Biosphere fast facts
- More than 75% of the earth’s land area is already degraded, according to the European Commission’s World Atlas of Desertification, and more than 90% could become degraded by 2050.
- Deforestation and forest fires mean the Amazon Basin is now a net emitter of CO2
- Forecasts are for nine billion people on the planet by 2030, meaning a concomitant increase in pressure on existing biosystems.
Source: National Geographic: ‘First study of all Amazon greenhouse gases suggests the damaged forest is now worsening climate change’, 11 March 2021; The Times: ‚One billion to be added to world’s population by 2030’, 22 June 2017