The Problems of Earth resume: Loss of biodiversity
Loss of biodiversity is a decrease in the diversity of life forms within a species, an ecosystem, or the Earth as a whole.
Brazilian Amazon rainforest (International Business Times, 2018)
The loss of biodiversity can lead to a breakdown in the functioning of the ecosystem where decline has happened. An area’s biodiversity may increase and decrease following natural cycles. In contrast, human-driven biodiversity loss tend to be more severe and longer-lasting: ecosystems have adapted to the challenges of natural disturbances. However, humans, our crops, and our food livestock take up half of the world’s habitable land, and overexploits 90% of the fishing stocks. This massive conversion of forests, wetlands, grasslands, other terrestrial ecosystems, and the ocean, has produced a 60% decline in the number of vertebrates worldwide since 1970.
The Rockefeller Foundation/Lancet Commission reports that human health depends on natural systems functioning properly. Biodiversity conservation is crucial for human development and reduction of poverty. Yet when we discuss health issues, we often forget about the environment. Biodiversity underpins the functioning of the ecosystems on which we depend for food and fresh water, health and recreation, and protection from natural disasters.
Ecosystem services according to the Millennium Assessment [MA 05] (Biodiversity and Health, 2018)
The biodiversity of the Holocene helped to bring stability to the entire living world. Global warming –accelerated by human activities– is triggering a climate change that is breaking this stability. Consequently, the bonds that hold nature together may be at risk. Thanks to human pressures, one million species may be pushed to extinction in the next few years, with serious consequences for human beings, as well as the rest of life on Earth. The prediction is that by 2100s, the planet will become 4ºC warmer and large parts of the planet will be uninhabitable. The climate change will lead to the 6th mass extinction while the weather turns more and more unpredictable, the frequency of natural disasters increase, and the level of the ocean increases too as polar ice melts.
Researchers have identified five important drivers of biodiversity loss: habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, overexploitation, pollution, and the climate change associated with global warming. Nevertheless, there are triggers to each of this five important drivers. In The Problems of Earth posts’ series we have discussed some of them:
Forests and rainforests have a crucial role in the water cycle as they hold transpiration, they sequester CO2 helping to mitigate global warming, and they are also home for 80% of the world’s animals and plants. Unfortunately, human beings have overexploited forests to become farmland. 50% of fertile land is farmland. The model of modern agriculture, and its overuse of pesticides and fertilizers is sickening the soil and polluting waterways. Declining soil quality has manifested itself in loss of agriculturally productive lands, soil devoid of microorganisms to keep it healthy and becoming dust. Two thirds of the world is desertifying. According to the United Nations, the world’s remaining topsoil will be gone within 60 years.
Monoculture farmland in the United States (USA) (The Union of Concerned Scientists org USA, 2008)
Up to 90% of the living worldwide species rely on the oceans for surviving, the ocean is a great regulator of the climate, rain and temperature, most of the oxygen we breath is generated by the ocean, and it absorbs much of the CO2. Overexploiting fishing stocks, killing colossal amounts of animals through by-catch and entanglement, and extinguishing natural ocean hunters, we are changing the ocean ecosystems, and losing biodiversity.
Sperm whale and terns in the Southern coast of Pico island (Sanne Bakers, 2019)
Demand for resources such as raw materials and energy, increase air, water, and soil pollution. Poisoning and mudding landscapes, pollution –mainly chemical, particulate, and plastic– drives to ecological catastrophes, global warming, habitat destruction, health issues due to its accumulation and bio-accumulation, and threats wildlife by poisoning and entanglement –plastic trash alone, kills over one million marine animals, one million sea birds, and affects 700 species worldwide including land animals. Extraction and exploration of raw materials damage vast extensions of land and sea, and its waste can contain harmful substances. 80% of power generation and 90% of transportation rely on fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels cause global warming by releasing CO2, and pollution; triggering asthma, chronic diseases, and even death. CO2 levels in the atmosphere are at their highest in 800,00 years. A marked change in atmospheric carbon was a feature of all of the five previous mass extinctions.
World map showing annual CO2 emissions by country (Britannica, 2014)
Pollution leaking to waterways and inefficient water use, are causing the world’s freshwater sources to recede. With agriculture accounting for 70% of the water use, and the demand for water projected to increase by 55% in 2050, the freshwater available –0,007% of the planet’s water– will not be enough to sustain the population. Therefore, there will be an increase of water shortages.
Desertified land (Mic, 2015)
Direct damage to wildlife through illegal trade, illegal hunting, or illegal fishing, causes a direct biodiversity loss. These extremely lucrative criminal industries are the greatest immediate threat to the conservation and survival for many of the targeted species. In addition, these activities increase issues related with epidemics, plagues, and invasive species.
War and other conflicts between communities also have an impact to the environment, harming biodiversity: pollution, higher demand for resources and energy, habitat destruction, hunting, and poaching are some impacts of warfare. Furthermore, populations under siege will think in short-term solutions rather than long-term sustainability and development.
Zambian poaching by Chinese-military (Earth Journalism Network, 2016)
The evidence is crystal clear: Nature is in trouble. Therefore we are in trouble.
We are not doomed yet, there are things that we can change to mend most of the damage done to the planet. The next 10 years are crucial to stop destabilizing the planet. This period of time will likely determine the future of Earth. We need to reduce our emissions and draw the existing carbon out of the atmosphere.
How do we do this? The answer is biodiversity: the very same thing that we are losing. By restoring biodiversity we allow the Earth to rebuild the bonds that hold nature together. There is an urgent need to re-wild the world. It will help solve the biodiversity crisis, tackle climate change, and reduce the risks of future pandemics. Science tells us that we must expand protected areas to cover at least 30% of the land and sea by 2030.
Teide National Park, protected area in Spain. (Maria Serra, 2020)
The wilder the forests and the oceans are, the more biodiversity they hold, and the more effective they are at absorbing carbon from the atmosphere, the more production they have, and the better they regulate the climate. Natural systems have evolved to survive the test of time, the only thing that we need to do is to let this natural systems to be able to run wildly.
Two frontiers will guide this transformation: the first one is science, science to provide a good future for all people and rise the standard of living. The second is society, we need a new economic logic based on well-being. We must decarbonize the big system that run our lives: energy, industry, transport, buildings… and we need to transform agriculture from a source of emissions to a store of carbon. Rethinking how we use our soil is essential for cooling down the climate. The agriculture operation must be perceived as a living ecosystem that increases biodiversity. We must protect our oceans and land, the natural ecosystems that absorb half of our emissions.
The challenge we face is not about how to decarbonize the planet –science knows how to do it–but how we solve climate change and build cities for three billion people at the same time. Therefore, humankind depend on how we shape our cities: not just environmental impacts, but our social well-being, our economic vitality, our sense of community and connectedness rely on it.
The way we shape cities is a manifestation of the kind of humanity we bring to bear. Getting it right will help us solve climate change as well as reforestation, ocean restoration, or the cease of wildlife poaching. In the end, it is our behavior that seems to be driving the problem: how we live. And that is a function of the kinds of cities that we shape: to move forward from this sterile polluting environments that cities are now.
The world’s biggest eco-city in development, Tianjin, in China. (BBC, 2012)
There are 7 simple principles: one is to preserve the natural environment, the history and integrated agriculture; second is mixing land uses, age groups, shops, different livelihoods; third is to walk, if you can walk along the streets of a city it means that they are comfortable and enjoyable, this is improving the standard of living, plus you barely emit any carbon; fourth is to bike, is the most efficient means of transportation we know, China, the Netherlands, Denmark, and other countries adopted policies that improve the bike paths; fifth is to connect the street network; sixth is to invest more in transit –not in increasing the traffic–; and the seventh is to focus, focus on the paradigm shift.
There are reasons to be hopeful, most people get it. They understand that this is a great opportunity that allows them to bring into being the kind of communities we all need. This brings common cause, and common cause is what really brings about the change.
Natural walking path between towns in the island of Flores, the Azores. (Maria Serra, 2020)
What are the actions that help to restore an ecosystem?
In forests: replanting native trees, conservation of plants and animals; in fresh water: control the water extraction, fishing and mining, restoring water flows to wetlands, wastewater treatment; in oceans and coasts: sustainable fishing, wastewater treatment, pollution control, management and restoration of coral reefs, mangroves and seagrasses; in grasslands and savannah: reseeding native grasses, shrubs and trees, reintroduction and protection of native fauna; in mountains: replanting native trees, better planning of infrastructure, low-impact farming techniques; in peatland: re-wetting; in farmland: permaculture or regenerative agriculture, including trees and livestock grazing on cropland after harvest, use of natural fertilizers –compost– and pest control; in cities: clean-up of waterways and former industrial sites, tree planting, green space and urban wetlands creation, replanning infrastructures and buildings. Global restoration will not be easy, still it is needed.
Common dolphin jumping in the Azores. (Maria Serra for Azores Experiences, 2020)
“The good news is, we can do this. We have the knowledge. We have the technology. We know it makes social and economic sense. And when we succeed, we can all take lungfuls of fresh air. We will be saying hello to healthy lifestyles and resilient economies in livable cities. We are all on this journey around the sun together. This is our only home. This is our mission.” – Johan Rockström.
Maria Serra
SOURCES
Calthorpe, P. (2017) 7 principles for building better cities. TED https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_calthorpe_7_principles_for_building_better_cities/transcript#t-607727
Crowther, T. (2020) The global movement to restore nature’s biodiversity. TED: Countdown https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_crowther_the_global_movement_to_restore_nature_s_biodiversity#t-683813
Directorate-general for environment. (2021) Commission consults on EU targets to restore Europe’s ecosystems. European commission; news announcement. https://ec.europa.eu/environment/news/commission-consults-eu-targets-restore-europes-ecosystems-2021-01-11_en
Krosofsky, A. (2021) Plastic Pollution Kills Millions of Animals Every Year. Green Matters https://www.greenmatters.com/p/how-many-animals-are-killed-by-plastic-pollution
Lawton, G. (2021) Rescue plan for nature: How to fix the biodiversity crisis. NewScientist https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933223-300-rescue-plan-for-nature-how-to-fix-the-biodiversity-crisis/
Leahy, S. (2019) One million species at risk of extinction, UN report warns. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/environment/2019/05/one-million-species-risk-extinction-un-report-warns
Morand, S. & Lajaunie, C. (2018) A Brief History on the Links between Health and Biodiversity. Biodiversity and Health, Elsevier pg. 1-14. DOI: 10.1016/B978-1-78548-115-4.50001-9
Rafferty, J.P. (2019) Biodiversity loss. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/biodiversity-loss
Rockström, J. (2020) 10 years to transform the future of humanity –or destabilize the planet. TED:Countdown https://www.ted.com/talks/johan_rockstrom_10_years_to_transform_the_future_of_humanity_or_destabilize_the_planet#t-10016
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