As the human population continues to grow and industrialize, our efforts to reshape the world around us require more and more energy inputs, leading to an increase in entropy on our planet. This entropy can accumulate in the biosphere as pollution, or be emitted back into space as low-grade heat. This pollution can disrupt ecosystems directly through poisoning or indirectly through the greenhouse effect, leading to an increase in the temperature of the Earth.

This increased temperature can intensify storms and further disrupt ecosystems. In addition, research has shown that continued biodiversity loss can trigger global ecosystem collapses, cause resource depletion, and incite global economic decline. To address this, we need a shift in global production technology that balances the entropic contributions of human and natural systems within planetary thermodynamic limits. A tool for quantifying the entropy cost of reorganizing matter could help balance human and biological construction while respecting planetary limits.