The biodiversity crisis being driven by human activities which push beyond the planetary boundaries and so far has proven irreversible
What is the Biodiversity Crisis?
Nearly 40% of all species may face extinction by the end of this century
There’s still time to stop one million of the planet’s plants and animals from vanishing forever — but not very much.
Scientists predict that on our current trajectory of habitat loss and global warming, nearly 40% of all species will face extinction by the end of this century. Their disappearance will upend ecosystems and destabilize human civilization earthjustice.org
"Coextinction is especially common when a keystone species goes extinct"
National Bird Day: These are some of the species most at risk of extinction in the US abcnews
Animal Rights /Extinction crisis
Ending Climate-Change-Will-Not-Save-the-Planet-we-MUST-address-Mass- Extinctions dailykos.com
In what year will the human population grow too large for the Earth to sustain? The answer is about 1970, according to research by the World Wildlife Fund. In 1970, the planet's 3 and a half billion people were sustainable. But on this New Year's Day, the population is 8 billion. Today, wild plants and animals are running out of places to live. The scientists you're about to meet say the Earth is suffering a crisis of mass extinction on a scale unseen since the dinosaurs. We're going to show you a possible solution, but first, have a look at how humanity is already suffering from the vanishing wild..cbsnews.com/…
A biotech firm says the U.S. has approved its vaccine for honeybees www.npr.org/...
A Semitruck Slammed into a Herd of Bison near Yellowstone National Park
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The Biodiversity Crisis
The insects are vanishing:
As human activities rapidly transform the planet, the global insect population is declining at an unprecedented rate of up to 2% per year. Amid deforestation, pesticide use, artificial light pollution and climate change, these critters are struggling — along with the crops, flowers and other animals that rely on them to survive.
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Insect collapse:
‘We are destroying our life support systems’
Scientist Brad Lister returned to Puerto Rican rainforest after 35 years to find 98% of ground insects had vanished
His return to the Luquillo rainforest in Puerto Rico after 35 years was to reveal an appalling discovery. The insect population that once provided plentiful food for birds throughout the mountainous national park had collapsed. On the ground, 98% had gone. Up in the leafy canopy, 80% had vanished. The most likely culprit by far is global warming.
“It was just astonishing,” Lister said. “Before, both the sticky ground plates and canopy plates would be covered with insects. You’d be there for hours picking them off the plates at night. But now the plates would come down after 12 hours in the tropical forest with a couple of lonely insects trapped or none at all.”
“It was a true collapse of the insect populations in that rainforest,” he said. “We began to realise this is terrible – a very, very disturbing result.”www.theguardian.com/...
Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, depending on whether the environmental degradation that leads to the loss is reversible through ecological restoration/ecological resilience or effectively permanent (e.g. through land loss). The current global extinction (frequently called the sixth mass extinction or Anthropocene extinction), has resulted in a biodiversity crisis being driven by human activities which push beyond the planetary boundaries and so far has proven irreversible
en.m.wikipedia.org/...
Even though permanent global species loss is a more dramatic and tragic phenomenon than regional changes in species composition, even minor changes from a healthy stable state can have dramatic influence on the food web and the food chain insofar as reductions in only one species can adversely affect the entire chain (coextinction) en.m.wikipedia.org/
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‘Extreme event’: warm January weather breaks records across Europe
At least eight countries experience record high temperatures of ‘almost unheard of’ heat, say meteorologists.
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Can Lula save the Amazon?
His record shows he might just pull it off
Brazil’s new president is determined to reverse Bolsonaro’s scorched-earth approach to the environment
My new year resolution
‘Instead of living in fear of climate catastrophe, I’ll do something about it’: the thing I’ll do differently in 2023
I veer between waking at 3am in terror to raging at people who have paved over their gardens. But none of us are entirely powerless
from Nature.org:
"The average carbon footprint for a person in the United States is 16 tons, one of the highest rates in the world. Globally, the average carbon footprint is closer to 4 tons."
About 20% of greenhouse gases in the US come from homes amp.cnn.com/…
HELP SAVE THE PLANET AND OURSELVES:
Turn out the lights when
not in use/use less
- Turn down the heat or AC
- vent out at night if cooler
- Avoid creating nighttime light pollution
- Don’t waste water
- Avoid burning wood (or other things), as wood fires are both pollutant and carcinogenic
- Don't use pesticides
- Limit your use of cars and planes (if possible)
- Don't use gas powered vehicles
- Take out grass and put in a garden or pond (or xeriscape )
- Mow, blow, and whack with electric or by hand
- Plant for the animals (bees, birds etc)
- Plant trees
- Don't micro manage yards, go wilder
- Try to use solar
- Take a bus, trolley or train
- Encourage your city/town to use electric buses
- Use energy efficient products or products that work on clean fuels
- Reduce dependence on non-biodegradable items
- Walk, bike or carpool
- Reuse items- give to Goodwill or Craig's list rather than dumping
- Cut down or cease eating meat
- Use reusable carry bags for grocerie; second choice, paper bags; not plastic
- Compost
- Save the bees
- Be informed
- Write your representative, sign petitions
- Elect pro-environment candidates and demand action
- Support the Green New Deal
- Get involved
- March
- Blog about the environment
- Control population