The Living Planet Assessment, carried out by the Zoological Society of London and WWF, suggests that the global wildlife population has dropped by 58% in the last 40 years. So while the number of humans has more than doubled in that time, the number of wild animals has more than halved.
This news comes just one day after we were told that cheetahs are quickly heading for extinction due to human activity, and not long after news that ice in the arctic really is melting an awful lot. Good job humans, give yourselves a pat on the back.
The assessment shows that water-dwelling animals are the worst affected, as well as elephants and less publicised species such as vultures. Dr Mike Barrett. head of science and policy at WWF, told the BBC, ’It's pretty clear under 'business as usual' we will see continued declines in these wildlife populations. But I think now we've reached a point where there isn't really any excuse to let this carry on…We know what the causes are and we know the scale of the impact that humans are having on nature and on wildlife populations - it really is now down to us to act.’
So it turns out that us modern humans, at the pinnacle of evolution, the stewards of the earth, continue to destroy the thing that we depend on to survive. “The richness and diversity of life on Earth is fundamental to the complex life systems that underpin it. Life supports life itself and we are part of the same equation. Lose biodiversity and the natural world and the life support systems, as we know them today, will collapse”, Marco Lambertini, the director general of WWF told the Guardian.
The study indicated that if we continue, we’ll lose 2/3 of the world wildlife population by 2020. However if the destruction of wildlife populations is man made, then at least the possibility remains that we can undo our mistakes. What a perfect time to give up the meat (animal feed fuels deforestation and climate change), and eat some local veg to get over that Christmas stuffing feeling and save the planet.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.