Grasslands with strongly reduced plant diversity would take up about 15% less CO2 by 2050, a PIK and Kiel University model in PNAS projects. The comparison pits kept diversity against a deliberately extreme loss, so it measures what the plant mix is worth to carbon uptake under warming.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives
- Insufficient
- Confidence50
More than 60 scientists, in the Potsdam Institute's 2026 Planetary Health Check, find seven of nine planetary boundaries crossed and still worsening. Six of the seven are boundaries other than climate change, and three of those share its red danger zone.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+8
- Incentives
- Insufficient
- Confidence55
Seafloor integrity has its own chapter in this year's Planetary Health Check. The estimates it compiles count area disturbed, not duration of disturbance.
Reality
- Evidence42
- Adoption25
- Hype gap+12
- Incentives55
- Confidence55
The annual Planetary Health Check counts seven of nine boundaries transgressed, ocean acidification among them since 2025, and puts carbon dioxide at 426 parts per million against 280 before industrialisation. More than 60 scientists signed it.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives65
- Confidence68
Climate Analytics and the Potsdam Institute treat the 1.5C breach as settled and model how long the overshoot lasts. Their Australian pathway needs a 55% cut on 2005 levels by 2030, where current policy delivers 43%.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption18
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives70
- Confidence50
A PIK-led study projects Europe's annual burned area rising 39% under low emissions and 192% under high. The same paper says fire management could claw most of that back, for now.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+14
- Incentives62
- Confidence55