A prototype Earth system impact metric from cross-scale Earth system interactions&#160;
Authors: Lade Steven , Fetzer Ingo , Cornell Sarah , Crona Beatrice 
Published: March 2021

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;T&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;he planetary boundary framework sets limits on the human pressures that maintain the Earth system in a Holocene-like state that supports human wellbeing&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt; A sub-global assessment of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;th&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;ese&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;interactions&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;between&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;these&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160;pressures&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;is&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160;needed&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;to&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;enable&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;businesses and other actors to&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;assess the systemic environmental impacts of their decisions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Here, we&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;analysed&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160;interactions between&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160;important boundaries for&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160;climate change, surface water runoff, and vegetation cover using the dynamic vegetation model&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;LPJmL&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;. Using a feedback model, we then studied how these interactions amplify environmental impacts. For example, we showed that interactions more than triple the Earth system impact of deforestation in South American tropical&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;forest&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;. Finally, we created a prototype Earth system impact metric by combining these amplification factors with an assessment of the current state of the Earth system.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;We envision that future versions of our prototype metric will allow businesses and other actors to better assess&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;environmental&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span xml:lang=&quot;EN-US&quot; data-contrast=&quot;auto&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160;impacts of their decisions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;