The Living Planet Report 2016 published
\nby World Wide Fund for Nature and the Zoological Society of London says the
\nloss of biodiversity is just one of the warning signs of a planet in peril. 60%
\nof the vertebrates have gone extinct in the last 40 years alone. The most
\naffected animals are those living in forests, lakes, rivers and wetland areas.
\nHumans are guilty of all this, following the destruction of wild areas to use
\nthe land for agriculture, poaching and extensive deforestation, thus decimating large
\npopulations of Asian tigers, rhinoceros, African elephants, eagles and even
\nsome species of fish. Pollution is another factor responsible for the
\ndisappearance of certain species. A large amount of chemical substances is used
\nin agriculture, with a significant impact on wild species and habitats, either
\ndirectly or indirectly, through the pollution of soil and water. Killer whales
\nand dolphins in Europe’s seas suffer because of industrial polluters. One third
\nof the species of sharks and stingrays are already on the brink of extinction,
\nmainly because of excessive fishing. The WWF Romania director, Magor Csibi, has
\nfurther details: <\/p>\n
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What the report tells us is that if we
\ncontinue to live the way we do, if we continue to have the same impact on
\nnature, then we will witness the sixth mass extinction of wildlife on our
\nplanet. The second conclusion is related to our entering a new geological era,
\nthe Anthropocene. This means that if traces of meteorites or volcanoes 100
\nthousand years ago appear in rock strata now, similarly, millions of years from
\nnow, the traces left by humans, starting with plastic or other forms of
\npollution we currently produce, will appear in rock strata. This means that
\nhumans now have an impact not only on their immediate environment, but they
\naffect the future of the planet both geologically and geomorphically.<\/p>\n
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According to the previous WWF report published in 2014,
\nthe populations of wildlife species on earth have decreased by 50% in the past
\n40 years. The new report shows the trend continues:<\/p>\n
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Since 1970, in the past 46 years, we
\nhave lost 58% of the planet’s total biodiversity. If this trend continues at a
\nfast pace we will lose even more, and in the following four years we will lose
\ntwo thirds of the total species living on the planet. These losses are not
\nuniform. There are areas which are more affected than others, for instance 80%
\nof sweet water biodiversity was lost in the past 46 years, as compared to 53% of
\nground biodiversity. This means we continue to face a severe problem and run
\nthe risk of loosing even well known species or those living close to us. More
\noften than not, when we think of extinction, we think of those already
\nendangered species, we think of tigers, African elephants or black rhinoceros.
\nThis time, however, we’re talking about species much closer to us. For example,
\nthe population of tuna, a type of food accessible throughout the planet, could
\ndecrease in the following 10 years, only to disappear completely later on. One
\nof Romania’s typical flower species is the snowdrop, which could disappear from
\nthe wildlife because too many people pick the flower in spring. Then there’s
\nthe global problem of the bee population that has diminished dramatically and
\nunless measures are taken, it will be extremely unpleasant in the near future.<\/p>\n
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Researchers have
\nshown that humans need to change their behaviour and try to find solutions to
\nrestore the ecosystems they depend on. Food waste reduction and replacing
\nfossil fuels with renewable energy sources are issues that will have to be
\nconsidered, if we want biodiversity to be saved. With details on that, here is
\nMagor Csibi once again:<\/p>\n
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We, the end
\nconsumers, need to change our behaviour, we need to drastically reduce waste.
\nIn agriculture, we see that problems are extremely serious. At the moment, we
\nfeed on 12 species of plants and five species of animals, which means we have
\nreplaced a vast majority of biodiversity on the planet with 17 species, which
\nwill take its toll on the future of our planet. Agriculture poses the most
\nserious danger for forests. It is the main factor responsible for
\ndeforestation, as 70% of water resources are used in agriculture. All this
\ncauses over-consumption. Not to mention that we throw away much of the
\nfoodstuffs we produce. Over one third of all the foodstuffs produced on the
\nplanet are thrown away each year. In the energy sector, we’ve also got so much
\nto change. At this point, we’re speaking about our dependence on fossil fuels,
\nand if we don’t do anything about it, climate change will inevitably progress.
\nWe’ve already received a signal that we are somewhere close to the limit.<\/p>\n
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The Living Planet Report 2016, which
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Global biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate, reveals the latest WWF Living Planet Report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44315],"tags":[44353],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-152941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-planet","tag-wwf-living-planet-report-2016"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nassesses the health condition of our planet, also includes several examples of
\nspecies that have recovered thanks to conservation efforts made by man. One
\nexample is the return of the lynx in France, whose population increased from 0
\nin 1970 to 108 specimens today. Similarly, the giant panda or the beaver are no
\nlonger on the verge of extinction. As regards Romania, efforts are being made
\nso that the auroch may be reintroduced to its natural habitat. <\/span><\/p>\n