But the most dramatic transgression is what’s happening with the biodiversity boundary. The pace of species loss today is so great we’re literally in the midst of the planet’s sixth mass extinction, which is certain to cause massive and permanent changes in the functioning of Earth’s ecosystems. Especially troubling are the losses of top predators, species at the top of the food webs, which are rapidly changing the entire structure of natural life-support systems, including triggering major tipping points. These losses are tragic, because, unlike other planetary boundaries, they’re
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