The Water Planetary Boundary: Interrogation and Revision

Tom Gleeson, Lan Wang-Erlandsson, Samuel C. Zipper, Miina Porkka, Fernando Jaramillo, Dieter Gerten, Ingo Fetzer, Sarah E. Cornell, Luigi Piemontese, Line J. Gordon, Johan Rockström, Taikan Oki, Murugesu Sivapalan, Yoshihide Wada, Kate A. Brauman, Martina Flörke, Marc F.P. Bierkens, Bernhard Lehner, Patrick Keys, Matti KummuThorsten Wagener, Simon Dadson, Tara J. Troy, Will Steffen, Malin Falkenmark, James S. Famiglietti

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

110 Scopus citations

Abstract

The planetary boundaries framework proposes quantified guardrails to human modification of global environmental processes that regulate the stability of the planet and has been considered in sustainability science, governance, and corporate management. However, the planetary boundary for human freshwater use has been critiqued as a singular measure that does not reflect all types of human interference with the complex global water cycle and Earth System. We suggest that the water planetary boundary will be more scientifically robust and more useful in decision-making frameworks if it is redesigned to consider more specifically how climate and living ecosystems respond to changes in the different forms of water on Earth: atmospheric water, frozen water, groundwater, soil moisture, and surface water. This paper provides an ambitious scientific road map to define a new water planetary boundary consisting of sub-boundaries that account for a variety of changes to the water cycle.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)223-234
Number of pages12
JournalOne Earth
Volume2
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 20 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Generated from Scopus record by KAUST IRTS on 2023-09-18

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