Over the next century, several species are going to become extinct. Overconsumption and overpopulation are major contributors. It’s best to get ahead of this situation before it’s too late!
Since the past few decades, scientists have been warning us of changing the landscape of our planet. In all probability, we are reaching a stage of ‘biological annihilation’ as we witness the extinction of billions of animals in recent decades.
Picture Courtesy: Science Daily
Let us take into consideration one scary statistic:
“One in six species could disappear as the climate continues to get warmer over the next century.”
Sounds scary? It should because many scientists across the world are trying to assess the damage that the human race is inflicting upon the environment and wildlife.
There is increasing evidence that we are pushing our planet further and further to a place where there is no space for wildlife! In fact, researchers have been trying to calculate which animals and plants are most likely to be extinct due to climate change.
Wildlife like greater bamboo lemur, lowland gorilla, Madagascar fish eagle, Vancouver Island marmot and Iberian lynx and Mindoro dwarf water buffalo is rapidly nearing extinction.
Wildlife is dying!
Scientists have analysed some common and rare species and found that many of them have been lost from the face of the earth. With overpopulation and overconsumption, humans have created a crisis situation that should be considered as a warning as it threatens the survival of human race eventually. There is little time to act!
Various studies have shown that species are becoming extinct faster than ever before. The rate of these extinctions in the 20th-century has been 100 times higher without any human impact.
Earth has lost billions of populations of animals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. This is a warning of a mass extinction progressing faster than our estimation. This kind of extinction will have serious ecological and social repercussions. Humans would have to pay a dear price for the devastation of wildlife.
While there is still scope for halting, the prospects do not give any indication. All the present activities are a sign of more powerful assaults taking place on the biodiversity in the next few decades.
We have been warned
Wildlife continues to die out due to the destruction of their natural habitat, over-hunting and poaching, pollution and toxic waste and climate change. However, the ultimate reason for wildlife decimation is human overpopulation that directly leads to over-consumption. It’s like a ticking time bomb that we are sitting on right now! Unless we act fast and in the right direction, the bomb is likely to go off.
Our civilization depends on the flora and fauna comprising our ecosystem. The plants, animals and even micro-organisms of our planet contribute to sustenance and maintaining a liveable environment.
While the time to act is short, it will take a considerably long time to strike a balance. But we can still do our bit with wildlife reserves, protection laws and raising awareness globally about this situation.
With one thing related to another, we need to understand how human behaviour is altering climate change and compounding issues that are a direct result of pollution and excessive development.