Our ancestors have been around for about six million years, the modern form of humans only evolved roughly about 200,000 years ago. Civilization as we know it is only about 6,000 years old, and industrialization started in the earnest only in the 1800s. While we’ve accomplished much in that short time according to a report by WWF shows just how bad we have been at caretaking and put the worsening condition of Earth into perspective.

Only in the past four decades, we have managed to destroy 60% of the wildlife population! Our activity has annihilated wildlife on a scale unseen beyond mass extinction, and it has helped put humans on a potentially irreversible path towards total destruction.

Published by WWF every two years, the report documents the state of the planet in terms of biodiversity, ecosystems, the demand on natural resources and its impact on nature and wildlife.

The last report which was done four years ago found a 50% decline between 1970 and 2010.

This year, its results are even more devastating than ever:

20% of the Amazon has disappeared in just 50 years

in just 50 years On a global scale, the area of minimally disturbed forests declined by 92 million hectares between 2000 and 2013

between 2000 and 2013 Of all species that have gone extinct since 1500 AD, 75% were harmed by overexploitation or agriculture

Ocean acidification may be occurring at a rate not seen in at least 300 million years. The Earth is estimated to have lost 50% of its shallow water corals in the past 30 years

may be occurring at a rate not seen in at least The Earth is estimated to have lost in the past 30 years Humans are responsible for releasing 100 billion tonnes of carbon into the Earth’s system every 10 years. In April 2018, levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached an average of 410 parts per million (ppm) across the entire month–the highest level in at least 800,000 years

into the Earth’s system every In April 2018, levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached an (ppm) across the entire month–the highest level in at least Only 25% of land on Earth is substantively free of the impacts of human activities. This is projected to decline to just 10% by 2050

The report found a 60 percent decline from more than 16,700 animal populations around the globe.

Sadly, it does not end here as the remaining animals will have to fight against the warming oceans, risk being chocked by the plastic that is being dumped on landmarks and the oceans, the little rain forests that remain may zero out, fragile species, and refuges such as coral reefs may nearly die off.

“The situation is really bad, and it keeps getting worse,” the director general of the World Wildlife Fund, Marco Lambertini.

Carter Roberts, the chief executive of the WWF in the United States:

“There is a connection between loss of the natural environment and human health. Where does our food come from? Where does our water come? Go to Latin America and Africa, where ecosystems are struggling,”

Crop failures brought on by climate change have been linked to an exodus in Central America toward the United States, for example.

“Something’s got to give,” Roberts said, “and it’s not a pretty picture.”

The WWF is calling for a “global deal for nature and people” to reverse biodiversity loss and has urged the 196 member nations of the Convention on Biological Diversity to consider a range of targets when they meet in Egypt in late November.

It also encourages the deal to be struck at the 75th United Nations General Assembly in 2020.

“The evidence becomes stronger every day that humanity’s survival depends on our natural systems, yet we continue to destroy the health of nature at an alarming rate,” it states. “It’s clear that efforts to stem the loss of biodiversity have not worked and business as usual will amount to, at best, a continued, managed decline.”

You can read the full report here.

Please SHARE this article with your family and friends.