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More reports suggesting it is too late to save our planet.
- Nearly 70% of all animal and insect species will be extinct by 2020.
- Plastic has replaced fish in our oceans
- insect numbers suggest that nearly 50% of species are undergoing "dramatic rates of decline" around the world
- Since 2005, the number of floods across the world has increased by 15 times, extreme temperature events by 20 times, and wildfires seven-fold.
- Topsoil is being lost 10 to 40 times faster than it is being replenished by natural processes and since the mid-20th Century, 30% of the world's arable land has become unproductive due to erosion.
- 95% of the Earth's land areas could become degraded by 2050
- Dogs are said to threaten nearly 200 species worldwide, some of which are critically endangered, studies suggest.
Imagine if the human population fell by 60%, that would be like emptying the America's, Europe, Africa, Oceania and China of people.
In just one years’ time, the World will have lost two-thirds of all wild animals.
Our oceans have warmed up at such an alarming rate they have absorbed 60% more heat than previously thought and we face in the near future oceans containing more plastic than fish.
A new report on the decline of insect numbers suggests that nearly 50% of species are undergoing "dramatic rates of decline" around the world, however, invasive species such as house fly's and cockroaches will thrive.
The study says that bees, ants and beetles are disappearing eight times faster than mammals, birds or reptiles.
Insects provide food for a fragile ecosystem, feeding birds, bats and other small mammals but probably the most important role is they pollinate around 75% of the crops in the world, they replenish soils and keep pest numbers in check.
Urbanisation and deforestation, the increasing use of fertilisers and pesticides in agriculture worldwide and contamination with chemical pollutants of all kinds and climate change are all blamed for the decline. Read paper here
In another report, The IPPR warns that the window of opportunity to avoid catastrophic outcomes is rapidly closing.
They say since 2005, the number of floods across the world has increased by 15 times, extreme temperature events by 20 times, and wildfires seven-fold.
Topsoil is being lost 10 to 40 times faster than it is being replenished by natural processes and since the mid-20th Century, 30% of the world's arable land has become unproductive due to erosion.
95% of the Earth's land areas could become degraded by 2050
According to the report, The UK is described as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world.
Some 2.2 million tonnes of UK topsoil is eroded annually, and over 17% of arable land shows signs of erosion.
Nearly 85% of fertile peat topsoil in East Anglia has been lost since 1850, with the remainder at risk of being lost over the next 30–60 years.
The IPPR says many scientists believe we have entered a new era of rapid environmental change. Read report here
Our "best friend" the dog, has also emerged as a major threat to wildlife.
Scientists say they have contributed to the extinction of nearly one dozen wild bird and animal species.
As such, they have become the third worst human-introduced predators after cats and rats.
Now dogs are said to threaten nearly 200 species worldwide, some of which are critically endangered, studies suggest.
Nearly half of these species are mammals, 78 of them are birds, 22 reptiles and three amphibians.
Ask yourselves, have we, as a civilisation crossed the tipping point, can our planet recover or is it too late: Look at the depressing fact, one in five of the world's plant species is at risk of extinction...
One in five of the world’s plant species is threatened with extinction, according to the first global assessment of flora, putting supplies of food and medicines at risk. BBC
The State of the World’s Plants report written 2 years ago, by experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, revealed that there are currently 390,000 species of known plants, with more than 30,000 used by people.
However, more than 5,000 species have invaded foreign countries and are causing billions of dollars of damage every year.
“Plants are absolutely fundamental to humankind,” said Prof Kathy Willis, director of science at Kew, who led the new report.
“Plants provide us with everything - food, fuel, medicines, timber and they are incredibly important for our climate regulation.
Without plants, we would not be here.
We are facing some devastating realities if we do not take stock and re-examine our priorities and efforts.”
The report is the first of what will be an annual benchmark analysis to set out what is known - and not known - about plants and highlight critical issues and how they can be tackled.
According to the Guardian, the biggest factors threatening plant species with extinction are the destruction of habitats for farming (31%) - such as palm oil production and cattle ranching, deforestation for timber (21%) and construction of buildings and infrastructure (13%).
Climate change is currently a smaller factor - 4% - but is likely to grow.
“I suspect we won’t actually see the full impact until 30 years down the line as it takes so long for plants, especially trees, to produce their offspring,” said Willis.
One important crop that is already suffering is coffee, as rising temperatures make the beans impossible to grow and increase diseases in key countries such as Ethiopia.
Another frightening report was released by the journal, Nature, regarding Climate change: Oceans are 'soaking up more heat than earlier estimated'...
Regular readers of The Big Wobble will be well aware of the state of our oceans because of our regular reports on the unprecedented fish die off's around the world recently and the algae bloom's and pollution poisoning our oceans and waterways. Animal die-offs
According to Nature, the world has seriously underestimated the amount of heat soaked up by our oceans over the past 25 years, researchers say.
Their study suggests that the seas have absorbed 60% more heat than previously thought.
They say it means the Earth is more sensitive to fossil fuel emissions than estimated.
This could make it much more difficult to keep global warming within safe levels this century.
Quantification of ocean heat uptake from changes in atmospheric O2 and CO2 composition
Environment
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