Scientists warn that worsening climate, ecosystem, freshwater and ocean pressures are increasing risks of persistent and potentially irreversible Earth-system changes.
Seven of the nine planetary boundaries that define the safe limits for Earth’s life support systems have now been breached, with pressure on all seven continuing to worsen, according to the 2026 Planetary Health Check released on September 21.
The annual update, authored by more than 60 scientists and produced by the Planetary Boundaries Science Lab at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), said ocean acidification became the latest boundary to cross its safe limit in 2025.
The seven breached boundaries are climate change, change in biosphere integrity, land system change, freshwater change, modification of biogeochemical flows, introduction of novel entities and ocean acidification. All seven are now at their highest recorded levels of transgression, the report said.
Only the stratospheric ozone depletion and atmospheric aerosol loading boundaries have shown improvement over the last decade. The authors cautioned, however, that global progress on aerosols may mask unsafe levels that persist in some regions.
“The diagnosis is unambiguous. Pressure is rising across every Planetary Boundary already outside the safe operating space. It means that the risk of large-scale, persistent and potentially irreversible change is increasing, while our margin for error in tackling these problems is shrinking,” said Boris Sakschewski, lead author of the report.
“We do not have the luxury of time, but we do have the knowledge, capacity and solutions to change course. Accelerating action to return to the safe operating space across all Planetary Boundaries is essential to protect lives and livelihoods, and to deliver on the promise of shared future prosperity,” said Johan Rockström, director of PIK and a co-author of the report.
The report comes after 12 months marked by extreme events across land and oceans. Human-caused warming intensified several major weather extremes, while degraded ecosystems, water stress, land-use change, exposure and social vulnerability often magnified their impacts.
Pakistan’s 2025 monsoon floods affected more than 6.9 million people. Global ocean heat content reached a new record in 2025, while Hurricane Melissa rapidly intensified to a Category 5 hurricane and struck Jamaica after passing over exceptionally warm seas.
From January 2023 to September 2025, bleaching-level heat stress affected approximately 84.4 percent of the world’s coral reef area, making it the largest global coral-bleaching event observed to date.
In 2026, Western Europe experienced its hottest June-July period on record, accompanied by drought across France, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom. Major wildfires also occurred across Europe and Canada, while record-breaking heat was recorded in Japan, South Korea and parts of the Middle East.
“Read that list again: Pakistan, the Caribbean, Europe, the reefs beneath our oceans. This is not five separate emergencies, it is one planet telling us, in every region at once, that it is out of balance. As Chair of Planetary Guardians, I hear this same story wherever I go, whether from a pastoralist watching the rains fail season after season or a coastal community watching the sea rise. The 2026 Planetary Health Check puts data behind what communities on the frontlines already know from living it. We do not have the luxury of treating these as separate crises any longer,” said Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, chair of Planetary Guardians.
“Any kind of movement requires patience, trust, and the will to keep going, even when it may be easier to stop. The 2026 Planetary Health Check tells us we need that same collective resolve now, applied to the whole planet. Seven of nine boundaries are broken, and no single nation can restore them alone; this is a peace process the entire world must commit to, together, starting now,” said President Juan Manuel Santos.
The report also highlighted pressure on natural carbon sinks. Vegetation and soils absorb a substantial share of human carbon dioxide emissions, but repeated heat, drought, fire and ecosystem degradation can reduce carbon uptake and, in some regions, turn ecosystems from carbon sinks into carbon sources.
This year’s report examines whether the models used to calculate the land carbon sink may overestimate its resilience.
“Our path to net zero emissions relies on functioning carbon sinks. Current observations raise the alarm that our planet may be losing its buffering capacity against the increasing pressures we’re putting on it,” Sakschewski said.
The report, titled Planetary Health Check 2026, was produced by Planetary Boundaries Science (PBScience) at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Potsdam, Germany.
