Issue Earth outside its safe operating space with seven of nine boundaries transgressed

Summary

The 2026 Planetary Health Check finds seven of the nine boundaries transgressed, namely climate change, biosphere integrity, land system change, freshwater change, biogeochemical flows, ocean acidification and novel entities. All seven show trends heading in the wrong direction, and several control variables lie in the high-risk zone. Only aerosol loading and stratospheric ozone remain within limits, and aerosols already exceed a regional boundary over South Asia. Summarizing the spread of all control variables, the report places planetary health in 2026 near the top of the zone of increasing risk, close to the high-risk zone. At this level, it judges the likelihood of large and possibly irreversible Earth-system change to be already substantial. The report warns that humanity has pushed Earth outside its safe operating space, turning a safe home into one full of hazards.