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Group of wild elephants looking for banana in the middle of a dump (Sri Lanka, Trincomalee)
No one can say that humans are not the dominant species – for better or for worse.
The World Wildlife Fund on Tuesday issued an alarming report claiming that humans are directly responsible for the destruction of an average of 60% of the world's mammals, fish, birds and reptiles – in just over 40 years.
"The Earth is losing biodiversity at a rate that is only observed in massive extinctions," say the authors of WWF (Living Planet Report).
The WWF collected data on more than 4,000 species worldwide between 1970 and 2014. The takeaway: humanity's insatiable appetite for Earth's natural resources – energy, land, water – and a growing food production industry, leads to "overexploitation. "
DUMBO OCTOPUS STUNS RESEARCHERS
WWF urges world leaders to join forces to save the planet.
"Policymakers at all levels need to make the right political, financial and consumer choices to realize the vision that humanity and nature grow in harmony on our planet."
Better to go fast: researchers estimate that only one-tenth of the world's land mass has been spared by human consumption. South and Central America were the most affected, with 89% of their vertebrate species lost.
Click for more from The New York Post.
