“Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history—and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely.” That’s the 10-alarm message from a global assessment report released today by the International Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an independent body established by United Nations member states.
While scientists have long been warning that a mass extinction is under way, this is the most comprehensive report on global biodiversity to date, and the first issued since 2005. Among its findings:
The report’s 145 expert authors from 50 countries ranked the five main reasons for this precipitous decline in nature, in descending order: changes to land and sea use; direct exploitation of organisms; climate change; pollution; and invasive alien species. They warn that global goals for conservation and sustainability can only be achieved by “transformative changes across economic, social, political and technological factors.”
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And the leader of the most powerful nation in the world calls climate change a Chinese hoax. How can humanity move forward under these egregious conditions?