Media contacts:
Erika Ebsworth-Goold, eebsworth-goold@wustl.edu, 314-935-2914 (office), 314-401-7684 (cell)
Julie Hail Flory, julie.flory@wustl.edu, 314-935-5408 (office), 314-440-6304 (cell)
Facts and resources
- According to new research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Earth is undergoing a biological annihilation. Source: PNAS
- Global populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles declined by 58 percent between 1970 and 2012. We could witness a two-thirds decline in the half-century from 1970 to 2020. Source: WWF Living Planet Report, 2016
- One in five of the world’s plant species is threatened with extinction, putting supplies of food and medicines at risk. Source: 2016 State of the World’s Plants report, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
- Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, occurring at background rate of one to five species a year, scientists estimate we’re now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background rate, with dozens going extinct every day. Source: Chivian, E. and A. Bernstein (eds.) 2008. Sustaining life: How human health depends on biodiversity. Center for Health and the Global Environment. Oxford University Press, New York.
- Major threats to biodiversity include habitat loss, species overexploitation (unsustainable hunting, poaching, harvesting, deforestation), pollution, invasive species and disease, and climate change. Source: WWF Living Planet Report, 2016
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