Signal Humans appropriate 21 to 30 percent of natural plant productivity

Summary

Human appropriation of net primary production measures the share of Holocene-reference natural plant production that agriculture, forestry and urbanization suppress or harvest, serving as a proxy for the biosphere's functional integrity. This year's assessment shows several independent datasets built with different methods, putting the figure at 21 to 30 percent, more than twice the 10 percent boundary. Estimates vary, but all lie above the 20 percent high-risk threshold, so the risk classification is unchanged. The indicator has exceeded safe levels since at least the early twentieth century, with appropriation for food, fuel, fodder and fiber above sustainable levels for more than a hundred years. The more people take, the less energy remains for natural ecosystems, weakening how they function. The land carbon sink chapter puts current human use at roughly a quarter of potential terrestrial plant productivity.