Nearly 6,000 monitored vertebrate species across more than 35,000 populations declined by an average of 73% from 1970 to 2022, the World Wide Fund for Nature said in its latest Living Planet Report published on Thursday.
Nearly 6,000 monitored vertebrate species across more than 35,000 populations declined by an average of 73% from 1970 to 2022, the World Wide Fund for Nature said in its latest Living Planet Report published on Thursday.
yea, it’s a pattern that has repeated itself. humans come to a new place, wipe out the megafauna thru hunting them to extinction, then a new sustainable equilibrium is formed, with humans as a full part of the ecosystem. really, it’s what happens whenever a new species is introduced to somewhere: big changes to the ecosystem then the formation of a new normal.
but capitalism and colonialism have disrupted, and continue to disrupt, this equilibrium, more than ever before. and the difference is, we can act upon it. it’s not easy of course, but these systems can be overthrown. when you just blanket-blame humanity, what’s the implied solution? collective suicide?
Well, my hope is that humanity was so destructive out of ignorance. I hope that science and education, or in general the knowledge of how we impact the world and the consequences, lead to wiser choices. This could be for egotistical reasons (a healthy ecosystem leads to easier life for humans), or out of respect for other life forms.