Extinction Of Earth S Wildlife
Extinction of Earth’s Wildlife Over the last 40 years the Earth’s wildlife population has drastically declined in numbers. Since 1970, the world has lost 52% of its biodiversity. This was announced by the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) September 30, 2014. Animal populations such as mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and amphibians are about half the size they were 40 years ago. This is a much greater decrease than the scientists originally anticipated. More than 10,000 animal populations were studied by scientists. These populations consisted of 3,038 mammal, bird, reptile, amphibians, and fish species. These trends in animal populations were then calculated to produce the “Living Planet Index” (LPI). The LPI measures the health of species in various environments and regions around the world. The LPI in temperate regions was found to decrease by 36% from 1970 to 2010. In tropical regions the LPI dropped 56%. In Latin America biodiversity dropped a staggering 83%. Over the last 40 years, 39% of marine wildlife is extinct. 76% of freshwater wildlife is now extinct as well. While the biodiversity of low-income countries was the hardest hit, the biodiversity in high-income countries experienced a rise of 10%. The biodiversity in middle-income countries experienced a drop by 18% in their wildlife populations. Low-income countries were the hardest hit experiencing a 58% decrease in their biodiversity. Global human population already exceeds the planet’s bio capacity. Bio capacity is the amount of productive land and sea that is available to make the resources we rely on to produce food, fuel, and building needs. This may become worse as countries around the world aspire to live a richer lifestyle. Richer countries are currently using more of the world’s resources, but low-income countries are experiencing the greatest outsourcing resource loss. WWF recommends a few steps to counteract these trends. They recommend people start using their resources more efficiently and
References: Augenbraun, E.. (2014, October 15). Half the world’s wildlife gone over last 40 years. CBS News. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/world-wildlife-fund-wwf-half-the-worlds-biodiversity-gone-last-40-years/