Is Global Warming Shadowing Other Serious Environmental Issues? 2010, The International Year of Biodiversity
Photo Credit: Michael Hodge
With so much media coverage and concern over global warming it’s easy to forget about other pressing environmental issues that are of equal severity such as deforestation, water quality, and biodiversity loss. These issues, which usually go hand in hand, are occurring at such accelerated rates all over the world that the UN says they are heavily impacting human well-being (not to mention the well being of the forests, waters, and all the biodiversity that exists within them).
Some biologists consider us to be in our earth’s 6th mass extinction period, with species going extinct at 1,000 times the natural rate. However, unlike the 5 previous mass extinction periods that were caused by natural events like asteroid collisions and massive plate tectonic movements, our current mass extinction period is being caused by human beings. The expansion of cities, farmlands, and infrastructure can take most of the credit.
This is why the UN has made 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity to try to spur countries into taking immediate action. In 1992, during the Rio Earth Summit, the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) was held alongside the Climate Change Convention. However, it was not until 2002, during the Johannesburg Summit, that key counties pledged to reach a “significant reduction” in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. Unfortunately, conservation organizations say that despite some regional successes, the desired global outcome will not be met with some analysis showing the rate of nature loss increasing instead of decreasing. “The loss of this beautiful and complex natural diversity that underpins all life on the planet is a serious threat to humankind now and in the future.” said Jane Smart, Director of the Biodiversity Conservation Group with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
In October another CBD summit will be held in Japan, where the UN hopes to get a legally binding agreement to reduce global biodiversity loss. Let’s hope they have learned from Copenhagen and make it happen!
To read more on the subject, check out the full article at BBC News
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A very salient point. While global warming and climate change are truly serious issues and challenges; they pale in face of what I call “Global Poisoning”. Water, air, soil increasingly poisoned, dead or dying off – which in turn creates not only mass extinctions of “other” species, but will also cause the mass extinction of our own.
Consider the extinction of honey bees, for example.
Question: Have we passed the tipping point on killing ourselves off?