Editing Earth (section)

=== Humans and the environment ===
{{Main|Human impact on the environment|Climate change}}
[[File:Global Temperature And Forces With Fahrenheit.svg|alt=The graph from 1880 to 2020 shows natural drivers exhibiting fluctuations of about 0.3 degrees Celsius. Human drivers steadily increase by 0.3 degrees over 100 years to 1980, then steeply by 0.8 degrees more over the past 40 years.|thumb|upright=1.3|Change in average surface air temperature and drivers for that change. Human activity has caused increased temperatures, with natural forces adding some variability.<ref>{{Cite book |author=IPCC |author-link=IPCC |year=2021 |title=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis |series=Contribution of Working Group I to the [[IPCC Sixth Assessment Report|Sixth Assessment Report]] of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |display-editors=4 |editor1-first=V. |editor1-last=Masson-Delmotte |editor2-first=P. |editor2-last=Zhai |editor3-first=A. |editor3-last=Pirani |editor4-first=S. L. |editor4-last=Connors |editor5-first=C. |editor5-last=Péan |editor6-first=S. |editor6-last=Berger |editor7-first=N. |editor7-last=Cau |editor8-first=Y. |editor8-last=Chen |editor9-first=L. |editor9-last=Goldfarb |editor10-first=M. I. |editor10-last=Gomis |publisher=Cambridge University Press (In Press) |place=Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, US |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf |at=SPM-7 |access-date=2 June 2022 |archive-date=13 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813201719/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

Human activities have impacted Earth's environments. Through activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, humans have been increasing the amount of [[greenhouse gas]]es in the atmosphere, altering [[Earth's energy budget]] and climate.<ref name=ConsensusOnConsensus /><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/EnergyBalance |title=Climate and Earth's Energy Budget |first1=Rebecca |last1=Lindsey |date=14 January 2009 |website=Earth Observatory |publisher=[[NASA]] |language=en |access-date=19 December 2021 |archive-date=2 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002090444/https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/EnergyBalance |url-status=live }}</ref> It is estimated that global temperatures in the year 2020 were {{convert|1.2|C-change}} warmer than the preindustrial baseline.<ref>{{cite web|date=14 January 2021|title=The State of the Global Climate 2020|url=https://public-old.wmo.int/en/our-mandate/climate/wmo-statement-state-of-global-climate|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129232510/https://public-old.wmo.int/en/our-mandate/climate/wmo-statement-state-of-global-climate|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 November 2023|access-date=3 March 2021|website=World Meteorological Organization |language=en}}</ref> This increase in temperature, known as [[global warming]], has contributed to the [[Retreat of glaciers since 1850|melting of glaciers]], [[Sea level rise|rising sea levels]], increased risk of drought and wildfires, and migration of species to colder areas.<ref name="Global Warming Effects" />

The concept of [[planetary boundaries]] was introduced to quantify humanity's impact on Earth. Of the nine identified boundaries, five have been crossed: [[Biodiversity loss|Biosphere integrity]], climate change, chemical pollution, destruction of wild habitats and the [[nitrogen cycle]] are thought to have passed the safe threshold.<ref name="Boundaries">{{cite web |title=We've crossed four of nine planetary boundaries. What does this mean? |website=[[Mongabay]] |last1=DiGirolamo |first1=Mike |date=8 September 2021 |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/weve-crossed-four-of-nine-planetary-boundaries-what-does-this-mean/ |access-date=27 January 2022 |archive-date=27 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127200649/https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/weve-crossed-four-of-nine-planetary-boundaries-what-does-this-mean/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Carrington |first1=Damien |title=Chemical pollution has passed safe limit for humanity, say scientists |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/18/chemical-pollution-has-passed-safe-limit-for-humanity-say-scientists |work=The Guardian |date=18 January 2022 |language=en |access-date=27 January 2022 |archive-date=12 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412082940/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/18/chemical-pollution-has-passed-safe-limit-for-humanity-say-scientists |url-status=live }}</ref> As of 2018, no country meets the basic needs of its population without transgressing planetary boundaries. It is thought possible to provide all basic physical needs globally within sustainable levels of resource use.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=O'Neill|first1=Daniel W.|last2=Fanning|first2=Andrew L.|last3=Lamb|first3=William F.|last4=Steinberger|first4=Julia K.|author4-link=Julia Steinberger|date=2018|title=A good life for all within planetary boundaries|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0021-4|journal=Nature Sustainability|language=en|volume=1|issue=2|pages=88–95|doi=10.1038/s41893-018-0021-4|bibcode=2018NatSu...1...88O|s2cid=169679920|issn=2398-9629|access-date=30 January 2022|archive-date=1 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201214934/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0021-4/|url-status=live}}</ref>