Global issues
Despite knowing about biodiversity’s importance for a long time, human activity has been
causing massive extinctions. As the Environment New Service, reported back in August 1999
(previous link): “the current extinction rate is now approaching 1,000 times the background
rate and may climb to 10,000 times the background rate during the next century, if present
trends continue [resulting in] a loss that would easily equal those of past extinctions.”
(Emphasis added)
A major report, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, released in March 2005 highlighted a
substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth, with some 10-30% of
the mammal, bird and amphibian species threatened with extinction, due to human actions.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) added that Earth is unable to keep up in the
struggle to regenerate from the demands we place on it.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) notes in a video that many
species are threatened with extinction. In addition,
•At threat of extinction are
•1 out of 8 birds
•1 out of 4 mammals
•1 out of 4 conifers
•1 out of 3 amphibians
•6 out of 7 marine turtles
•75% of genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost
•75% of the world’s fisheries are fully or over exploited
•Up to 70% of the world’s known species risk extinction if the global temperatures rise by
more than 3.5°C
•1/3rd of reef-building corals around the world are threatened with extinction
•Over 350 million people suffer from severe water scarcity
Is this the kind of world we want, it asks? After all, the short video concludes, our lives are
inextricably linked with biodiversity and ultimately its protection is essential for our very
survival:
What kind of world do we want?, IUCN, December 2008 (Updated Jan 22, 2010)
In different parts of the world, species face different levels and types of threats. But overall
patterns show a downward trend in most cases.
Proportion of all assessed species in different threat categories of extinction risk on the IUCN
Red List, based on data from 47,677 species.
Source: IUCN, pie chart compiled by Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
(2010) Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, May 2010
As explained in the UN’s 3rd Global Biodiversity Outlook, the rate of biodiversity loss has
not been reduced because the 5 principle pressures on biodiversity are persistent, even
intensifying:
1.Habitat loss and degradation
2.Climate change
3.Excessive nutrient load and other forms of pollution
4.Over-exploitation and unsustainable use
5.Invasive alien species
Most governments report to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity that these pressures
are affecting biodiversity in their country (see p. 55 of the report).
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) maintains the Red List to
assess the conservation status of species, subspecies, varieties, and even selected
subpopulations on a global scale.
Extinction risks out pace any conservation successes. Amphibians are the most at risk, while
corals have had a dramatic increase in risk of extinction in recent years.
Threat status of comprehensively assessed species by IUCN.
Source: IUCN, compiled by Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2010)
Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, May 2010, p. 28 (visit for larger image)
The reasons vary from overuse of resource by humans, climate change, fragmented habitats,
habitat destruction, ocean acidification and more.
Global Biodiversity Outlook 3 official video, Convention on Biological Diversity, UNEP,
May 2010
Research of long term trends in the fossil record suggests that natural speed limits constrain
how quickly biodiversity can rebound after waves of extinction. Hence, the rapid extinction
rates mean that it could take a long time for nature to recover.
Consider the following observations and conclusions from established experts and institutions
summarized by Jaan Suurkula, M.D. and chairman of Physicians and Scientists for
Responsible Application of Science and Technology (PSRAST), noting the impact that global
warming will have on ecosystems and biodiversity:
The world environmental situation is likely to be further aggravated by the increasingly rapid,
large scale global extinction of species. It occurred in the 20th century at a rate that was a
thousand times higher than the average rate during the preceding 65 million years. This is
likely to destabilize various ecosystems including agricultural systems.
…In a slow extinction, various balancing mechanisms can develop. Noone knows what will
be the result of this extremely rapid extinction rate. What is known, for sure, is that the world
ecological system has been kept in balance through a very complex and multifaceted
interaction between a huge number of species. This rapid extinction is therefore likely to
precipitate collapses of ecosystems at a global scale. This is predicted to create large-scale
agricultural problems, threatening food supplies to hundreds of millions of people. This
ecological prediction does not take into consideration the effects of global warming which
will further aggravate the situation.
Industrialized fishing has contributed importantly to mass extinction due to repeatedly failed
attempts at limiting the fishing.
A new global study concludes that 90 percent of all large fishes have disappeared from the
world’s oceans in the past half century, the devastating result of industrial fishing. The study,
which took 10 years to complete and was published in the international journal Nature, paints
a grim picture of the Earth’s current populations of such species as sharks, swordfish, tuna
and marlin.
…The loss of predatory fishes is likely to cause multiple complex imbalances in marine
ecology.
Another cause for extensive fish extinction is the destruction of coral reefs. This is caused by
a combination of causes, including warming of oceans, damage from fishing tools and a
harmful infection of coral organisms promoted by ocean pollution. It will take hundreds of
thousands of years to restore what is now being destroyed in a few decades.
…According to the most comprehensive study done so far in this field, over a million species
will be lost in the coming 50 years. The most important cause was found to be climate change.
…NOTE: The above presentation encompasses only the most important and burning global
environmental problems. There are several additional ones, especially in the field of chemical
pollution that contribute to harm the environment or upset the ecological balance.
— Jaan Suurkula, World-wide cooperation required to prevent global crisis; Part one— the
problem, Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Application of Science and Technology,
February 6, 2004 [Emphasis is original]
Additionally, as reported by UC Berkeley, using DNA comparisons, scientists have
discovered what they have termed as an “evolutionary concept called parallelism, a situation
where two organisms independently come up with the same adaptation to a particular
environment.” This has an additional ramification when it comes to protecting biodiversity
and endangered species. This is because in the past what we may have considered to be one
species could actually be many. But, as pointed out by scientists, by putting them all in one
group, it under-represents biodiversity, and these different evolutionarily species would not be
getting the protection otherwise needed.
Summary
The article is about the extinction and threat of extinction of species all around the world
because of human influences. Already a lot of species have died and if nothing is done much
more will follow, global warming is one of the causes of this, but it’s not the only cause. When
more species die an imbalance in ecosystems around the world is probably the result, and
this will also lead to problems for humans, since it can create large scale agricultural
problems and threaten the food supplies.
Report
This issue is very important, since the balance on earth is very fragile, and easy to disturb,
and we are already disturbing it, and the planet isn’t capable of coping with the demands we
place on it, causing valuable life to be lost and eventually it might have more consequences
than we can think, not only for the planet and the species on it, but also for us.
I think that this subject is important, because we all like to see those cute animals in the zoo
or on holiday, and even when it isn’t one of those cute animals we like that becomes extinct,
it will have unpredictable consequences for all species on the planet, also those cute ones.
The life on earth is very complex, in which a lot of animals, even the ones which can be each
other’s opposite are important for each other. When one of those species falls away, it has
consequences for all species, and when this balance is disturbed, it can cause other species
to become extinct, accelerating the rate at which species become extinct.
I think this is very important now, because it has already reached dangerous levels, and it
continues to grow. With global temperatures rising it is also going to have more
consequences on biodiversity, and eventually cause a massive extinction on the planet,
which will also include us.
The only way to solve this is to apply more strict guidelines on rescuing the habitats of the
endangered species, and look into agreements for example fishing, because fishing quota
nowadays are too high, and because of this, a lot of fish is endangered, and the other
animals that sometimes get caught in nets. Also new technologies have to be applied to
prevent all these things from happening, and to ensure the new standards.