Crisis on Earth
What is happening?
Since 1850, global temperatures have risen by 1.1 degrees Celsius (McGrath, 2019). Just between 2011 and 2015 alone, the increase in global temperature accounts for 0.2 degrees Celsius, or 18 per cent of the total increase. Recent evidence has shown that climate change due to human actions is accelerating and set on a dangerous course.
As a result of global warming, which is a major driver of wildlife decline, the shifting and shrinking of climates have caused plant and animal life to decrease by 20 per cent in the last century (Plumer, 2019). Many animals including mammals, birds and fishes have suffered the brunt of the human-induced warming of the planet. When this is combined with other more direct ways humans are harming the environment, such as excessive poaching, fishing and farming, a growing number of species is now being pushed closer to extinction. If nothing dramatic is put in place to rectify this destructive course, the biodiversity loss will persevere and accelerate through 2050. This finding is a summary of a 1,500-page report released by the United Nations (UN) this year which highlights how the fate of humans and other species are closely intertwined.
Why is this important?
The chairman of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem, Robert Watson, said that people simply thought of “biodiversity as saving nature for its own sake” but the report published by UN dispelled that line of thinking. Clear links were pointed out between biodiversity and nature with things like food security and clean water in every country.
The Amazon rainforest absorbs a huge amount of carbon dioxide and helps alleviate and slows the rate of global warming. Coral reefs keep tourism afloat and fisheries in the ocean. Wetlands purify drinking water. Tropical plants are the heart of many medicines that we have today, and are keys to many more which humans have not discovered thus far. Wild bees and other insects help pollinate fruits and vegetables and their decline spells trouble for our food supply. Additionally, only a fraction of living creatures, amounting to 1.3 million of them, have been catalogued by scientists. The UN report estimated that many more, up to 8 million species, may still be out there. Whether or not is there still an opportunity to seek all of them out lies in the decisions that humans make today.