Luke Denne
Agriculture is one of the main causes of global biodiversity and habitat loss, according to a new WWF report.
Amanda Perobelli / Reuters file
Humans are wiping out wildlife at a “unprecedented” rate with wildlife populations down by 68 percent on average since 1970, according to a new World Wildlife Fund report published on Thursday.
Unsustainable agriculture and deforestation are two of the main drivers, and urgent action is required to reverse the trend, the Living Planet Report 2020 said.
“Our planet is flashing red warning signs,” said Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International, an NGO that focuses on preserving nature.
“From the fish in our oceans and rivers to bees which play a crucial role in our agricultural production, the decline of wildlife affects directly nutrition, food security and the livelihoods of billions of people.”
The findings underline the fact that the planet faces twin crises in biodiversity and the climate and the two are intrinsically linked, according to the report. A warming climate puts up to a fifth of all species at risk of extinction in the next century with those in the biodiverse tropics most at risk.
The seriousness of the climate crisis was further underlined Wednesday as joint U.S. and U.K. studies, published in the Cryosphere Journal, identified how Antarctica’s massive Thwaites Glacier could be at risk from rapid melting after larger than expected warm ocean cavities — that could erode it from underneath — were identified.
The melting of Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier has increased rapidly over the last 30 years and now accounts for 4 percent of the rise in global sea levels. James Yungel/NASA file
The glacier has been dubbed the “doomsday glacier” due to its enormous size — as large as the state of Florida — and its ability to raise sea levels by over 25 inches alone if it were to suffer rapid collapse.
Historically low sea ice levels allowed the research teams to map the sea bed — from a ship and an airplane — leading them to identify the warm water channels reaching the underside of the glacier.
They found that the ocean is both deeper, and the warm water channels wider, than previously thought.
“For the first time we have a clear view of the pathways along which warm water can reach the underside of the glacier, causing it to melt and contribute to global sea-level rise,” said lead author Dr Kelly Hogan from the British Antarctic Survey.
Ice loss from Thwaites has increased rapidly in the last 30 years and now accounts for 4 percent of the rise in global sea levels.