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Humanity has wiped out 60% of animal populations since 1970, report finds.
Humanity has wiped out 60% of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles since 1970, leading the world's foremost experts to warn that the annihilation of wildlife is now an emergency that threatens civilisation.
The new estimate of the massacre of wildlife is made in a major report produced by WWF and involving 59 scientists from across the globe. It finds that the vast and growing consumption of food and resources by the global population is destroying the web of life, billions of years in the making, upon which human society ultimately depends for clean air, water and everything else.
"We are sleepwalking towards the edge of a cliff" said Mike Barrett, executive director of science and conservation at WWF. "If there was a 60% decline in the human population, that would be equivalent to emptying North America, South America, Africa, Europe, China and Oceania. That is the scale of what we have done."
"This is far more than just being about losing the wonders of nature, desperately sad though that is," he said. "This is actually now jeopardising the future of people. Nature is not a 'nice to have' – it is our life-support system."
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday November 01 2018, @02:12AM (4 children)
People who desire permanent birth control (tubal ligation, vasectomy) but are not able to afford it can often find ways to get it for free or very low cost. Lots of people do opt for permanent birth control, but not nearly enough to actually reverse population growth.
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday November 01 2018, @03:05AM (3 children)
Population growth is irrelevant at our current state. We're in no danger whatsoever of running out of land. You could fit every person on the planet in the state of Texas and still have a lower population density than NYC. As for feeding them all? We still have vast areas of land that no human being ever sets foot on and are still using exclusively 2D farming methods. There is no danger of running out of or even low on food for another thousand years at least.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 01 2018, @08:36AM (1 child)
How very apt a comment in a thread about
Humanity Has Wiped Out 60% of Animal Populations Since 1970, Report Finds
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday November 01 2018, @10:26AM
A) I smell bullshit. Environmental scientists are wont to engage in non-factual hysteria of late.
B) Even if true, my prior comment should lead you to rather easy solutions.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday November 01 2018, @12:09PM
'nuff said.
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