Seven of the nine major benchmarks used to track the state of the planet have now been crossed, and none of the seven is improving.
These benchmarks are called “planetary boundaries.” They are used to track nine major natural processes on which Earth's stability depends. The principle is simple: for each one, scientists define a zone in which risks remain relatively low.
The Earth.
Illustrative image from Pixabay
The 2026 assessment was conducted by more than 60 scientists. It examines climate, freshwater, forests, oceans and the diversity of life, among other factors. According to this evaluation, seven of the nine boundaries now lie outside the zone considered safe. Worse still, all seven have reached their highest recorded level of overshoot since monitoring began.
Climate change is one of these seven boundaries. The others concern the state of the living world, land use, freshwater and the natural cycles of certain chemical elements. Pollution from novel entities is also affected. Ocean acidification, linked in particular to the absorption of CO₂, joined this list in 2025.
To understand why this overview matters, it is important to focus on the links between these phenomena. A degraded forest may absorb less CO₂. Rising temperatures can increase droughts and wildfires, which in turn reduce this absorption capacity. The various indicators therefore do not operate independently.
Two boundaries have nevertheless moved in a more favorable direction over the past decade. The stratospheric ozone layer is continuing to recover. The overall amount of particles suspended in the atmosphere has also decreased. For the latter, however, the global assessment may conceal levels that remain too high in some regions.
The 2026 report pays particular attention to natural carbon sinks. Plants and soils currently retain some of the CO₂ released by human activities. But heat, droughts, wildfires and ecosystem degradation can reduce this absorption. Some ecosystems may even temporarily release more carbon than they capture.
The next challenge is therefore to better measure the resilience of these carbon sinks. Climate models rely on their ability to continue absorbing part of the emissions. Recent observations will help determine whether this contribution remains as lasting as expected as temperatures rise and extreme events become more frequent.