Humanity has destroyed more than half of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles on the planet in less than half a century - from 1970 to 2014, according to a report in the Living Planet Index, which was prepared by scientists from 59 countries.
"The Earth is losing its biological diversity at a speed that was previously observed only during mass extinctions," the study notes.
Environmentalists are calling for new global indicators for sustainable development. Correspondent.net tells the details.
The new mass extinction on Earth
The report, prepared by the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London, is based on an analysis of data on 16,704 populations representing four thousand species. A study of world fauna is carried out every two years.
Scientists believe that the sixth wave of mass extinction has begun on the planet, but the first, which is due to one particular species - man.
The main reasons are two:
destruction of natural habitats for agricultural needs
killing animals for food
Because of hunting, at least 300 species of animals disappeared. In addition, chemical pollution, animal trade and the spread of invasive species influence the population size.
Changes are caused by growing food production, the demand for energy, land and water.
The authors warn that the destruction of wildlife also threatens the future of mankind, because the growing pace of growth in resource consumption is destroying the habitat on which air and water quality depend.
Plastic killer. The world refuses tubules
“We are blindly heading towards the edge of the abyss,” said WWF Executive Director for Science, Mike Barrett, commenting on the report.
Overall, in the world, the rate of disappearance of forests has slowed due to efforts to restore it. However, this does not apply to tropical forests, where today the greatest biodiversity on Earth is preserved.
The extinction is near. Scientists warned mankind.
How has planet Earth changed and what to expect
WWF specialists recall that tropical, temperate and boreal (taiga) forests constitute the richest ecosystem: while they cover about 30 percent of the planet’s surface, they are home to 80 percent of terrestrial living organisms.
Among the habitats, rivers and lakes were hardest hit, with wild species declining by 83 percent.
Covering no more than one percent of the Earth’s surface, freshwater ecosystems — lakes, rivers, and wetlands — are habitat for more than 100,000 known species of fish, shellfish, reptiles, insects, plants, and mammals, the report says.
The previous report was criticized for the fact that the data series is controversial, since there is practically no adequate information from Africa and South America, and the bulk of the data comes from Western Europe.
Then the authors of Living Planet responded that the environmental team is using the best available research.
"It’s true that in some regions and for some groups of animals, like tropical amphibians, we don’t have enough data. But this is because they are not there at all. It is very likely that the species that are not well researched are still in a more difficult situation, than the others - I would be very surprised if everything is better with them than in the data we have, "said Robin Freeman from the Zoological Society of London.
A world of excessiveness. The tragic effects of population growth
WWF spokesman Mike Barrett, commenting on the criticism of the report in the Guardian newspaper, noted that all of their indicators show the same picture - a deep decline in the wildlife population, which reduces the likelihood of a serious error.