Layer 1
This is the IFF World Model. Roll over each of the factors, or use the navigation panel on the right hand side of the page, to investigate trends and discontinuities in each area. For more information on the model overall and how to use it visit the world model pages.
Description
Humanity, while buffered (and blinded) against some environmental immediacies by culture and technology, is fully dependent on the flow of services provided by the interconnected ecosystems that make up the biosphere. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Reports (a key source for information on the state of the biosphere) define four categories of ecological service which we entirely depend on to sustain human life: supporting services such as soil & oxygen formation, nutrient cycling and primary production, provisioning services like food, fibres and fresh water, regulating services that keep climate, air and water quality, as well as human and animal diseases, regulated in a way that enables life as we know it. We also benefit non-materially from ecosystems, through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection & recreation. These less tangible dependencies, which are also essential to human wellbeing, are known as cultural services.
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