Up to a million species threatened with extinction through human fault

Nearly one million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction due to human activities, according to a report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). As the document reads, it is agriculture that is one of the biggest threats to the Earth’s ecosystems.

BioroDiversity is declining worldwide at a rate unprecedented in human history. To make matters worse, the rate of extinction of speciesow are accelerating and this will have a serious impact on humanity as well – warn scientists in a new report prepared by the UN-operated Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

On land, in the seas and oceans – Humans are destroying ecosystems at an unprecedented rate. According to the report, up to one million speciesow plants and animals are threatened with extinction. Without drastic measures to protect habitats, the rate of species extinctionow, whichore already tens to even hundreds of times higher than the average over the last ten millionoIn years, it will still increase.

– Overwhelming IPBES evidence from many roThe findings of various fields of knowledge paint an ominous picture – said IPBES chairman Sir Robert Watson of the University of East Anglia in Norwich. – The health of the ecosystemow, from ktorich we and all other species depend on, is deteriorating faster than ever. We are undermining the foundations of our economies, sourceosustenance, security, food, health and quality of life around the world. Report mowi us roalso that it is not yet too poIt’s time to make a difference, but we will only succeed if we start now, at every level, from local to global – he added.

Watson admitted that nature can still be used in zrow balanced wayob, if we make the transformation, ktora as he understands it means „fundamental, systemic reorganization factoroin technological, economic and social, including paradigms, goals and values”.

The document is the first such a large report on the state of nature globally in nearly 15 years. Analyzes results from nearly 15,000 studies and reportsoin government, integrating information, whichore there appeared. The summary of the report, published Monday, is more than 40 pages long, but the whole thing is about 1,500 pages long. The report was endorsed by representatives of governmentoin 132 countries, whichoThe three met last week in Paris.

145 experts worked on the reportow of the 50 countriesoin the world. The work on the document itself took three years. The report assesses the changes thatore have occurred over the past five decades, providing a comprehensive picture of the relationship between paths of economic development and their impact on nature. It offers roalso a number of possible scenarios for the coming decades.

According to the report, about 75 percent. areaoin terrestrial and 66 percent of. areaoin oceanic has been „significantly altered” by humans. The biggest impact on the Earth’s ecosystems is agricultural activity. Currently, crops and animal husbandry account for more than 33 percent of the. Earth’s surface and absorb 75 percent of the. resourceoin fresh water.

Agricultural activities are roThe report also identifies one of the mainoThe main causes of gas emissionsoin greenhouse. They account for about 25 percent of the. total emissions. This is primarily about the production and use of fertilizersoIn and transforming the areaoin, such as tropical forests, for crops or animal husbandry. The authors of the report note roThe report also said that as the number of people in the world increases, these risks will increase.

Other threats identified in the report are overexploitation of raw materialsoin natural – headologging – Climate change, poaching, aggressive ospreyoof the report’s findings, environmental pollution and the spread of speciesoin invasive.

IPBES report also found that the average abundance of native speciesoIn plants, animals and insectsow fell mostly mainly fromow different ecosystemsow by at least 20 percent. since 1900. Amphibians are the most endangered. As much as 40 percent of. speciesow may become extinct within a few decades. The situation is similar when it comes to corals and marine mammals. Threatened are about 33 percent. of them. The picture is less clear when it comes to insects, but available data indicate that at least 10 percent of the. speciesoin insectow.

– Ecosystems, whole species, wild populations, local varieties and breeds of domesticated plants and animals are shrinking or disappearing. Earth’s indispensable, interconnected web of life is becoming smaller and more frayed. This loss is a direct result of human activity and threatens human well-being in all regions of the world – assessed prof. Josef Settele.