Why we have to do far more, far faster.
Of nine planetary boundaries that keep Earth in a Holocene-like state, six have already been crossed. Each boundary holds the next in place — once enough fall, the system locks into a new regime hostile to human civilisation.
Human activity now dominates every major Earth system — atmosphere, ocean, biosphere, biogeochemistry. The Holocene stability that allowed agriculture is no longer guaranteed.
Climate destabilises forests; lost forests release more carbon; warmer oceans acidify faster; biodiversity collapse weakens carbon sinks. One breach accelerates the next.
IPCC AR6 gives roughly 6–8 years of current emissions before 1.5 °C is locked in. Tipping points may have shorter fuses than headline targets.
The nine planetary boundaries — at a glance.
Breach scenarios & timeline.
Pick a boundary above, then choose a scenario. The timeline projects the next 30 years of safe-zone exceedance if humanity stays on the chosen pathway.
Drives heating, ice melt, sea-level rise and amplifies every other boundary.
- +1.5 °C reached
- Marine heatwaves yearly
- Arctic ice-free summers
- +2.5 °C plausible
- AMOC weakening
- Coral reefs functionally extinct
- +4 °C scenarios
- Greenland & WAIS irreversible melt
- Multi-metre SLR locked-in
- ▸1B+ climate-displaced by 2050
- ▸Crop-yield collapse in tropics
- ▸Heat mortality 5× current
What does 'cascade' actually mean?
Crossing one boundary destabilises a regional system — e.g. dead zones from N runoff. Damage is real but bounded.
Climate + biosphere + freshwater interact. Amazon dieback releases 200 GtC; that warms oceans further; coral collapse accelerates; monsoon shifts; 1B people affected.
Multiple tipping elements fire in sequence — permafrost CH₄, AMOC shutdown, ice-sheet collapse. Earth jumps to a new attractor 4–6 °C above pre-industrial. Civilisation-scale.
Carbon markets are one of the few levers we still have at scale.
For governments
National carbon markets, Article 6 transfers, and ITMO infrastructure mobilise climate finance at the scale the boundaries require.
Explore services →For project developers
High-integrity MRV, AI-generated PDDs, and a forest digital twin make removal projects bankable — accelerating real-world action against breached boundaries.
See the digital twin →