A photo from open sources
On Monday, May 6, at UNESCO Headquarters, international conference on biodiversity and ecological systems of our planet.
Biologists who took part in the event prepared a large-scale report reporting a sad trend in our days. According to scientists, under the threat of complete extinction in Currently there are over a million species of plants and animals on the ground.
Speaking, the researchers used their own term “sixth mass extinction, “referring us to five other famous global catastrophes in the history of our planet when many species of flora and fauna died in a short time. True this time nature is not guilty with its natural disasters, but, as it is easy guess the unreasonable and destructive activity of man.
According to the authors of the report, out of 8 million animal species and plants on our “blue ball” (including 5.5 million species insects) 1 million is threatened with extinction in the coming decades. Experts say that in the entire history of the Earth, those living on it organisms have never been in greater danger than now. IN this is not surprising, since today we annually we produce about 60 billion tons of various non-renewable and renewable resources, while back in 1980 they mined about 30 billion, and because of the increase in population, this trend squandering continues to grow.
A photo from open sources
Among the key factors negatively affecting biodiversity, scientists called ubiquitous irresponsible land use, global climate change, massive hunting and fishing, pollution environment, destruction of habitats of rare organisms and the spread of invasive species by humans.
Experts estimate that about 75% of land, 40% of the world’s oceans and 50% of rivers and lakes have already undergone some degree of degradation through the fault of our civilization. Endangered are more 40% amphibians, about 33% of reef corals and over 35% of marine mammals. Accurate insect data are not yet available, however some experts suggest that extinction threatens to at least 10% of them, for example, complete disappearance threatens bees, without which the world around us will become not only poorer, but also less generous to us in terms of food.
How can the “sixth mass extinction” be stopped? Scientists believe that only a complete reorganization of the system will help human life in the fields of technology, economics and social development, that is, a fundamental change in the values and goals of earthlings. Are we ready for this, only time will tell.
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