{"id":7206,"date":"2023-12-19T16:20:14","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T15:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/?p=7206"},"modified":"2024-01-30T12:21:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T11:21:46","slug":"freshwater-the-sixth-planetary-boundary-has-been-crossed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/en\/to-know-to-take-action\/freshwater-the-sixth-planetary-boundary-has-been-crossed\/","title":{"rendered":"Freshwater, the sixth planetary boundary, has been crossed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p style=\"font-size:24px\">In a world facing growing challenges related to freshwater scarcity, <strong>humanity stands at a crossroads where crucial decisions must be made to ensure the sustainability of this vital resource.<\/strong> Last September, the scientific community sounded an alarm: <strong>Earth has crossed the sixth planetary boundary, freshwater<\/strong>. This pressing reality accompanies the need to act urgently and embrace <strong>innovative solutions<\/strong> that meet the increasing demand for freshwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/karsten-wurth-ZKWgoRUYuMk-unsplash-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7194\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/karsten-wurth-ZKWgoRUYuMk-unsplash-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/karsten-wurth-ZKWgoRUYuMk-unsplash-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/karsten-wurth-ZKWgoRUYuMk-unsplash-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/karsten-wurth-ZKWgoRUYuMk-unsplash-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/karsten-wurth-ZKWgoRUYuMk-unsplash-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:24px\"><strong>Planetary Boundaries<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The planetary boundaries are <strong>crucial frameworks<\/strong>, established by an international team of researchers led by Johan Rockstr\u00f6m from the<strong> <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stockholmresilience.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">SRC<\/a><\/strong> (Stockholm Resilience Centre). They are committed to understanding how Earth&#8217;s systems operate and estimate <strong>the quantities of natural resources we can consume without compromising our ecosystem<\/strong>. These boundaries define the &#8220;normal&#8221; constants for harmonious functioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stockholmresilience.org\/research\/planetary-boundaries.html\" target=\"_blank\">There are 9 planetary boundaries<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Climate change;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Biosphere integrity;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Novel entities;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Land-system change;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Freshwater change;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Biochemical flow;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ocean acidification;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Stratospheric ozone depletion;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Atmospheric aerosol loading.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, <strong>only the last three have not been crossed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:24px\"><br><strong>The sixth planetary boundary: a crucial warning.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stockholmresilience.org\/publications\/publications\/2022-10-21-a-planetary-boundary-for-green-water.html\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>A study reveals<\/strong><\/a> that freshwater, essential for all forms of life, is in jeopardy. <strong>The sixth planetary boundary was breached last September, serveing as a reminder that humanity faces an imminent challenge<\/strong> requiring cutting-edge solutions. <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stockholmresilience.org\/publications\/publications\/2022-10-21-a-planetary-boundary-for-green-water.html\" target=\"_blank\">In 2022, one of freshwater cycle&#8217;s limits had already been surpassed<\/a><\/strong>: &#8220;green&#8221; water. And in 2023, the limit of the \u201cblue\u201d water cycle has been exceeded. <strong>\u201cBlue\u201d water constitutes about 40% of freshwater, <\/strong>accounting for precipitation, flowing rapidly in rivers, lakes, and aquifers, while <strong>&#8220;green&#8221; water<\/strong>, the remaining 60%, is stored in soil and biomass, playing a crucial role in the water cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nils-leonhardt-Tss1uOMczDg-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nils-leonhardt-Tss1uOMczDg-unsplash-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nils-leonhardt-Tss1uOMczDg-unsplash-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nils-leonhardt-Tss1uOMczDg-unsplash-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nils-leonhardt-Tss1uOMczDg-unsplash-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nils-leonhardt-Tss1uOMczDg-unsplash-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Today, nearly 18% of blue waters and approximately 16% of green water on the planet exhibit variations between wet and dry phases.<\/strong> By comparing these changes with those of the pre-industrial era, when the water cycle had fluctuations of about 10% for blue water and 11% for green water, <strong>scientists have observed that the recommended limits from that time <\/strong>(10.2% for blue water and 11.1% for green water)<strong> are currently significantly exceeded.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:24px\"><br><strong>Desalination: a response to the freshwater crisis?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the industrial era, overproduction has become the norm, underscoring<strong> the need to reconsider our overall relationship with planetary resources<\/strong>. It is imperative to acknowledge the exceeded limits and embrace sustainable solutions to preserve our planet. The surpassing of the sixth planetary boundary for freshwater emphasizes <strong>the urgent need for collective action<\/strong> to ensure a viable future. <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/en\/seawards-innovation-cryo-separation\/\" target=\"_blank\">Seawards&#8217;s innovative desalination technique <\/a><\/strong>provides a clean, economical, and flexible solution to meet the growing demand for freshwater. By employing advanced techniques, <strong>desalination emerges as a response to the challenges posed by freshwater scarcity.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a world facing growing challenges related to freshwater scarcity, humanity stands at a crossroads where crucial decisions must be made to ensure the sustainability of this vital resource. Last September, the scientific community sounded an alarm: Earth has crossed the sixth planetary boundary, that of freshwater. This pressing reality underscores the need to act urgently and embrace innovative solutions to meet the increasing demand for freshwater<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-to-know-to-take-action"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7206"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7338,"href":"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7206\/revisions\/7338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seawards.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}