The sixth extinction

Two-thirds of all animal and insects extinct by 2020: Dying oceans fish replaced by plastic: One in five of the world’s plant species threatened

Photo NOAA

the Big Wobble,

4 November, 2018

 

 

This week The Big Wobble has focussed on the frightening information regarding the state of our planet and it's messed up, we have learned, two thirds of all animal and insect species will be extinct by 2020.

Imagine if the human population fell by 60%, that would be like emptying the America's, Europe, Africa, Oceania and China of people.

In just two years’ time, the World will have lost two-thirds of all wild animals.
 

Our oceans have warmed up at such an alarming rate they have absorbed 60% more heat than previously thought and we face in the near future oceans containing more plastic than fish.

Regular readers of The Big Wobble will be well aware of the state of our oceans because of our regular reports on the unprecedented fish die off's around the world recently and algae bloom's and pollution poisoning our oceans and waterways. Animal die-offs.

"We are facing a +3-4°C world and will condemn us to an uninhabitable planet," this week Oakland became the 3rd California city to declare a Climate Emergency.

We are looking at...

• Two-thirds of all animal and insect species since 1980 will be extinct by 2020. 
• Imagine if the human population fell by 60%, well folks, it will, and the rest.
• Our oceans are dying at a similar rate, in the not too distant future our oceans will be too warm for life, it can't be stopped, our oceans will be replaced with plastic.
• One in five of the world’s plant species is threatened with extinction.
• We are facing a +3-4°C world and will condemn us to an uninhabitable planet

Ask yourselves, have we as a civilisation crossed the tipping point, can our planet recover or is it too late: Today we look at the depressing fact, one in five of the world's plant species is at risk of extinction...

One in five of the world’s plant species is threatened with extinction, according to the first global assessment of flora, putting supplies of food and medicines at risk.
 

The State of the World’s Plants report written 2 years ago, by experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, revealed that there are currently 390,000 species of known plants, with more than 30,000 used by people.

However, more than 5,000 species have invaded foreign countries and are causing billions of dollars of damage every year.

“Plants are absolutely fundamental to humankind,” said Prof Kathy Willis, director of science at Kew, who led the new report.

“Plants provide us with everything - food, fuel, medicines, timber and they are incredibly important for our climate regulation.

Without plants we would not be here.

We are facing some devastating realities if we do not take stock and re-examine our priorities and efforts.”

The report is the first of what will be an annual benchmark analysis to set out what is known - and not known - about plants and highlight critical issues and how they can be tackled.

According to the Guardian, the biggest factors threatening plant species with extinction are the destruction of habitats for farming (31%) - such as palm oil production and cattle ranching, deforestation for timber (21%) and construction of buildings and infrastructure (13%).

Climate change is currently a smaller factor - 4% - but is likely to grow.

“I suspect we won’t actually see the full impact until 30 years down the line as it takes so long for plants, especially trees, to produce their offspring,” said Willis.
One important crop that is already suffering is coffee, as rising temperatures make the beans impossible to grow and increase diseases in key countries such as Ethiopia.

 "We are facing a +3-4°C world and will condemn us to an uninhabitable planet" and  Tipping point breached! The monarch butterfly has a 95% decline since 1980's in North America: Two-thirds of ALL animals and insects extinct in 2 years

Yesterday another frightening report was released by the journal, Nature, regarding Climate change: Oceans are 'soaking up more heat than earlier estimated'...

Regular readers of The Big Wobble will be well aware of the state of our oceans because of our regular reports on the unprecedented fish die off's around the world recently and the algae bloom's and pollution poisoning our oceans and waterways. Animal die-offs
According to Nature, the world has seriously underestimated the amount of heat soaked up by our oceans over the past 25 years, researchers say.

Their study suggests that the seas have absorbed 60% more heat than previously thought.

They say it means the Earth is more sensitive to fossil fuel emissions than estimated.

This could make it much more difficult to keep global warming within safe levels this century.

Quantification of ocean heat uptake from changes in atmospheric O2 and CO2 composition

Don't take my word for it folks, do your own research, do a Google.