UN Panel Warns of Unprecedented Species Extinction

A new report by the United Nation’s (UN) Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warns that about a million species of plants and animals worldwide face extinction within the next few decades. “Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history - and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely,” warned the report, released on May 6, 2019. According to the report, land-use change resulting from agriculture and urban developments and disruption of marine environments are the biggest threats to species. “More than a third of the world’s land surface and nearly 75 percent of freshwater resources are now devoted to crop or livestock production,” the report states. Urban areas have more than doubled since 1992 and 66 percent of the marine environment has been significantly altered by humans. Other drivers of biodiversity loss include direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution, and invasive species. The report concludes that climate change is a “direct driver that is increasingly exacerbating the impact of other drivers on nature and human well-being.” The panel asserts that current efforts to prevent the loss of biodiversity are failing and that most of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets set for 2020 under the UN Convention on Biodiversity will not be met, although some progress is possible....
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news