Close to a third of world's species extinct since 1970: report

by Rich Bowden - May 16 2008, 00:10

The world's species are dying out at a rate not seen since the age of the dinosaurs, claims a report commissioned by the WWF, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Global Footprint Network.

Photo: Golden Toad (Bufo periglenes), last seen in 1989. Researchers have said nearly a third of all biodiversity has disappeared from the Earth since 1970. Credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service

The report, entitled The Living Planet Index, claims land species have declined by 25 per cent, marine life by 28 per cent, and freshwater species by 29 per cent, a rate 10,000 times more than which is considered historically normal.Researchers tracked nearly 4,000 species between 1970 and 2005, revealing not only the extent of the damage but also blaming humans for the loss in species.The study blamed climate change, pollution, the destruction of animals' natural habitat, the spread of invasive species, and the overexploitation of species for the devasting loss, all of which can be blamed on human behaviour.Colin Butfield, head of campaigns at WWF-UK, said the loss of species is "alarming" as biodiversity "underpins the health of the planet and has a direct impact on all our lives"."However, there are small signs for hope and if government grasps what is left of this rapidly closing window of opportunity, we can begin to reverse this trend and move away from three planet living to a one planet future," he added.Jonathan Loh, the editor of the report, said that such a loss of biodiversity was "completely unprecedented in terms of human history," reported the Independent newspaper. "You'd have to go back to the extinction of the dinosaurs to see a decline as rapid as this," he added. "In terms of human lifespan we may be seeing things change relatively slowly, but in terms of the world's history this is very rapid."The research has been released ahead of the important Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, which will discuss the biodiversity loss issue.

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Angie Gonzalez_ISBMay 28th, 2008 - 19:31:00

It is very eye opening to see that the changes that have occured 1/3 of species gone that is pretty drastic and not only very sad to see this happen for our future generations of our earth.

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