#Animal_populations SHRANK an average of 69% over the last half-century, a report says
#Global animal #populations are #declining, and we've got #limited time to try to fix it.
That's the upshot of a new report from the #World_Wildlife_Fund and the #Zoological_Society of #London, which analyzed years of data on thousands of wildlife populations across the world and found a downward trend in the #Earths_biodiversity.
According to the #Living_Planet_Index, a metric that's been in existence for five decades, animal populations across the world shrunk by an average of 69% between 1970 and 2018.
Not all animal populations dwindled, and some parts of the world saw more drastic changes than others. But experts say the steep loss of biodiversity is a stark and worrying sign of what's to come for the natural world.
"The message is clear and the lights are flashing red," said WWF International Director General Marco Lambertini.
According to the report's authors, the main cause of biodiversity loss is land-use changes driven by human activity, such as infrastructure development, energy production and deforestation.
Climate change may become the leading cause of biodiversity loss
But the report suggests that climate change — which is already unleashing wide-ranging effects on plant and animal species globally — could become the leading cause of biodiversity loss if rising temperatures aren't limited to 1.5°C.
Lambertini said the intertwined crises of biodiversity loss and climate change are already responsible for a raft of problems for humans, including death and displacement from extreme weather, a lack of access to food and water and a spike in the spread of zoonotic diseases.
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