Earth lost 50% of its wildlife in the past 40 years, says WWF
62 replies, posted
[quote]The number of wild animals on Earth has halved in the past 40 years, according to a new analysis. Creatures across land, rivers and the seas are being decimated as humans kill them for food in unsustainable numbers, while polluting or destroying their habitats, the research by scientists at WWF and the Zoological Society of London found.“If half the animals died in London zoo next week it would be front page news,” said Professor Ken Norris, ZSL’s director of science. “But that is happening in the great outdoors. This damage is not inevitable but a consequence of the way we choose to live.” He said nature, which provides food and clean water and air, was essential for human wellbeing.
“We have lost one half of the animal population and knowing this is driven by human consumption, this is clearly a call to arms and we must act now,” said Mike Barratt, director of science and policy at WWF. He said more of the Earth must be protected from development and deforestation, while food and energy had to be produced sustainably.[/quote]
[url]http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/29/earth-lost-50-wildlife-in-40-years-wwf[/url]
holy fuck
Damn it! Quit slacking off the lot of you! We need to up our quotas!
Where'd they go?
[QUOTE=Lonestriper;46111549]Where'd they go?[/QUOTE]
No clue, oh and brb, having burgers for dinner.
[QUOTE=Lonestriper;46111549]Where'd they go?[/QUOTE]
Dead
[QUOTE=MrProComics;46111555]Dead[/QUOTE]
So we need to make them un-dead
[QUOTE=Xonax;46111553]No clue, oh and brb, having burgers for dinner.[/QUOTE]
Yes because we made burgers out of a lot of random bird species, lizards, wild cats... :v:
I seriously dispute this, we don't even know how many species there are let alone how many of each of them there are.
All the article says is this:
[QUOTE] The steep decline of animal, fish and bird numbers was calculated by analysing 10,000 different populations, covering 3,000 species in total. This data was then, for the first time, used to create a representative “Living Planet Index” (LPI), reflecting the state of all 45,000 known vertebrates.
[/QUOTE]
and nothing about the methodology. Many different environments and ecosystems are so diverse that it's really bad science to just take 3000 species which might be in an exceptionally bad state and use it as a sample for all of the Animal kingdom. Yes, the data does show a problem but to say that "50% of the Earth's wildlife in the last 40 years has gone" is ridiculous. The WWF have an agenda, just like everyone else.
If you want to not be extinct, be useful
I'm not sure if hunting them is what's really killing them off. It's only really in third world countries that people hunt for food. Most civilized nations get their food from more or less stable agriculture and livestock. I take it it's environmental damage that's actually killing off the animals. Kinda like when some greedy megacorp cuts down an acre of the Amazon forest so they can drill for oil.
adapt or be removed
[QUOTE=Killuah;46111676][IMG]http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/land_mammals.png[/IMG][/QUOTE]
The cattle percentage looks so much bigger when you make it a concave shape for no reason.
Also he seems to have just picked the unlabeled ones at random.
Normally I like XKCD, but that's a really shitty graph.
i can't imagine hunting for food to be such a huge factor (except with fish) when we have so much lifestock available.
Our grand-children are going to star in Blade-Runner 'The Reality'.
[QUOTE=Sprockethead;46111793]If you want to not be extinct, be useful[/QUOTE]
Then how are you still alive
[QUOTE=Drury;46111941]Then how are you still alive[/QUOTE]
Should probably be asking me that question, rather than him.
[QUOTE=eternalflamez;46111617]Yes because we made burgers out of a lot of random bird species, lizards, wild cats... :v:[/QUOTE]
Well I'd say that wild animals are being gradually replaced by livestock to a certain extent
so yeah
[QUOTE=Lonestriper;46111549]Where'd they go?[/QUOTE]
They went back to their own home planet. Wake up, sheeple
I'm going to have to say this one is an exaggeration, We don't even know how many animals live on earth how are we supposed to know the percent of which have died if we don't even know what the number there was at the beginning?
[QUOTE=Lonestriper;46111549]Where'd they go?[/QUOTE]
Space
Better yet, 50% of those ended up in the trash bin.
Imagine pretty much any luxurious restaurant. They have the word "WASTEFUL" written all over 'em. Fucking snob pieces of shit. They add to the problem.
Oh and, to anyone disputing this particular study/claim.. You may be right, but do you not see a problem? With millions of people starving every day? Meanwhile other people feast in expensive fast-food chains?
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;46112613]Better yet, 50% of those ended up in the trash bin.
Imagine pretty much any luxurious restaurant. They have the word "WASTEFUL" written all over 'em. Fucking snob pieces of shit. They add to the problem.
[editline]30th September 2014[/editline]
Oh and, to anyone disputing this particular study/claim.. You may be right, but do you not see a problem? With millions of people starving every day? Meanwhile other people feast in expensive fast-food chains?[/QUOTE]
And your solution?
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;46112613]Better yet, 50% of those ended up in the trash bin.
Imagine pretty much any luxurious restaurant. They have the word "WASTEFUL" written all over 'em. Fucking snob pieces of shit. They add to the problem.
[editline]30th September 2014[/editline]
Oh and, to anyone disputing this particular study/claim.. You may be right, but do you not see a problem? With millions of people starving every day? Meanwhile other people feast in expensive fast-food chains?[/QUOTE]
It's a problem with all food in general. Once I accidentally ate Nutella that was 4 months expired. I haven't noticed anything wrong with it, so I continued eating it. Imagine how much food is thrown away each day just because there was some more or less random expiration date written on it. You could probably feed half of Africa with that food that is still good to eat.
[QUOTE=thelurker1234;46112664]And your solution?[/QUOTE]
I was about to get into that.. by saying that I don't have the answer, or the solution. So many fucking people in this world, steep class differences, etc. But we do have to get serious about it.
It just irks me that in 1st world countries people literally eat to boredom. People are savoring.. sugary sweets.. and shit. It's disgusting, and I don't understand how can you even keep your appetite, knowing the situation in other places..
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;46112691]I was about to get into that.. by saying that I don't have the answer, or the solution. So many fucking people in this world, steep class differences, etc. But we do have to get serious about it.
It just irks me that in 1st world countries people literally eat to [I]boredom[/I]. People are savoring.. sugary sweets.. and shit. It's disgusting, and I don't understand how can you even keep your appetite, knowing the situation in other places..[/QUOTE]
In a capitalist society there really is no short term solution to the problem, there is a long-term solution that's already in the works though. Which is just the development of less-developed countries.
[QUOTE=thelurker1234;46112699]In a capitalist society there really is no short term solution to the problem, there is a long-term solution that's already in the works though. Which is just the development of less-developed countries.[/QUOTE]
I don't know about that.. When someone lives over their needs, then someone else is going to live below their needs.
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;46112708]I don't know about that.. When someone lives over their needs, then someone is going to live below their needs.[/QUOTE]
It's not like there's only exactly 100% the required amount of food to feed all of human society. Especially with agriculture getting more and more advanced and efficient. The part that depends on who you ask is whether it's fine for the wealthy to eat lavishly while the poor are merely able to keep their nutritional needs met.
When you over-develop something, then something else is left under-developed.. Right?
To me, it's an impossible equation.. unless rich people are willing to live with less luxury.. Or something.
[editline]30th September 2014[/editline]
But yeah, it's a complicated subject that's for sure. I may not have all the ingredients for this discussion.
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