A UN report released earlier this week warned that we are headed for a catastrophic loss of biodiversity, with up to a million different species of plants and animals facing extinction. The authors of the report concluded that if we don’t do something now to avert this planetary crisis, the loss will have a drastic impact on life as humans know it.
These reports can be overwhelming in nature (no pun intended) and give us the sense that we’re all doomed, so we’ve honed in on five key takeaways from the report that you need to know:
5Humans Need Biodiversity
“The essential, interconnected web of life on Earth is getting smaller and increasingly frayed,” Josef Settele, a co-chair of the study, told Reuters. “This loss is a direct result of human activity and constitutes a direct threat to human well-being in all regions of the world.”
“The most important thing isn’t necessarily that we’re losing . . . 1 million species — although that’s important, don’t misunderstand me,” said Robert Watson, another co-author, over the weekend. He stressed that the loss of biodiversity is going to be devastating for more than just the tree-huggers of the world; after all, flora and fauna aren’t here simply to keep Earth interesting for humans. “The bigger issue is the way it will affect human well-being, as we’ve said many times — food, water, energy, human health.”
