The number of wild animals living on Earth is set to fall by two-thirds by 2020, according to a new report, part of a mass extinction that is destroying the natural world upon which humanity depends.
The analysis, the most comprehensive to date, indicates that animal populations plummeted by 58% between 1970 and 2012, with losses on track to reach 67% by 2020.
Researchers from WWF and the Zoological Society of London compiled the report from scientific data and found that the destruction of wild habitats, hunting and pollution were to blame.
The creatures being lost range from mountains to forests to rivers and the seas and include well-known endangered species such as elephants and gorillas and lesser known creatures such as vultures and salamanders.
The collapse of wildlife is, with climate change, the most striking sign of the Anthropocene, a proposed new geological era in which humans dominate the…
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Thanks for sharing, Robert. That’s just three years away, not some distant future.
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You’re welcome. Indeed, it’s happening right now.
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I know.
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What a concept! Give up urban life with it’s pollution, crime, crowds and inflated cost of living. I mean what would one do? Hang out with the birds?
Smiling……
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Sounds good to me! 🙂
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Sad stewards of this planet we are. It is not like we did not know nor had time to stop such extinctions. Makes you wonder if most people know how dependent we are on all of the chain of life. Seems we are the weakest link in the chain. Hugs
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I think many people aren’t very aware; but, it’s those who don’t care who are the real problem.
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Sadly, the extinction could be on the schedule for this weekend and general worldwide response wouldn’t be materially different than if it was likely in 50 years.
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Very true.
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So sad.
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Yep.
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