Trend Biosphere integrity deep in the high-risk zone

Summary

The biosphere integrity boundary is tracked through species extinction rates, a proxy for genetic diversity, and the human appropriation of net primary production, a proxy for functional integrity, and both sit in the high-risk zone. Extinctions exceed 100 per million species-years against a boundary of 10, while people take 21 to 30 percent of the plant energy nature produces, more than twice the 10 percent limit. Expansion of cropland and grazing land, overfishing and logging, pollution, invasive species and climate change interact to intensify the pressure. IPBES indicators consistently show substantial and continuing losses across ecosystem structure, function, community composition and species populations. The report reads this as a sign that the biosphere is weakening along far more dimensions than the two control variables capture. As its buffering capacity falls, nature's regulation of carbon, water, nutrients and climate weakens, threatening food security and clean water.