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The sorry state of Earth's species, in numbers

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Two species of vertebrates, animals with a backbone, have gone extinct every year, on average, for the past century in Asia-Pacific


The Sorry State Of Earth's Species, In Numbers
Two species of vertebrates, animals with a backbone, have gone extinct every year, on average, for the past century in Asia-Pacific.

The Sorry State Of Earth's Species, In Numbers
42 percent of known terrestrial animal and plant species have declined in population size.

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) issued a dire diagnosis Friday of Earth's plant and animal species.

Here's what we know:

Europe and Central Asia

- Soil erosion has affected 25 percent of agricultural land in the European Union, and 23 percent in Central Asia.

- Availability of clean drinking water has decreased by 15 percent per person since 1990.

- More than a quarter of marine fish species have declining populations.

- 42 percent of known terrestrial animal and plant species have declined in population size over the last decade.

Americas

- With 13 percent of the world's population, the region accounts for about a quarter of the total impact on global biodiversity.

- Just under a quarter of species assessed are at risk of extinction.

- Species populations -- already 31 percent smaller than when the first European settlers arrived -- will have shrunk by about 40 percent by 2050.

Africa

- Climate change could result in the loss of more than half of Africa's birds and mammals by 2100.

- About 500,000 square kilometers (193,000 square miles) of soil has been degraded by forest destruction, unsustainable farming, erosion, illegal mining, climate change and invasive species.

- More than 60 percent of the continent's rural population depends on Nature for their survival. About a quarter of sub-Saharan Africa's 930 million inhabitants suffer for a lack of food.

- African elephant numbers dropped to 415,000 in 2016, down about 111,000 over 10 years.

Asia-Pacific

- Unless something is done, fish stocks will run out by 2048.

- Up to 90 percent of corals will be severely degraded by 2050 as a result of climate change.

- As much as 45 percent of biodiversity could be lost by 2050.
- Globally -

- Two species of vertebrates, animals with a backbone, have gone extinct every year, on average, for the past century.

- Scientists say Earth is undergoing a "mass extinction event," the first since the dinosaurs disappeared about 65 million years ago, and only the sixth in the last half-billion years.

- About 41 percent of amphibian species and more than a quarter of mammals are threatened with extinction.

- The global populations of 3,706 monitored vertebrate species -- fish, birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles -- declined by nearly 60 percent from 1970 to 2012.

- 25,821 plant and animal species of 91,523 assessed for the 2017 "Red List" update were classified as "threatened".

- Of these, 5,583 were "critically" endangered.

- There are an estimated 8.7 million plant and animal species on our planet. This means about 86 percent of land species and 91 percent of sea species remain undiscovered
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/the...&akamai-rum=off#click=https://t.co/WVXDKPi15M
 
It's more to do with the loss of biodiversity eventually impacting on humanity.

If we take enough species out, ecosysterms collapse and we lose ecological services.
 
Yes Natural Selection is responsible for speeding up the rate of 6th mass extinction event 1000 times faster than the natural rate.
Reminds me of a quote from Einstein : "Only two things are finite, The Universe and Human stupidity and I'm not sure about the former".

I blame the religious brainwashing since childhood at home.
 
New tiger sightings in Thailand raise conservation hopes

Camera traps in a forest in western Thailand have captured footage of tigers in an area for the first time in four years, a conservationist said, raising hopes over efforts to preserve the species in the Southeast Asian country.

The video and photographs show three male tigers roaming at night, including at one point peering directly into one of the camera traps.

“We are excited about this discovery,” Kritsana Kaewplang, country director for conservation group Panthera in Thailand, said of the footage which was released on Global Tiger Day.

There are estimated to about 160 Indochinese tigers left in the wild in Thailand. They are also found in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and southwestern China. The total population may only be around 350, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Globally there are estimated to be only about 3,900 tigers left in the wild, including the larger Bengal and Siberian tigers.

Kritsana, who has been working with Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and other organisations, said the sightings mean Thailand is on the right track trying to preserve tigers and their prey.

“The next important step for us is that we have to try and make the connecting routes of each forest area accommodating for them, in order for the tigers to roam safely,” said Kritsana.

A database of Thailand’s tiger population showed two of the tigers had travelled from the northern part of the forest to the south, while the third had not been documented before, she said.

Thailand is a well-known trafficking hub of illicit wildlife products and tigers continue to face the threat of poaching.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-t...d-raise-conservation-hopes-idUKKCN24T2I4?il=0
 
Extinction: Urgent change needed to save species, says UN

Humanity is at a crossroads and we have to take action now to make space for nature to recover and slow its "accelerating decline".

This is according to a report by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

It sets out a bullet point list of eight major transitions that could help stop the ongoing decline in nature.

"Things have to change," said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the convention's executive secretary.

"If we take action, the right action - as the report proposes - we can transition to a sustainable planet."

What's the link between exploiting nature and human health?
New diseases emerge in the human population probably three or four times every year. It is only when they are easily transmitted from human to human - like the coronavirus - that they have the potential to kick-start a pandemic. But increasing the chances of a new disease emerging increases the chances of that disease becoming the "next Covid".

And these are not truly new diseases - they are just new to our species. The vast majority of outbreaks are the result of an animal disease spilling over into the human population. Ebola and HIV came from primates; scientists have linked cases of Ebola to consuming meat from infected animals. A bite from a rabies-infected animal is a very effective mode of disease transmission. And in the 20 years before Covid-19, SARs, MERs, swine flu, and avian flu all spilled over from animals.

As we reengineer the natural world, we encroach on reservoirs of animal disease and put ourselves at risk.

"More and more we are affecting wildlife populations, deforesting and causing animals to move and enter our environment," explained Prof Matthew Baylis, a veterinary epidemiologist from the University of Liverpool.

"That causes [disease-causing] pathogens to be passed from one species to another. So our behaviours on a global scale are facilitating the spread of a pathogen from animals into humans."

How are humans doing when it comes to protecting nature?
The convention (CBD) has called this the "final report card" on progress against the 20 global biodiversity targets that were agreed in 2010 with a 2020 deadline.

"Progress has been made, but none of [those] targets will be fully met," Ms Maruma Mrema told BBC News. "So a lot still needs to be done to bend the curve on biodiversity loss."

As well as a stark warning, this report sets out an instruction manual about how to bend that curve.

"It can be done," said David Cooper, deputy executive secretary of the CBD. "Next year in China we'll have the UN biodiversity conference, where countries are expected to adopt a new framework that will represent global commitments to put nature on a path to recovery by 2030."

How can the impact of humans on nature be limited?
That framework - which has been dubbed a "Paris climate agreement for nature", will encompass eight major transitions that all 196 nations will be expected to commit to:

Land and forests: Protecting habitats and reducing the degradation of soil;
Sustainable agriculture: redesigning the way we farm to minimise the negative impact on nature through things like forest clearance and intensive use of fertilisers and pesticides;
Food: Eating a more sustainable diet with, primarily, more moderate consumption of meat and fish and "dramatic cuts" in waste;
Oceans and fisheries: Protecting and restoring marine ecosystems and fishing sustainably - allowing stocks to recover and important marine habitats to be protected
Urban greening: Making more space for nature in towns and cities, where almost three-quarters of us live;
Freshwater: Protecting lake and river habitats, reducing pollution and improving water quality;
Urgent climate action: Taking action on climate change with a "rapid phasing out" of fossil fuels;
A 'One Health' approach: This encompasses all of the above. It essentially means managing our whole environment - whether it is urban, agricultural, forests or fisheries - with a view to promoting "a healthy environment and healthy people".
"Covid-19 has been a stark reminder of the relationship between human action and nature," said Ms Maruma Mrema. "Now we have the opportunity to do better post-Covid.

The pandemic itself has been linked to wildlife trade and human encroachment into forests, which scientists say increases the risk of a "spillover" of diseases from wildlife into humans.

Has there been any progress over the past decade?
The report does highlight some successes: deforestation rates are continuing to fall, eradication of invasive alien species from islands is increasing, and awareness of biodiversity appears to be increasing.

"Many good things are happening around the world and these should be celebrated and encouraged," said Ms Maruma Mrema. Nevertheless, she added, the rate of biodiversity loss was unprecedented in human history and pressures were intensifying.

"We have to act now. It is not too late. Otherwise, our children and grandchildren will curse us because we will leave behind a polluted, degraded and unhealthy planet."

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54120111.
 
'Unprecedented, historic': Pakistan Customs recovers birds worth millions in Karachi operation

KARACHI: In an "unprecedented and historic" operation, the Pakistan Customs has seized 74 smuggled falcons and one houbara bustard from Karachi's Defence Housing Authority, the Federal Board of Revenue spokesperson said.

In a tweet, the spokesperson said Pakistan Customs "in an unprecedented and historic anti-smuggling operation in DHA area has seized 74 smuggled Falcons and 1 tilor (houbara bustard) — endangered species".

According to the spokesperson, the approximate value of the seizure was Rs150 million.

An earlier report, citing local wildlife activists, said that local poachers and high-rolling Arab hunters kill an estimated 3,000 Houbaras in Balochistan every year.

Besides hunting, the bird’s eggs and chicks are also illegally trafficked out of the country after being collected from the Chagai, Kharan, Lasbela, and Zhob districts of the province.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/313444-un...vers-birds-worth-million-in-karachi-operation
 
Humans have been pumping out babies who compete with wild animals for resources. Wild animals do not stand a chance when they get in conflict with humans.

Unless humans realize that this Earth is not there only for humans but for all life, wild life will continue to disappear and species will continue to become extinct.
 
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