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Tropics in decline as natural resources exhausted at alarming rate – WWF 2010 Living Planet report

admin — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 04:24:09 +0000

Gland, Switzerland – New analysis shows populations of tropical species are plummeting and humanity’s demands on natural resources are sky-rocketing to 50 per cent more than the earth can sustain, reveals the 2010 edition of WWF’s Living Planet Report – the leading survey of the planet’s health.

The Russian Leopard is critically endangered

The biennial report, produced in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network, uses the global Living Planet Index as a measure of the health of almost 8,000 populations of more than 2,500 species. The global Index shows a decrease by 30 per cent since 1970, with the tropics hardest hit showing a 60 per cent decline in less than 40 years.

“There is an alarming rate of biodiversity loss in low-income, often tropical countries while the developed world is living in a false paradise, fuelled by excessive consumption and high carbon emissions,” said Jim Leape, Director General of WWF International.

While the report shows some promising recovery by species’ populations in temperate areas, thanks in part to greater conservation efforts and improvements in pollution and waste control, tracked populations of freshwater tropical species have fallen by nearly 70 per cent – greater than any species’ decline measured on land or in our oceans.

Not Another Nature Film from WWF on Vimeo.

“Species are the foundation of ecosystems,” said Jonathan Baillie, Conservation Programme Director with the Zoological Society of London. “Healthy ecosystems form the basis of all we have – lose them and we destroy our life support system.”

The Ecological Footprint, one of the indicators used in the report, shows that our demand on natural resources has doubled since 1966 and we’re using the equivalent of 1.5 planets to support our activities. If we continue living beyond the Earth’s limits, by 2030 we’ll need the equivalent of two planets’ productive capacity to meet our annual demands.

“The report shows that continuing of the current consumption trends would lead us to the point of no return,” added Leape. “4.5 Earths would be required to support a global population living like an average resident of the of the US.”

Carbon is a major culprit in driving the planet to ecological overdraft. An alarming 11-fold increase in our carbon footprint over the last five decades means carbon now accounts for more than half the global Ecological Footprint.

The top 10 countries with the biggest Ecological Footprint per person are the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Denmark, Belgium, United States, Estonia, Canada, Australia, Kuwait and Ireland.

The 31 OECD countries, which include the world’s richest economies, account for nearly 40 per cent of the global footprint. While there are twice as many people living in BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – as there are in OECD countries, the report shows the current rate of per-person footprint of the BRIC countries puts them on a trajectory to overtake the OECD bloc if they follow same development path.

“Countries that maintain high levels of resource dependence are putting their own economies at risk,” said Mathis Wackernagel, President of the Global Footprint Network. “Those countries that are able to provide the highest quality of life on the lowest amount of ecological demand will not only serve the global interest, they will be the leaders in a resource-constrained world.”

New analysis in the report also shows that the steepest decline in biodiversity falls in low-income countries, with a nearly 60 per cent decline in less than 40 years.

The biggest footprint is found in high-income countries, on average five times that of low-income countries, which suggests unsustainable consumption in wealthier nations rests largely on depleting the natural resources of poorer, often still resource rich tropical countries.

The Living Planet Report also shows that a high footprint and high level of consumption, which often comes at the cost of others, is not reflected in a higher level of development. The UN Human Development Index, which looks at life expectancy, income and educational attainment, can be high in countries with moderate footprint.

The Report outlines solutions needed to ensure the Earth can sustain a global population projected to pass nine billion in 2050, and points to choices in diet and energy consumption as critical to reducing footprint, as well as improved efforts to value and invest in our natural capital.

“The challenge posed by the Living Planet Report is clear,” said Leape. “Somehow we need to find a way to meet the needs of a growing and increasingly prosperous population within the resources of this one planet. All of us have to find a way to make better choices in what we consume and how we produce and use energy.”

The Ethics of Climate Change: Right and Wrong in a Warming World (Think Now)

admin — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:55:04 +0000

Ethics of Climate Change: Right and Wrong in a Warming World (Think Now)

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Climate Change and Biodiversity

admin — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:53:27 +0000

Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change

admin — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:27:47 +0000

The Rough Guide to Climate Change, 2nd Edition

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:27:44 +0000

What’s the Worst That Could Happen?: A Rational Response to the Climate Change Debate

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:01:16 +0000

The Science and Politics of Global Climate Change: A Guide to the Debate

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:48:27 +0000

Climate Change: Picturing the Science

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:13:45 +0000

What Do We Have To Do To Convince the Public That Climate Change is Real?

admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:16:03 +0000

Recent US research (also quoted here) shows that less people believe that climate change is real compared to last year.

Less people now "believe" that climate change is real

Over the same period, there has been a comparable decline in the proportion of Americans who say global temperatures are rising as a result of human activity, such as burning fossil fuels. Just 36% say that currently, down from 47% last year.

Research in the UK and Canada shows similar trends.

Less people believe it but the effects of global waming are accelerating

So what do we have to do to convince people that we need to cut GHG emissions? It reminds me of the smoking debate. Both invoke public health issues. Both have solid science behind them. And for both, BELIEF was everything.

I know that many people have written about this before, but changing people’s attitudes and behaviour probably needs to be done using a behaviour-change model such as that used in health promotion and medicine.

For instance see these two abstracts:

The dynamics of belief in climate change and its risks in business organisations.

Climate change: Motivation for taking measure to adapt

Unfortunately the science alone is not enough. It may SEEM that way to scientists but it is not enough for the general public. We have to MARKET climate change and SELL it to the masses.

We have to if we are going to achieve meaningful change.

The anti-climate change lobby is crafting messages to achieve an emotional outcome – we have to as well.

So this conference is trying to do just that – and strangely enough it’s on next week: BEHAVIOR, ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE. Looks like it’s too late to register to attend but you can download the program and all the abstracts (which together forms a sort of topic / study guide) plus there is limited webinar registration available until tomorrow.

New conference on climate change and behaviour

Just In: Download articles on climate change and resilience from Resurgence Magazine.

More on Behavioural Change and Climate Change

Climate Change Threatens Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

admin — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 06:52:43 +0000

According to an online report from The Sydney Morning Herald, climate change-related damage to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef will cost us some $37.5 billion during this century.

If greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced globally, the Great Barrier Reef is expected to be one of the first of Australia’s World Heritage sites seriously damaged. But chairman of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation Dr John Schubert warned that with climate change happening much faster than predicted, Australia must plan to ”adapt” the reef to save it from some level of damage scientists say is inevitable.

According to the article:

”There needs to be extra emphasis on the adaptation side,” said Dr Schubert, who is also the outgoing chairman of the Commonwealth Bank and sits on the board of BHP-Billiton and Qantas. He said the report by Oxford Economics was a conservative assessment of the losses if the reef was damaged by permanent bleaching.

Anemone Fish - Great Barrier Reef

Bleaching (due to higher water temperatures) is not the only threat facing coral reefs. With atmospheric CO2 levels rising fast, ocean acidification is fast becoming THE major threat to all marine ecosystems.

The oceans absorb a lot of the CO2 emitted by human activities. When it dissolves in seawater it forms carbonic acid – this makes the oceans more acidic.

Shell-forming sea creatures (including coral polyps) can only deposit calcium in their shells when pH is between a certain critical range (see diagram).And if they can’t harden their shells they can’t survive, or form coral reefs for that matter.

As the oceans become more acidic, it is likely that large areas will become less hospitable to marine life – this will damage ocean food webs significantly as many crustaceans (and related species) are food for fish and other animals higher up the food chain.

More about ocen acidification coming soon…