ABSTRACT
As our understanding of Earth System functioning has evolved, it has become clear that farming – and not least of which, livestock production – has an enormous effect on the planet. Through the study of the Earth as a system (“Earth System science”), critical resources can be identified and estimates of their availability developed. One approach for doing this is the planetary boundaries framework. We have crossed four of the nine boundaries: climate, biosphere integrity (biodiversity), land use (felling of forest) and the release of reactive nitrogen and phosphorous to the environment. Developments in the understanding of impacts of agricultural activities on Earth system processes strengthen Compassion’s call for a major transformation of the industrialised agricultural system.
