How plants grow us

The phrase ‘the kingdom of plants’ comes from astonishing science — the World Economic Forum finds plants compose over 82% of the total biomass on

Earth

while humans account for just 0. 01%.


Plants are the foundation of life for it is through plant photosynthesis — sunlight’s radiant energy transformed into chemical matter — that humans and other animals receive nourishment. The

Food and Agricultural Organization

(

FAO

) estimates that plants give us 80% of our food — 15 plants provide 90% of the calories consumed by humans worldwide.



There is even more benevolence to this kingdom. Via photosynthesis, plants absorb

CO2

and emit 98% of the oxygen we breathe. Plants are the primary source of goods from textiles to building materials and as the

IUCN

estimates, 80,000 plant species are used for medicinal purposes. Plants bind the soil, cool the atmosphere and even invoke rain through transpiration or releasing water into the air through their stems, flowers and leaves. From mosses and grasses to towering trees, the world knows of 3,90,000 plant species, venerable ancestors which began evolving over 400 million years ago while humans are just seven million years old. In 2019, 4,000 new species were discovered, many being potential sources of food, biofuels and medicine, including treatments for pandemic microbes.



However, this wondrous kingdom is besieged by threats today. Scientists find two in five of the world’s plant species face extinction. The leading cause is the destruction of natural habitats for agriculture, followed by the pollution of ecosystems, building impacts and soil degradation. Further, climate change, the atmospheric accumulation of CO2, is destabilising Earth’s mantle, the layer of soil and air where plant life survives. FAO finds 40% of crops worldwide are already lost — yet, agricultural production must rise 60% by 2050 to nourish a growing world population.

Importantly, as Times Evoke’s global experts emphasise, there are multiple ways by which humans can conserve plants — and thereby, ourselves. Solutions range from reducing polluting impacts on ecosystems and concretisation to supporting chemical-free farming and afforestation. Join Times Evoke on a vibrant journey across the kingdom of plants — this grows us in every meaningful sense.