others criticise the concept of planetary boundaries.
See the study: https://bit.ly/3KrKqJ0 (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)