Threat of Eco-system Collapse
Report warns humans are devouring the planet
If humans continue our pace of consumption, the Earth's natural resources will be depleted and there will be a major eco-system collapse, according to a new report.
The World Wildlife Fund report is the sixth of its kind from the environmentally conscious organization. It paints the bleakest picture yet for Earth’s future – one in which animal life is on the decline, humans will soon be in peril due to lack of resources, and tough measures are required to avoid demise.
The report relies on a wealth of data collected independently, by the United Nations and by an Oakland-based organization. The complexity of the data is represented in colour bar and line graphs easily read by any grade-school. The story is obvious: We’re in big trouble. Here’s what the report measures:
- the Living Planet index tracks 1,313 vertebrate populations around the world
- the Ecological Footprint index calculates the area of biologically productive land available for human needs, and the rate at which we’re consuming it
As the human population grows, biodiversity takes a hit, says the report. The animal populations tracked were in decline by about one-third since 1970. “This global trend suggests that we are degrading natural ecosystems at a rate unprecedented in human history,” reads the report. The biodiversity of the planet is directly related to how much space on Earth humans are occupying, and how much of its resources we are depleting. Basically, we take what we want and animals get the leftovers. That portion of leftovers has been shrinking. In 2003, the human population used 125 per cent of the Earth’s output. That means that it takes our planet a year and three months to generate what we used in just one year. This has been the trend since the 1980s, says the report. “People are turning resources into waste faster than nature can turn waste back into resources.” The problem is that populations are growing, and so is industry, at a rate too fast for the biosphere’s organic growth to keep up with. If nothing changes, by 2050 our demands will require two Earths worth of resources to be sustainable. Barring the discovery of a twin planet, the WWF has a couple of recommendations to curb consumption and eliminate what they call the “ecological debt” and turn it into a surplus by mid-century. But it won’t be easy. The rich population of the world would need to decrease their consumption, and allow for the poor to increase it and remove themselves from poverty, says the report. Governments should also encourage families to have fewer children in a bid to stop overpopulation. Offering women access to better education and economic opportunities have accomplished this in the past, suggests the WWF. From there, it’s efficient management of resources: billions of cars need to be more fuel efficient, energy production must stop spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and waste needs to be cut while recycling is increased. They are hard goals indeed. It seems the WWF is handing out tough recommendations to avoid what it believes will be an even more brutal alternative.
