yo mama is so tired…
looks like we’re going to need another bailout. this time for mother earth. the the living planet report released this week by the world wildlife fund (wwf), the zoological society of london and the global footprint network outlines a report of our crimes against the planet that makes the recent economic implosion seem like fun. the report calls us (humans) “ecological debtors” that continue to use and overuse the the agricultural land, forests, seas and resources of other countries to sustain them. surpise of all surprises, the biggest offenders are the united states and china (together we use 40% of the world’s resources) and the smallest are malawi and afghanistan.
the “eco crunch” is coming
wwf international director-general james leape said “if our demands on the planet continue to increase at the same rate, by the mid-2030s we would need the equivalent of two planets to maintain our lifestyles.” the group’s president, chief emeka anyaoku added “devastating though the financial credit crunch has been, it’s nothing as compared to the ecological recession that we are facing….the more than $2 trillion lost on stocks and shares was dwarfed by the up to $4.5 trillion worth of resources destroyed forever each year.”
incredible shrinking species
the report is accompanied by a living planet index that tries to measure the health of worldwide biodiversity. the index showed an average decline of about 30% from 1970 to 2005 in 3,309 populations of 1,235 species. the tropics took the biggest hit (51% decline) in that same time 1,333 populations of 585 species.
i know, i know, many will say the whole report is alarmist and poppycock. i say, think about that the next time you get on your big jumbo jet to travel to your south american getaway and they tell you the trek through the rainforest is now through the urban jungle. i’m just saying.
photo courtesy of jimmyokelly
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