Despite all the attention being paid to climate change and environmental issues, the planet’s ecology, biodiversity, atmosphere and water systems are continuing to suffer and degrade. Two recent reports show that mankind’s relentless drive for economic growth and the growing demand for energy are having a damaging effect on many aspects of the environment.
Planet in Peril
Every two years since 2000, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has published a series of reports entitled “Living Planet Report”. The latest, “Living Planet Report 2008” was published on October 29, 2008. In a forward to the report, James P. Leape, Director-General of WWF, highlights the dangers of damaging the environment when he states that “The recent downturn in the global economy is a stark reminder of the consequences of living beyond our means. But the possibility of financial recession pales in comparison to the looming ecological credit crunch.” The report makes a number of points, among them:
- Man’s ecological footprint, which measures the extent and type of human demand placed on the environment, exceeds the planet’s regenerative capacity by about 30%, with mankind’s demand on the planet more than doubling over the past 45 years due to population growth and increasing individual consumption.
- The biodiversity of the planet is decreasing at an alarming rate, with a 30 per cent decline since 1970 in nearly 5,000 measured populations of 1,686 species, mainly driven by deforestation, pollution, climate change and over fishing.
- In the 1960s most countries' biocapacity, measured in global hectares (gha) was greater than their ecological footprint. By 2005 the situation had reversed and now the planet has overshot its biocapacity by 25%. In North America, Canada had a biocapacity surplus of 13 gha/person while the United States had a deficit of 4.4 gha/person.
- Carbon is putting the greatest strain on the environment with the burning of fossil fuels contributing over 45% of the global ecological footprint in 2005.
- Global trade, which in the 1960s accounted for 8% of humanity’s ecological footprint now accounts for 40%. The United States has the largest export and import footprint, followed by China and Germany.
Global Environment Outlook
In October 2007, the United Nations Environment Programme published Global Environment Outlook: Environment for Development, a comprehensive report prepared by 390 scientists and reviewed by over 1,000 others around the world. The report highlights a number of areas in which the environment is being damaged.
- On the growing human population, the report states “the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available... humanity’s footprint [its environmental demand] is 21.9 hectares per person while the Earth’s biological capacity is, on average, only 15.7 ha/person”
- It highlights the fact that globalization and the environment are intrinsically linked, with the growth in world trade facilitating the spread of exotic species while encouraging the preponderance of cash producing crops such as wheat, corn, soy and rice.
- It shows that current biodiversity changes are the fastest in human history, with 30% of amphibians, 12% of birds and 23% of mammals now under threat of extinction.
- It predicts that water scarcity will increase in the future, with developing and developed countries needing a 50% and 18% increase respectfully by 2025. It goes on to show that water quality is declining, even in the developed world, with contaminated water being the single greatest cause of human disease and death.
Laurence O'Sullivan - Larry O'Sullivan, Irish short story and freelance Article writer now living in Thailand. I am Irish, 55 years old and am now living in ...
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