Many who are aware of unfolding and irreversible collapse are familiar with the planetary boundary diagram. Updated periodically by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, the green center at the heart of the diagram is our ‘safe operating zone’. The spectrum of yellow, red, and purple signify how the boundaries of this zone are being transgressed, contributing to an unsafe biosphere and a loss of habitable Earth. These transgressions are not a projection: these are depictions of real-time biosphere degradation based on a synthesis of a huge body of scientific research.
Yet, this diagram can be deceptive. Because despite transgressing around eight of the nine boundaries, the ‘safe operating zone’ is depicted as intact. The diagram appears to show that this zone still exists and that is still possible to return to a secure and stable world. A better, brighter future is possible!
In reality, we now inhabit a world of yellow, orange, and red, with only a tinge of green remaining. There is no safe center to return to. Many are already aware of this as they live in places that are dangerous, toxic, lacking basic resources like food and water, and subject to climate extremes like heatwaves and floods. These people and communities tend to be in poorer places – places already collapsed through processes like colonialism and capitalism.
This is why a politics of collapse is about socio-ecological justice – acting now for a Just Collapse!
More information on the planetary boundaries and acting for a Just Collapse.
Just Collapse 