United Nations Report on Biodiversity Says Humans Accelerating Extinction of Species

People are putting nature in more trouble now than at any other time in human history, with extinction looming over 1 million species of plants and animals, scientists said Monday.

But it’s not too late to fix the problem, according to the United Nations’ first comprehensive report on biodiversity.

“We have reconfigured dramatically life on the planet,” report co-chairman Eduardo Brondizio of Indiana University said at a press conference.

Species loss is accelerating to a rate tens or hundreds of times faster than in the past, the report said. More than half a million species on land “have insufficient habitat for long-term survival” and are likely to go extinct, many within decades, unless their habitats are restored. The oceans are not any better off.

“Humanity unwittingly is attempting to throttle the living planet and humanity’s own future,” said George Mason University biologist Thomas Lovejoy, who has been called the godfather of biodiversity for his research. He was not part of the report.

“The biological diversity of this planet has been really hammered, and this is really our last chance to address all of that,” Lovejoy said.

Conservation scientists convened in Paris to issue the report, which exceeded 1,000 pages. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) included more than 450 researchers who used 15,000 scientific and government reports. The report’s summary had to be approved by representatives of all 109 nations.

Some nations hit harder by the losses, like small island countries, wanted more in the report. Others, such as the United States, were cautious in the language they sought, but they agreed “we’re in trouble,” said Rebecca Shaw, chief scientist for the World Wildlife Fund, who observed the final negotiations.

“This is the strongest call we’ve seen for reversing the trends on the loss of nature,” Shaw said.

The findings are not just about saving plants and animals, but about preserving a world that’s becoming harder for humans to live in, said Robert Watson, a former top NASA and British scientist who headed the report.

“We are indeed threatening the potential food security, water security, human health and social fabric” of humanity, Watson told The Associated Press.

It’s also an economic and security issue as countries fight over scarcer resources. Watson said the poor in less developed countries bear the greatest burden.

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[ohnothimagen]

Where's Thanos when you need him??

[semosurvivalist]

People do not understand the rate at which things are going extinct on our planet.
When the time comes we will go fast.

[oznerriznick]

Over 400 million animals are killed on the highways by cars every year in the US. That's more than animals killed each year by hunters.
That's gonna' leave a mark. The damage done due to blockage of migration routes by our roads can not be calculated.
We thoughtlessly drive over or past hundreds of road killed animals every day.
What can we do?
Why not incorporate sensors on our cars that uplink to satelites that specifically sense the presence of animals near the roads who's movements or trajectories put them and us in danger of collision. Make that standard in all new cars and provide mobile units for older cars. This system would give ample warning so that braking and decelerating could be done safely and we would not be a hazard to other nearby traffic. Other features would be alarms generating species specific sound frequencies alerting animals that we are approaching.
If we don't start thinking ahead we are going to be responsible for the total extinction of millions of species of beautiful animals. How's that for a legacy to leave for our grandchildren?

[gordonadams]

As more species die off, the greater the jeopardy to human survival.

[ianhargis]

Yeah, didn't we already know this?

[FredrickTesla]

Reporter: "People who get paid to say the earth is doomed are now saying the earth is doomed."
Anchor: "Shocking Jim, just shocking."

[Shaddiewolf]

Or, just stop having so many damn kids.

[NativeAmerican]

Sad to see yet we're alot of people. Hope we can manage things better.

[rbyfheq]

By doing this we are only accelerating our own extinction.

[Kumquat_Lord]

This is the same UN that has predicted the end of the world 18 TIMES since earth day was founded in 1970. Forgive me for being skeptical.

[aycarambas]

The problem is....money....instead of building parks and wetlands we'd rather give it to developers to build 5 story apartment buildings..

[chippledon]

Hard to type w/tears of laughter in my eyes. Does anybody actually take the UN - or the MSM for that matter - seriously???

[JeffDeWitt]

You lost me at United Nations. The UN is marginally more honest than the Clintons.

[psychicwoman]

Excuse me? You are the ones that are spoiling the earth not us

[gobbmobb]

Fun fact: when the human rave dies out, the environment will be better.
If we lose one bug, the WHOLE earth will go to shreds.

[universalawlife]

Wow un toxic waste they should fix it they the ones who created it all

[michaeldeth]

...and all the blame goes to all of the governments and the corporations that run them. Regular humans watching this did not create this problem nor should they feel that they are to blame...

[buckhorncortez]

Cockroaches...can we kill cockroaches? I can do without those. How about bedbugs...can we make them extinct? Head lice...? Democrats?

[disobedientavocado]

1 Million species of plants and animals aye, name fucking 10, better yet I'll make it easy, name 1.

[jordandontworryaboutit]

What’s sad is no one is doing anything to the countries that actually are responsible for this. It’s like plastic in our oceans and green house america, Canada and Western Europe doesn’t really do anything because the rest of the world is what’s doing a fare share of it. India and China have atrocious emissions, exploited environments, and all sorts of terrible things that for some reason western countries think will be fixed if WE just get need to get better! Spend your time and energy on them!!!!