The Human Threat to Biodiversity

Global warming, melting ice caps, and rising sea levels are the images most often evoked when we think of the terms ‘climate change’ or ‘climate disaster’. However, arguably one of the more overlooked consequences of human activity on the environment is the impact on biodiversity. Defined simply as the ‘variety of life’ on earth, biodiversity encompasses the vast array of animal, plant, and fungi species across the globe and the multitude of ecosystems that they inhabit. As highlighted in countless reports and studies, perhaps most notably the fifth edition of the United Nation’s Global Biodiversity Outlook report published last year, the threat posed by human activity to global biodiversity is both extensive and critical. Above all, this includes the widespread extinction of animal species, over eight hundred of which have gone extinct since 1500, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (though even in recent years this figure has no doubt risen).

Though the ongoing and relentless consumption and burning of fossil fuels remains one of the major driving factors in climate breakdown in general, the UN and other organisations have established four other key causes of decline in biodiversity. These include deforestation (and habitat loss more generally); overexploitation of resources; invasive species, and various forms of pollution aside from CO2 emissions, including chemical dumping and plastic waste. Collectively, these aspects of the human economy pose a threat of profound proportions to the survival of our global ecosystems and thus our planet as a whole. If humanity’s ruinous relationship with our ecosystems continues to go unchecked and unrestrained – which, in spite of twenty objectives put forth by the UN in 2010, looks to remain the case – the results will be catastrophic, with UN scientists warning of a million animal species on the brink of extinction.

These aspects of human economy pose a threat of profound proportions to the survival of our global ecosystems and thus our planet as a whole

Moreover, the reduction in global biodiversity has been attended by widespread destruction and depletion of ecosystems, both terrestrial and aquatic. Over half of all the world’s coral reefs have perished since 1870 as a direct result of human activity, which in turn has disrupted the precious ecological balance within our oceans. Vast swathes of land used for both animal and human habitation have been desecrated, with soils required for essential crops rendered infertile by chemical pollution and forest-dwelling species left exposed and endangered by mass deforestation. The decline in biodiversity and the increased prevalence of monocultures in agriculture have also been directly linked to increased transmission of infectious diseases in humans – an observation that is particularly alarming in the current context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This is but a brief overview of the impacts of human activity on biodiversity. By no means does it fully capture the scale of the crisis that lies before us. It is a crisis that poses a long-term existential threat not just to the world’s many wonderful and vulnerable flora and fauna species, but to our own one as well. In short, the outlook is dire.

It is a crisis that poses a long-term existential threat not just to the world’s many wonderful and vulnerable flora and fauna species, but to our own one as well

However, this bleak reality does not and should not preclude the possibility of reversing, or at the very least mitigating, ecological decline. Though little has been done to curb the effects of human activity on biodiversity since the first Convention on Biological Diversity almost thirty years ago, the power still lies within the hands of governments and transnational entities to restore our earth’s ecosystems and promote sustainable development before it is too late. As outlined in both last year’s report and at a UNESCO forum in March earlier this year, there are several steps that can be taken immediately to aid in our ‘transition to a healthier planet’. Arguably the most urgent course of action is to rein in and regulate human activity in the areas of production, agriculture, and transportation. Current practices, ranging from battery farming to overseas trade, are extremely wasteful and unsustainable and produce an adverse effect on the natural environment.

The solutions are endless; the time we have left on this planet, however, isn’t

How we go about our day-to-day lives also bears a direct impact on biodiversity. Our cities and communities ought to be reshaped in such a way that enough space is reserved for nature within our urban landscapes. Access to green space, clean and affordable public transport, and sustainable infrastructure are just some of the many initiatives that can be taken to reduce our collective carbon footprint and restore a viable balance between humans and our ecosystems.

The solutions are endless; the time we have left on this planet, however, isn’t. If we are to prevent a total and irreversible decline in biodiversity, only the most ambitious and far-reaching structural solutions must be pursued. Anything less is tantamount to defeat.

The Human Threat to Biodiversity

Comments