Biodiversity continues to be lost on planet Earth
We may not recognize it, but virtually every decision we make comes with a price to our planet—a small, but not insignificant, withdrawal of the earth’s resources. Added together, these withdrawals represent our environmental footprint.
WWF’s 2012 Living Planet Report highlights the cumulative pressure we are putting on the planet and the resulting decline in the health of our forests, rivers and oceans.
We are living as if we have the resources of an extra planet at our disposal. We’re using 50 percent more resources than the Earth can provide, and unless we change course that number will grow very fast—by 2030, even two planets will not be enough.
The Living Planet Report finds:
• Biodiversity continues to be lost: Populations of species continue to decline, with tropical and freshwater species experiencing the biggest declines.
• The U.S. has the fifth largest ecological footprint in terms of the amount of resources each person annually consumes. We rank only behind Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and Denmark in the global rankings of the Ecological Footprint.
• Resource scarcity is already being experienced across the globe, as 2.7 billion people around the world already are forced to cope with water scarcity during at least one month a year.
A View from Space Listen to European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut André Kuipers talk about the health of the planet. Learn more about WWF's 2012 Living Planet Report at http://www.worldwildlife.org/lpr
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