{"id":102664,"date":"2024-10-20T11:01:19","date_gmt":"2024-10-20T09:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=102664"},"modified":"2024-10-20T11:01:20","modified_gmt":"2024-10-20T09:01:20","slug":"wwfs-living-planet-report-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/environment\/wwfs-living-planet-report-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"WWF\u2019s Living Planet Report 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Catastrophic 73% decline in the average size of wildlife populations in just 50 years reveals a \u2018system in peril\u2019 – Report reveals a \u2018system in peril\u2019 as the world approaches dangerous, irreversible tipping points driven by nature loss and climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Steepest declines in monitored wildlife populations recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean (-95%), Africa (-76%) and Asia\u2013Pacific (-60%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
WWF: What happens over the next five years will be crucial for the future of life on Earth but we have the power \u2212 and opportunity \u2212 to change the trajectory<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
There has been a catastrophic 73% decline in the average size of monitored wildlife populations* in just 50 years (1970-2020), according to WWF\u2019s Living Planet Report (LPR) 2024. The report warns that, as the Earth approaches dangerous tipping points posing grave threats to humanity, a huge collective effort will be required over the next five years to tackle the dual climate and nature crises.
The Living Planet Index (LPI), provided by ZSL (Zoological Society of London), includes almost 35,000 population trends of 5,495 species from 1970-2020. The strongest decline is in freshwater ecosystems (-85%), followed by terrestrial (-69%) and then marine (-56%). Habitat loss and degradation, driven primarily by our food system, is the most reported threat to wildlife populations around the world, followed by overexploitation, invasive species and disease. Climate change is a particular additional threat for wildlife populations in Latin America and the Caribbean, which have recorded a staggering 95% average decline.\u00a0
Declines in wildlife populations can act as an early warning indicator of increasing extinction risk and the potential loss of healthy ecosystems. When ecosystems are damaged they cease to provide humanity with the benefits we have come to depend on – clean air, water and healthy soils for food – and they can become more vulnerable to tipping points. A tipping point is when an ecosystem is pushed beyond a critical threshold resulting in substantial and potentially irreversible change.\u00a0
Global tipping points, such as the dieback of the Amazon rainforest and the mass die-off of coral reefs, would create shockwaves far beyond the immediate area impacting food security and livelihoods. The warning comes as fire outbreaks in the Amazon reached their highest level in 14 years in September and a fourth global mass coral bleaching event was confirmed earlier this year.\u00a0
Dr Kirsten Schuijt, Director General of WWF International<\/strong>, said: \u201cNature is issuing a distress call. The linked crises of nature loss and climate change are pushing wildlife and ecosystems beyond their limits, with dangerous global tipping points threatening to damage Earth\u2019s life-support systems and destabilize societies. The catastrophic consequences of losing some of our most precious ecosystems, like the Amazon rainforest and coral reefs, would be felt by people and nature around the world.\u201d
Some of the species populations captured in the LPI include a 57% decline in the number of nesting female hawksbill turtles between 1990 and 2018 on Milman Island in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia; and a 65% decline in Amazon pink river dolphins and 75% decline in the smaller tucuxi between 1994 and 2016 in the Mamirau\u00e1 reserve in Amazonas, Brazil. Last year, more than 330 river dolphins died<\/a> in just two lakes during a period of extreme heat and drought.\u00a0\u00a0
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