Breaking Boundaries

The Science of Our Planet

By: Johan Rockstrom, Owen Gaffney

Narrated by: Matt Addis

An accessible summary of the climate emergency and how to turn things around, from authors whose work informed the Netflix series Our Planet, narrated by David Attenborough.

On the brink of a critical moment in human history, this audiobook presents a vision of "planetary stewardship"—a rethinking of our relationship with our planet—and plots a new course for our future.

The authors reveal the full scale of the planetary emergency we face—but also how we can stabilize Earth's life support system. The necessary change is within our power, if we act now.

In 2009, scientists identified nine planetary boundaries that keep Earth stable, ranging from biodiversity to ozone. Beyond these boundaries lurk tipping points. In order to stop short of these tipping points, the 2020s must see the fastest economic transition in history. This audiobook demonstrates how societies are reaching positive tipping points that make this transition possible: groups such as Extinction Rebellion and the schoolchildren led by Greta Thunberg demand political action; countries are committing to eliminating greenhouse gas emissions; and one tipping point has even already passed—the price of clean energy has dropped below that of fossil fuels. The story is accompanied by unique images of Earth produced by Globaïa, the world's leading visualizers of human impact.

Authors: Johan Rockström is a leading global sustainability scientist and chief scientist at Conservation International. He has published several books, presented three TED talks, and, other than the Netflix/WWF production Our Planet, he has worked with James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, and others on several major films and TV productions.

Owen Gaffney is a science writer, journalist, and global sustainability expert who co-founded the Future Earth Media Lab and Rethink.Earth. A regular writer for New Scientist, he is also on the editorial board of Anthropocene Magazine.

©2021 Johan Rockstrom (P)2021 DK

Optimistic yet still depressing

Overall, this is an extremely informative and well researched book.

Covers earth’s history and various epochs/catastrophic event that few people know of or are willing to admit we may be heading towards another at breakneck speed. Moves onto the scientific facts and research that support not only the "what and why" we have been experiencing extreme changes in our climate and environment, but where we are heading. Prepare yourself to be educated on various scales of measurement and what it means to every person on earth.

Yes, I know, anyone who has watched the numerous documentaries on climate change, read the books and reports, or just follows the headlines has heard it all before. In the beginning, I was thinking that through parts of the book. Nevertheless, this book brings in much more credible evidence supporting the fact that we may be headed towards a world that will be dramatically different than what man has experienced since Homo sapiens have walked the earth if we don’t take it seriously NOW.

Advancing through the book, it depressed me thinking that, as shown in recent years in the United States, we are selfish and unwilling to admit that this is a real crisis thus we will continue to ignore the warning signs and write them off as “unstoppable natural events”. However, science has answers, and it is not all doom and gloom. Hell, we’ve proven that we can move mountains, live in space, create new elements and more. So what’s to stop us from solving this problem we face? Us, we stand in the way.

Unlike other books on climate crisis, this book goes into detail explaining various economic proposals to implement changes without breaking the bank. It encompasses all continents and cultures and provides examples of what numerous cities, regions, and countries are doing to tackle the crisis and their timeline goals.

This book is for those who want to learn more, as well as for those who are educated on the issues of the climate change debate.

Reading it again.

The narrator did an excellent job, but I'm going to have to read it more critically a second time because it just made too much sense.

Stunning

I wish everyone has a chance to either read or listen. We are living an existential moment in in our fragile moment in time on this awesome living planet.