Humanity Consuming the Earth: By 2030 We'll Need Two Planets

Too many people consuming too much is depleting the world's natural resources faster than they are replenished, imperiling not only the world's species but risking the well-being of human societies, according to a new massive study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), entitled the Living Planet Report. The report finds that humanity is currently consuming the equivalent of 1.5 planet Earths every year for its activities. This overconsumption has caused biodiversity-in this case, representative populations of vertebrate animals-to fall by 30 percent worldwide since 1970. The situation is more dire in tropical regions where terrestrial species' populations have fallen by 60 percent and freshwater species by 70 percent.

Produced in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Global Footprint Network the biannual report follows the health of nearly 8,000 animal populations across 2,500 representative species. For example, the white-rumped vulture's population has collapsed by 50 percent from 2000-2007, while leatherback marine turtles' population has dropped by 20 percent from 1989-2002. The report finds that there are five major causes for such species' population crashes: habitat loss, over-exploitation, pollution, invasive species, and climate change. All of these threats are linked to human consumption patterns.

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