Biodiversity loss underestimated, saving it may be out of reach: Study

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
19 Apr 2023 21:52

A study advises that implementing methods to fight unsustainable hunting and over-exploitation of natural resources will present longer-term benefits to save biodiversity rates.

Members of WWF protest during the UN Biodiversity summit, COP15, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on December 7, 2022. (Reuters)

A recent study in the UK suggests that previous data regarding the impact of climate change on biodiversity loss has been underestimated, as goals set to end habitat loss may be impossible to do soon.

Back in December, during the UN's COP15, close to 200 nations set targets to end the decline in nature by the end of the decade, including the loss of biodiversity and protecting 30% of sea and land by 2030.

Dr. Robin Freeman of the Institute of Zoology in London explained that "what this analysis is highlighting is that it's even harder than we think [to meet the targets]" adding, "We need to act more urgently and more quickly, and tackle more things to achieve them."

Published in the Royal Society journal, Proceedings B, the research examined populations of over 600 different species of birds and mammals and found that past works neglected time lags before the effect of cars on the environment, for example, kicked in.

"We've seen delayed effects of up to 40 years for large mammals and birds," Dr. Freeman told BBC News, indicating that the extent of biodiversity loss is way deeper than expected.

"And that means that the longer we wait to take action the longer it will take to see any kind of response."

The study does advise that implementing methods to fight unsustainable hunting and over-exploitation of natural resources will pose longer-term benefits, especially since the rate of extinction of plants and animals is accelerating more than at any point in our time.

Close to 3,000 scientists urged governments to stop harming nature during the final talks at the COP15 in December since the Earth could become a graveyard to a tenth of its plant and animal species by the end of the century.

Although those numbers refer to the UK, an exclusive report by Reuters in February showed that a conservation research group found 40% of animals and 34% of plants in the United States are at risk of extinction, while 41% of ecosystems are facing collapse.

Ocean ecosystems, which are under threat from climate change, pollution, and overfishing, produce half of the oxygen we breathe and help to minimize global warming by absorbing a large portion of the carbon dioxide released by human activities.