Two stacked panels from 1900 into the future, with 1750 to 1900 drawn at a compressed scale in a narrow column at the left, continuing into the main chart at 1900. The top panel is conceptual: on an axis from degrades life to sustains life, the extractive curve falls below neutral from 1900 onward and, from today, forks into a continued decline or a regenerative path that climbs back into sustaining life. It also carries a measured line: human quality of life, the Augmented Human Development Index, rising from 1900 to 2020 while the living world declines. The bottom panel is measured data from Our World in Data, shown as five-year averages: world output, atmospheric carbon dioxide, farmland area and wildlife decline, ending today. SustainslifeDegradeslifeExtractive economicsfive indications converging now: AI race · climate stress · programmable biology · energy transition · digital concentrationHuman quality of life · measuredThe living world · conceptualRegenerative pathThe gapprosperity drawnfrom the living worldWe are here — the inflection point180019091950s19952020sThe windowHuman quality of life · measuredThe living world · extractive pathRegenerative pathThe cost of prosperitymeasured · five-year averages, each series indexed 0–100Not yet measured050100FarmlandCO₂Wildlife declineWorld output1909Haber-Bosch1950sCheap oil1995Digital2020sFive inflection points1800Steam engineahead →World outputCO₂ in the atmosphereFarmlandWildlife declineWildlife uncertainty

Sources and method