The Potsdam Institute for Climate Research puts out an annual report documenting that status of earth systems using a scale on 9 planetary boundaries that must not be breeched in order for earth to be biologically and ecologically stable and fully support life and humans. Steadily over the years those boundaries are being overshot, and now with this year’s report, 7 of the 9 planetary boundaries are breeched. Our economic systems, requiring perpetual growth, have never and will never allow the full truth of this predicament – something that has no solution, but can only be adapted to – to be exposed. We, the people, have to retake the power away from those intransigent, profit-first, suicidal systems in order to save ourselves and much of the life around us. As the 2026 Planetary Health Check states, “ We still have a chance to turn towards a safer, sustainable future. The impacts of breached Planetary Boundaries are already all around us, and they will continue to become more severe. But today, we still have a narrow window of opportunity. If we manage to bend the curves within this decade, we can put our societies on a course towards a safer, more just future. We have the tools, and we have taken steps in this direction, but our current efforts are far from sufficient. Only by pursuing urgent, ambitious, and decisive action across all sectors of our societies can we return to living within the Safe Operating Space on a healthy Planet”.

No systems or actions that promote the status quo and business-as-usual will result in a positive adaptation to our nescient man-made actions that have now resulted in the potential for human extinction.

Doomerism is the paradigm that while recognizing the calamities we have wrought onto Nature – our only biological and ecological support system – also advocates giving up and succumbing to a false inevitable demise of humanity: these are the quitters; good riddance.

But, if humans choose to perpetuate our ignorance of Gaia’s needs and desires, prioritizing human perceptions of well-being over Nature’s, the earth will still rebalance, just without us, and on its own timeframe. Evolution won’t stop, but God will have to evolve a different species to steward his work here on Earth since we humans were too self-centered to do what he wanted us to do as we stupidly extincted ourselves.

Part 2 to follow

Bob Bates

Tullahoma