Scientists believe that our planet is experiencing a sixth mass extinction – the biggest death on Earth since the dinosaurs.
In a little less than 50 years, the population of wild animals on Earth has decreased by an average of 69%. This happened against the backdrop of deforestation, environmental pollution on an industrial scale. This was reported by The Guardian.
According to a report by WWF and the Zoological Society of London, between 1970 and 2018, there was a rapid decline in the animal’s population. Two years ago this figure was 68%, four years ago – 60%.
It is noted that in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean, including the Amazon, there has been the sharpest decrease in the average number of wild animal populations: over 48 years, it has reached 94%.
The second largest decrease is Africa – 66%, followed by the Asia-Pacific region – 55% and North America – 20%. In Europe and Central Asia, the fall was 18%.
According to the report, land use change is the most important cause of biodiversity loss on the planet. Researchers point out that it is becoming increasingly difficult for animals to migrate across terrestrial landscapes, as their path is blocked by infrastructure and agricultural land. Only 37% of rivers over 1,000 km long remain free-flowing throughout their length, while only 10% of the world’s land-based protected areas are interconnected.
Scientists have previously reported that changes in the population of an animal or plant species can greatly affect the environment of that species.
China clones Arctic wolf for first time
News from Correspondent.net on Telegram. Subscribe to our channel Athletistic
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.