One Million Species Threatened With Extinction

By Austin Schoonmaker | May 6, 2019

Scientists have warned that one million of the planet’s species are currently under threat of extinction by humans. A new comprehensive global assessment spells out dire concern for the ever-growing loss of nature currently happening around the world.

The report, produced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, was written by 145 experts from 50 countries. It warns that the global rate of species extinction “is already tens to hundreds of times higher than it has been, on average, over the last 10 million years.”

The report cites five main drivers of species loss, all of which are caused by humans. These five include changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution, and invasive alien species. The findings emphasize that human kinds explosive population growth and rising demand for resources is resulting in dire consequences for nature as a whole.

This is highlighted by some seriously startling findings of the expansion of human growth. Since 1992, urban areas have grown more than 100%. There has been an overall expansion of global food crop production since 1970, and with it, comes a large percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions due to fertilization.

These cited effects are causing devastation for the Earth’s species. We have seen more than a 40% reduction in amphibians, 33% of coral reefs, and over a third of all marine mammals face extinction.

The report closes with hopes for a better future, citing that it may not be too late to reverse or stop these changes. A complete overhaul in political, social, and economic mindsets is what is recommended to avoid a dire future. The release of the report precedes several high-level summits where world leaders will take the stage to discuss climate and environment protection goals, in hopes of implementing much-needed changes to begin working toward a more sustainable future.