The RATE OF BIODIVERSIY LOSS is an astounding 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than a natural background extinction rate. “The current rate of species extinction far exceeds anything in the fossil record.” (Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (Biological Science)) Ecosystems may be headed towards permanent damage as countries fail to achieve goals to protect animal and plant life.(UNEP, 2010)
Up to 270 unique species are now being lost every day.
The Earth is said by some experts to be undergoing her “sixth great extinction event” due to climate change as well as other mostly human‐caused factors.
As global average temperature increase exceeds about 3.5 degrees Celsius, there may be extinctions of up to 70% of species around the globe. (IPCC)
New 2010 reports on species affected:
Antarctic penguin populations declined more than 80% since 1975 due to loss of sea ice.
Arctic caribou are in steep decline due to climate change-caused starvation as early thaws and freezing over events make plant food inaccessible.
Similar to 2007 and 2009, in September 2010, tens of thousands of walruses came ashore in an unusual behavior, due to lack of sea ice where they normally rest.
Migratory birds dying because of ill-timed travel that leaves them without adequate food supplies when they arrive at destinations and/or places like wetlands drying that no longer provide habitat.
Hance, J. (2010, May 10). Collapsing biodiversity is a ‘wake-up call for humanity’. An online acticle on the United Nations Environment Programme [UNEP] report. Mongabay.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0510-hance_wake_up.html
Struzik, E. (2010, September 23). A Troubling Decline in the Caribou Herds of the Arctic. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from Yale, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies website http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2321
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