Over the last 40 years, man has managed to kill more than half of all vertebrates on earth. Frogs, elephants and fish disappear with the expansion of arable land, irrepressible fishing and global warming.
The population of all vertebrate creatures that inhabit the earth, over the past four decades, has fallen by more than half. This statement was made by the World Wildlife Fund, has published a report , which contains the latest data on the Living Planet Index (Living Planet Index –LPI), is calculated by scientists.
Observations of wildlife say,
that the number of mammals, birds, amphibians and fish on the planet from 1970 to 2010 decreased by 52%.
The analysis showed that this trend is most pronounced in less developed countries, and is directly linked with the growth of consumption in developed countries. In addition, the report includes several warning signals plight of the planet. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased to a level that the Earth did not know the last millions of years, which has led to climate change and destabilization of ecosystems.
But the increased concentration in the atmosphere of nitrogen causes soil degradation, pollution of rivers and oceans. In addition, the growing impact on water quality, and more than 60% of its natural sources, including the forest and the sea, is reduced.
«We are gradually destroying the ability of our planet to sustain our way of life. However, we already have the knowledge and tools in order to avoid the implementation of the worst forecasts. We all live on the planet are not unlimited and are now beginning to operate within these limits, “- said Carter Roberts, president of WWF.
Report WWF, published once every two years, tracks trends in three areas: the number of animals of ten thousand different species, the human impact on the environment (including food consumption and greenhouse gas emissions), and current levels of biological resources for the production of food, fresh water and carbon dioxide absorption.
The relative reduction in the number of animals was much higher than in previous years. This is due to a new and improved methodology of calculation, results in a more representative assessment of the world’s biodiversity.
«The report huge amount of data, it can seem very complicated. No clear trends are complex:
39% of land, 39% of marine and 76% of freshwater animals have disappeared, and all this for the last 40 years “- said John Hoekstra, a leading expert WWF.
The decline of biodiversity is observed in both temperate and tropical latitudes However in this process the tropics more noticeable. In Latin America, it is the most dramatic population decline: it missed 83% of the animals (not species!). The reason – the narrowing and destruction of habitats, uncontrolled hunting and fishing, and climate change.
A comparison of biological data with economic shown that in high-income countries there is a 10 percent increase in the population, while in poor countries – a sharp drop.
So, in middle-income drop of 18% in poor countries, it reaches 58%.
Particular attention is paid to the environmental impact report on the nature of civilization and of the individual in different countries. “We need 1.5 Earths reducing ability. Shortage occurs due to the fact that we cut down trees faster than they grow, catch more fish than giving the ocean and produce more carbon dioxide than the forest and the ocean can absorb, “- say the report’s authors.
They made a rating of countries with a population of more than a million people, which ranked the average environmental impact per capita. Taken into account such factors as deforestation, grazing area and arable land, the volume of fisheries and carbon dioxide emissions. It was found that the heavier the planet are all residents of Kuwait and Qatar – mainly due to their combustion of hydrocarbons, and the smallest planet bother the average Chinese and Jamaican.
Russia in this the list is in the middle, side by side with Belarus and Spain.
The authors emphasize that further loss of biodiversity is not inevitable. For Sustainable Development WWF recommends rebuilding the economy at a reasonable production of food and energy and reduce environmental impact through responsible consumption on a personal, corporate and national levels.
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