The majority of the world’s land area is in a precarious state, a map of the Earth’s functional biosphere integrity has revealed.
This is the warning of a new study by researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany and the BOKU University in Vienna, Austria.
Functional biosphere integrity is a concept that refers to the plant world’s ability to maintain the essential cycles of carbon, water and nitrogen that regulate the Earth system.
It is considered a core element of the Planetary Boundaries framework, alongside biodiversity loss and climate change, for defining a safe operating space for humanity.
“There is an enormous need for civilization to utilize the biosphere—for food, raw materials and, in future, also for climate protection,” said paper author Fabian Stenzel explained in a statement.
“It is therefore becoming even more important to quantify the strain we’re already putting on the biosphere…to identify overloads. Our research is paving the way for this.”
The teams findings are stark: 60 percent of global land areas are now outside the locally defined “safe zone,” and a significant 38 percent are in a high-risk zone.
Measuring the Strain on the Planet
The study builds on the latest update of the Planetary Boundaries framework. Wolfgang Lucht, who coordinated the study, explained the core of the issue: “The framework now squarely puts energy flows from photosynthesis in the world’s vegetation at the center of those processes that co-regulate planetary stability.”
He continued, “These energy flows drive all of life—but humans are now diverting a sizeable fraction of them to their own purposes, disturbing nature’s dynamic processes.”
To measure this stress, the researchers used two key indicators. The first measures the proportion of natural biomass productivity that humanity uses for its own purposes. The second indicator tracks the risk of ecosystem destabilization, which records complex changes in vegetation and the biosphere’s natural cycles.
The study’s use of these indicators allowed the team to create a comprehensive map of the biosphere’s health.
A Historical Look
Using a global biosphere model, the study was able to track changes in land use and climate from the year 1600. The results show that worrying developments began as early as the 17th century. By 1900, the proportion of land outside the safe zone was 37 percent, and 14 percent was in the high-risk zone—a clear sign that industrialization and human land use affected the Earth system well before widespread climate warming.
Today, the numbers are far worse, with the planetary boundary being crossed on the majority of land surfaces—but most prominently in Europe, Asia and North America, where land conversion for agriculture has taken its toll.
Paper author and PIK director Johan Rockström said in a statement that the new map is “breakthrough from a scientific perspective.”
He added: “It also provides an important impetus for the further development of international climate policy. This is because it points to the link between biomass and natural carbon sinks, and how they can contribute to mitigating climate change.
“Governments must treat it as a single overarching issue: comprehensive biosphere protection together with strong climate action.”
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the biosphere? Let us know via [email protected].
Reference
Stenzel, F., Ben Uri, L., Braun, J., Breier, J., Erb, K., Gerten, D., Haberl, H., Matej, S., Milo, R., Ostberg, S., Rockström, J., Roux, N., Schaphoff, S., & Lucht, W. (2025). Breaching planetary boundaries: Over half of global land area suffers critical losses in functional biosphere integrity. One Earth. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101341
The post 60% of Earth’s Land at Risk, Map Shows appeared first on Newsweek.
