This update of the planetary boundaries framework by Richardson et al. (2023) finds that six of the nine boundaries are transgressed, suggesting that Earth is now well outside of the safe operating space for humanity. Ocean acidification is close to being breached, while aerosol loading regionally exceeds the boundary.

The Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI) went from roughly 250 TW in 2000 to 720 TW in 2023. It doubled in roughly 13 years (from 2007 to 2020). That is most likely the most important aspect of the Climate Emergency: the planetary heating is rapidly increasing!

A doubling time of 13 years for EEI means that the increase in heating is now decoupled from the increase in excess #greenhouse gases. Most likely, the change in surface albedo (potentially caused by the rapid loss of sea ice) allows for more heat storage particularly in the ocean. As a consequence, global warming is accelerating.

A key question with a potentially devastating answer is: "Has the climate entered a runaway phase?" If so, there is no climate action left that could change this.

Understanding that the Climate Crisis is at the core of the Planetary Emergency, a runaway climate would be devastating for the Earth's ability to support life at its current diversity on the planet.

The diagram was prepared by Leon Simons, who tweeted the diagram on July 28, 2023, see https://twitter.com/LeonSimons8/status/1684966795826929666. The diagram uses NASA CERES EBAF-TOA All-sky Ed4.2 Net Flux data from March 2000 to May 2023.