The diversity of life on Earth is essential to the health of our planet and to our wellbeing as human beings. But nature is under pressure as never before. Our needs for food, water and land, and our demands are destroying habitats, polluting our air and water, and driving species of animals and plants to extinction. We are now losing biodiversity up to ten thousand times faster than it was disappearing 100 years ago.
What is biodiversity?
The term biodiversity was first coined in 1985, a contraction of “biological diversity.” It means all life on Earth from microbes to rainforests, and how that life interacts with each other. Essentially, it is the fabric that holds the planet – and every life on it – together.
But now Biodiversity is in major danger because of us humans and this means our climate is experiencing major changes and if our climate changes we humans will be the ones who will be in major danger.
Why Biodiversity is under threat?
Habitat Destruction
As our numbers rise, cities, infrastructure and cropland are growing and merging into each other, fragmenting the remaining habitat and leaving isolated “islands” of natural populations of plants and animals too small to survive. According to IPBES (The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), only one quarter of land areas and one third of oceans remain relatively undamaged by human activity.
Overexploitation
Humankind’s relentless consumption of resources such as timber, oil and minerals are continuing to destroy natural habitats around the globe. We are also putting enormous pressure on populations of wild species, both by bushmeat hunting in the developing world and by large-scale industrial fishing in our seas. Wildlife trafficking still presents a huge threat to many species, including rhinos, tigers and pangolins.
Climate Change
Our planet is on the verge of a climate crisis due to our endless production of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide and methane. We are headed for a 3-4 °C warmer world by the end of the century if nations’ current climate ambitions are delivered on. We are already seeing species decline due to global temperature increase. Every half a degree of warming has a huge knock-on effect on ecosystems, with mobile species running out of areas to migrate to and temperature-sensitive organisms like corals undergoing massive die-offs.
When keystone species like reef-building corals disappear, the rich and complex ecosystems they support collapse as well.
Pollution
As populations increase, the disposal of waste from households, agriculture and industry, becomes an increasingly serious issue. Our oceans are becoming choked with plastic waste which is killing millions of animals, from sea turtles to whales. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea. As well as affecting the lives of humans, noise, light and chemical pollution all damage the health of wild species.
Agricultural Intensification
Agriculture deserves a special mention here as it is a primary driver of habitat destruction, climate change and pollution. Agriculture takes up 50% of all habitable land on Earth, 80% of extinction threats to mammal and bird species are due to agriculture, and our modern food systems are also the biggest contributor to climate change, responsible for around a third of all greenhouse gas emissions, with more than half of these coming from animal agriculture. In order to meet the unsustainable consumption patterns of the Global North and feed our huge population, humanity has developed agricultural systems which rely on monocultures, artificial fertilisers and pesticides.
Monocultures are increasingly susceptible to disease so require widespread pesticide use which destroys insect populations. Intensive farming leads to soil depletion and runoff from farms pollutes water bodies and causes harmful algal blooms and the collapse of fish stocks.
Invasive Species
Human travel across the world has a very large emissions footprint but it has also allowed the spread of invasive species, both accidental and intentional. As a consequence of the introduction of non-native species to some areas, such as rabbits and cats in Australia, goats on St. Helena, and American mink in Great Britain, we have put many vulnerable ecosystems at risk, threatening native species and diminishing biodiversity.
Why does biodiversity matter for climate change?
Biodiversity is the sum total of life on Earth. It includes every individual living being, from the tiniest mosses to the largest whales, and the resulting benefits produced by this web of life.Earth’s climate patterns are, in part, a direct consequence of its biodiversity. We can observe these relational patterns across numerous regions in the world.
70% of the rainfall in southern South America results from weather patterns created by the Amazon rainforest. The boreal forests in Russia, Canada, and Scandinavia are Earth’s largest above-ground carbon sequestration system, storing enough carbon to catastrophically change Earth’s climate if released by deforestation. Peatlands are the best terrestrial below-ground carbon storage system. They currently cover 3% of Earth’s surface.
Ocean life, from seaweed to plankton to the fish that act as natural “gardeners” of marine flora, is Earth’s most important carbon storage area. Because of the interrelationship between life – plant life and the animals that make maintain the essential balance in natural ecosystems – and the climate, every time we harm Earth’s biodiversity, we destroy a living component that helps regulate the weather and atmospheric carbon. The imminent threat of climate change isn’t just a threat to biodiversity, but also a direct consequence of mass extinction.
As a workshop report from IPBES stated last year:
“Limiting global warming to ensure a habitable climate and protecting diversity are mutually supporting goals, and their achievement is essential for sustainably and equitably providing benefits to people. So, both climate change and biodiversity loss negatively affect each other. For example, increased temperatures as a result of emissions leads to oxygen depletion and acidification of marine environments, which has a huge negative effect on underwater biodiversity. Conversely, the loss of healthy ecosystems – such as rainforests – which help cool the planet, only speeds up the pace of climate change.
How can we help protect biodiversity?
- Supporting political action committed to protecting and restoring biodiversity.
- Supporting institutions that promote the protection and restoration of biodiversity.
- Support local and regional projects aimed at tackling biodiversity loss.
- Buying fewer products and making sure the products you do buy minimise the impact on biodiversity.
- Investing in ways that promote biodiversity.
- Reducing waste of consumer goods: food, clothes, electrical appliances, etc.
- Recycling.
- Educating children about biodiversity, ecosystems and the threats they face and the opportunities to restore them.
- Participate in citizen science
- Written by: Atharv Deshmukh
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