The Fact About State of the Biosphere

State of the world’s ecosystems
•  By 1980, humans estimated to appropriate forty per cent of potential terrestrial net primary production.  
•  In 1994, 75 per cent of the habitable earth estimated to have been disturbed by human activity.   
• In 2003 the global population of large predatory fish had been reduced to only 10% of levels before industrial fishing began.

Change in ecosystems: •  More land was converted to cropland in the 30 years after 1950 than in the 150 years 1700 - 1850. 

•  20% of the world’s coral reefs were lost and 20% degraded in the last several decades.
•  Amount of water in reservoirs quadrupled since 1960.
•  Withdrawals from rivers and lakes doubled since 1960.
 

Change in biogeochemical cycles: •  Flows of biologically available nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems doubled since 1960.
•  Flows of phosphorus tripled.
•  50% of all the synthetic nitrogen fertilizer ever used has been used since 1985.
•  60% of the increase in the atmospheric concentration of CO2 since 1750 has taken place since 1959.

Source:

1. Hannah, L  et al, (1994) ‘A preliminary inventory of human disturbance of world ecosystems’, Ambio 23: 246–250. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

2. Myers, R., and Worm, B. 2003, 'Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities', Nature, vol. 423, pp. 280-283.

3. Vitousek P M,  Ehrlich P R, Ehrlich A H and Matson P A (1986) ‘Human appropriation of the products of photosynthesis’, BioScience 36: 368–373.