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The one process ongoing ... that will take millions of years
to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the
destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly our
descendents are least likely to forgive us. . . . .E.O. Wilson 

since loading this page ... The world has added : PEOPLE (2.8 /sec. net) -- and lost acres of WILD LANDS (1.6 acres/sec)

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• Half of the mangrove forests, which serve as estuaries in the tropics, have been lost to a combination of coastal development and conversion to aquaculture.
• Global aquaculture now accounts for more than one-quarter of all fish consumed by humans. In the case of shrimp and salmon -- the fastest growing segment of aquaculture -- two to three pounds of fish are needed to grow one pound of the raised seafood. Thus this practice is depleting the oceans of food for wild fish, birds, and marine mammals.
• About 3000 species of marine life are in transit in ballast water of ships around the world, resulting in a serious invasion of non-native species in our waterways. A minor but increasing contributor to the problem is escape of non-native fish and plants from aquariums.
• There are now some 50 'dead zones' in the world's coastal areas, she reported. The largest in the Western Hemisphere is in the Gulf of Mexico, caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus flowing down the Mississippi River

• Half of the world's wetlands were lost last century.
• Logging and conversion have shrunk the world's forests by as much as half.
• Some 9 percent of the world's tree species are at risk of extinction; tropical deforestation may exceed 130,000 square kilometers per year.
• Fishing fleets are 40 percent larger than the ocean can sustain.
• Nearly 70 percent of the world's major marine fish stocks are overfished or are being fished at their biological limit.
• Soil degradation has affected two-thirds of the world's agricultural lands in the last 50 years.
• Some 30 percent of the world's original forests have been converted to agriculture.
• Since 1980, the global economy has tripled in size and population has grown by 30 percent to 6 billion people.
• Dams, diversions or canals fragment almost 60 percent of the world's largest rivers.
• Twenty percent of the world's freshwater fish are extinct, threatened or endangered.

Impacts for the New Millenium
  World energy needs are projected to double in the next several decades, but no credible geologist foresees a doubling of world oil production, which is projected to peak within the next few decades.

* While protein demands are projected to also double in the century ahead, no respected marine biologist expects the oceanic fish catch, which has plateaued over the last decade, to double. The world's oceans are being pushed beyond the breaking point, due to a lethal combination of pollution and over-exploitation. Eleven of the 15 most important oceanic fisheries and 70 percent of the major fish species are now fully or over-exploited, according to experts. And more than half the world's coral reefs are now sick or dying.

* Growing stress can also be seen in the world's woodlands, where the clearing of tropical forests has contributed recently to unprecedented fires across large areas of Southeast Asia, the Amazon, and Central America. In Indonesia alone, 1,100 airline flights were canceled, and billions of dollars of income were lost.

* Environmental deterioration is taking a growing toll on a wide range of living organisms. Of the 242,000 plant species surveyed by the World Conservation Union in 1997, some 33,000, or 14 percent, are threatened with extinction-mainly as a result of massive land clearing for housing, roads, and industries. This mass extinction is projected to disrupt nature's ability to provide essential ecosystem services, ranging from pollination to flood control.

* The atmosphere is also under assault. The billions of tons of carbon that have been released since the Industrial Revolution have pushed atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide to their highest level in 160,000 years-a level that continues to rise each year. As scientists predicted, temperatures are rising along with the concentration of carbon dioxide. The latest jump in 1998 left the global temperature at its highest level since record-keeping began in the mid-19th century. Higher temperatures are projected to threaten food supplies in the next century, while more severe storms cause economic damage, and rising seas inundate coastal cities.   January 22, 1999   World Watch Institute

The pressures of growing populations on natural resources and corporate greed combine, leading to unhealthy consequences

 
• More than 90% of America's native prairies have been lost to cultivation.
• More than half of the wetlands have been drained or developed; the nation continues to lose more than 100,000 acres of wetlands per year.
• One million acres of farmland a year are lost to development.   2000   Sierra Club Planet

Country Roads Mountaintop Removal Mining   Almost level, West Virginia Scalped off mountains dumped into our rivers, Dark and dusty - blasting toward the sky, Murdering our mountains, teardrops in our eyes. Ken Hechler, West Virginia's Secretary of State

Sixty five million years ago, say geologists, a meteorite made cataclysmic contact with Earth. It was the beginning of the end of the dinosaurs, Earth's last great extinction. The next great extinction will be more fizzle than fireworks. In fact, it's already begun. Biodiversity, the very variety of life, is under attack. Paving and populating, consuming and polluting, humans are causing More is at stake than simply the spice of life. Each species takes its

secrets to the grave: potential solutions to coming crises, possible cures to medical mysteries.   Biodiversity: The Fragile Web February 1999   National Geographic News

World Fails to Meet Biodiversity Target.   Analysis shows that biodiversity is being lost as fast as ever, and we have made little headway in reducing the pressures on species, habitats and ecosystems. It needs to be the year we start taking the issue seriously and increase our efforts to take care of what is left of our planet. Researchers found no evidence of a significant reduction in the rate of decline of biodiversity and noted that the pressures facing biodiversity continued to increase. Among the drivers of threats to biodiversity are human demands for food, water, energy and materials. The threats include climate change, pollution, habitat loss, as well as over-exploitation of resources and species. Since 1970, we have reduced animal populations by 30%, the area of mangroves and sea grasses by 20% and the coverage of living corals by 40%. These losses are unsustainable, since biodiversity makes a key contribution to human well-being and sustainable development.   May 09, 2010  

High Arctic Species Plummeting Across the Board, Other Arctic Residents on the Rise.   Between 1970 and 2004 species in the high Arctic have declined by 26%. Scientists are concerned that environmental impacts such as climate change are worsening natural population fluctuations. Declining species include lemmings, red knot, and caribou. The Arctic is host to abundant and diverse wildlife populations, many of which migrate annually from all regions of the globe. The drop in the caribou population may be due a natural cycle or due to climate change. Some migratory species are also on the decline, such as Arctic shorebirds. Researchers are uncertain whether this is due to changes in the Arctic or to migration stops in the south. Loss of sea ice is also a concern. A number of high Arctic species, such as polar bears, narwhales, and ringed seals, employ sea ice to survive. Studies have shown declines in polar bear populations in some areas. However, when all the Arctic biomes are included species populations have actually risen by 16% in the past 34 years. Some migrating geese are on the rise due to a decline in hunting and increased agricultural waste in their wintering grounds. Marine animals such as sea otters, have rebounded after regulations have protected them from overharvesting and overfishing. Marine fish has also increased in the North Pacific, which researchers speculate is due to warming waters. However, sub Arctic species peaked in the 1980s and then began to decline. These results comes at a time for finding accurate indicators to monitor global biodiversity as governments strive to meet their targets of reducing biodiversity loss.   March 18, 2010   Mongabay.com

New Research Suggests Conservation Biologists Are Setting Minimum Wildlife Population Size Targets Too Low to Prevent Extinction.   Populations of endangered species are unlikely to persist in the face of global climate change and habitat loss unless they number around 5,000 mature individuals or more, according to a new study, 'Pragmatic population viability targets in a rapidly changing world' from University of Adelaide and Macquarie University (Australia). Before the 5,000 number was revealed, the '50/500' rule prevailed: least 50 adults are required to avoid the damaging effects of inbreeding, and 500 to avoid extinctions due to the inability to evolve to cope with environmental change. Conservation biologists aim to maintain tens or hundreds of individuals, when thousands are actually needed. The study found that populations smaller than about 5,000 had unacceptably high extinction rates. Conservation biologists worldwide are battling to prevent mass extinctions in the face of a growing human population and its associated impact on the planet. "Acceptance that more needs to be done if we are to stop 'managing for extinction' should force decision makers to be more explicit about what they are aiming for, and what they are willing to trade off, when allocating conservation funds.," said one of the researchers. The paper is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2009.09.001   October 13, 2009   Environmental News Network

Kenya's Lions Could Vanish Within 10 Years.   Only 2000 lions are left in Kenya, which is losing 100 lions a year, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). The country could have no wild lions at all in 10-20 years. Blamed are habitat destruction, disease and conflict with humans for the population collapse. Large lion populations of 50 to 100 prides are necessary to conserve genetic diversity and avoid inbreeding. A lion expert says that the decline of the big cats is due to the inexorable growth in human population and consequent conflict with people over livestock, rather than disease. People lace cattle corpses with insecticide in order to poison entire prides. This ends up killing hyenas and birds of prey too. Those who kill lions illegally are rarely punished. "Under current policy, there is no way for rural people to benefit from wildlife." .. "They get essentially no income from tourism, and the only other potential source of wildlife income - carefully regulated, high-paying trophy hunting - is prevented by the financial influence of American and British animal-rights lobbies." On average each lion eats livestock worth around $270 a year. Each of Kenya's 2000 surviving lions may be worth upwards of $17,000 per year in tourist revenues. Kenya is experiencing a very severe drought which drives ever-increasing numbers of people into wildlife areas in search of grazing and water supplies for their herds of livestock.   August 20, 2009   New Scientist

Humpback Whales on Rocky Road to Recovery; Endangered Species Success Story Will Be Thwarted If Ocean Acidification and Other Threats Not Addressed .   The Humpback whale could be removed from the protections of the Endangered Species Act, or downlisted to "threatened" status, if the National Marine Fisheries Service finds that their numbers have increased sufficiently. Humpbacks were listed as endangered in 1970, but recent surveys have found that humpback whale populations are generally on an upward trend, up to an estimated 20,000 in the North Pacific now. Before commercial whaling, humpback-whale numbers may have exceeded 125,000, but whaling may have reduced the population by as much as 90%. Miyoko Sakashita, oceans program director at the Center for Biological Diversity said: "Increasing numbers of humpback whales hold promise for recovery, but this Endangered Species Act success story could be reversed if we don't address other threats to the species, primarily the looming disaster of ocean acidification." Direct threats to the species include entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships, offshore oil development, and military sonar. Also, carbon dioxide from fossil fuels