Earth
is losing plants, animals and clean water at a dramatic rate, according to four
new U.N. scientific reports that provide the most comprehensive and localized
look at the state of biodiversity.
Scientists
meeting in Colombia issued four regional reports Friday on how well animals and
plants are doing in the Americas; Europe and Central Asia; Africa; and the
Asia-Pacific area.
Their
conclusion after three years of study : Nowhere is doing well.
The
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem was
about more than just critters, said study team chairman Robert Watson. It is
about keeping Earth livable for humans, because we rely on biodiversity for
food, clean water and public health, the prominent British and U.S. scientist
said.
"This
is undermining well-being across the planet, threatening us long term on food
and water," Watson said in an interview.
Scientists
pointed to this week's death of the last male northern white rhino in Africa
and severe declines in the numbers of elephants, tigers and pangolins, but said
those are only the most visible and charismatic of species that are in trouble.
What's
happening is a side effect of the world getting wealthier and more crowded with
people, Watson said. Humans need more food, more clean water, more energy and
more land. And the way society has tried to achieve that has cut down on
biodiversity, he said.
Crucial
habitat has been cut apart; alien species have invaded places; chemicals have
hurt plants and animals; wetlands and mangroves that clean up pollution are
disappearing; and the world's waters are overfished, he said.
Man-made
climate change is getting worse, and global warming will soon hurt biodiversity
as much as all the other problems combined, Watson said.
"We
keep making choices to borrow from the future to live well today," said
Jake Rice, Canada's chief government scientist for fisheries and oceans, who
co-chaired the Americas report.
Duke
University conservationist Stuart Pimm, who wasn't part of the study team, said
the reports make sense and are based on well-established scientific data:
"Are things pretty dire? Yes."
Among
the regional findings:
The Americas
If
current trends continue, by the year 2050 the Americas will have 15 percent
fewer plants and animals than now. That means there will be 40 percent fewer
plants and animals in the Americas than in the early 1700s.
Nearly
a quarter of the species that were fully measured are now threatened, Rice
said.
And
when all of "nature's contributions" are taken into account, nearly
two-thirds are declining and more than one-fifth are "decreasing
strongly," Rice said.
Asia-Pacific
If
trends continue, there will be no "exploitable fish stocks" for
commercial fishing by 2048. Around that same, the region will lose 45 percent
of its biodiversity and about 90 percent of its crucial corals, if nothing
changes, said Asia co-chair Sonali Seneratna Sellamuttu, a senior researcher at
the International Water Management Institute.
"All
major ecosystems are threatened in the region," she said.
Europe and Central Asia
Even
though it is the region that Watson said may be doing the best, 28 percent of
the species that live only in Europe are now threatened. In the last decade, 42
percent of the land plant and animal species have declined, said Europe
co-chair Mark Rounsevell of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.
Wetlands
have been cut in half since 1970.
Africa
Africa
could lose half of some bird and mammal species by 2100. And more than 60
percent of the continent's people depend on natural resources for their
livelihoods, said report co-chair Luthando Dziba of South African National
Parks.
Already
more than 20 percent of Africa's species are threatened, endangered or extinct.
While
scientists said government and society needs to change its ways, individuals
can use less energy, less water and eat less red meat, Watson said.
"A
balanced diet can really help," he said. There are "lots of
individual things you can do."
The
outlook is bleak if society doesn't change, but it still can, Watson said.
"Some species are threatened with extinctions. Others, just pure
numbers will go down," Watson said. "It will be a lonelier place
relative to our natural world. It's a moral issue. Do we humans have right to
make them go extinct?
