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Humans Spur Worst Extinctions Since Dinosaurs

 

March 21, 2006 — By Alister Doyle, Reuters

OSLO — Humans are responsible for the worst spate of extinctions since the

dinosaurs and must make unprecedented extra efforts to reach a goal of slowing

losses by 2010, a U.N. report said on Monday.

 

Habitats ranging from coral reefs to tropical rainforests face mounting threats,

the Secretariat of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity said in the

report, issued at the start of a March 20-31 U.N. meeting in Curitiba, Brazil.

 

" In effect, we are currently responsible for the sixth major extinction event in

the history of earth, and the greatest since the dinosaurs disappeared, 65

million years ago, " said the 92-page Global Biodiversity Outlook 2 report.

 

Apart from the disappearance of the dinosaurs, the other " Big Five " extinctions

were about 205, 250, 375 and 440 million years ago. Scientists suspect that

asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions or sudden climate shifts may explain the

five.

 

A rising human population of 6.5 billion was undermining the environment for

animals and plants via pollution, expanding cities, deforestation, introduction

of " alien species " and global warming, it said.

 

It estimated the current pace of extinctions was 1,000 times faster than

historical rates, jeopardising a global goal set at a 2002 U.N. summit in

Johannesburg " to achieve, by 2010, a significant reduction in the current rate

of biodiversity loss " .

 

" Unprecedented additional efforts' will be needed to achieve the 2010

biodiversity target at national, regional and global levels, " it said. The

report was bleaker than a first U.N. review of the diversity of life issued in

2001.

 

NOT ABATING

 

According to a " Red List " compiled by the World Conservation Union, 844 animals

and plants are known to have gone extinct in the last 500 years, ranging from

the dodo to the Golden Toad in Costa Rica. It says the figures are probably a

big underestimate.

 

" The direct causes of biodiversity loss -- habitat change, over-exploitation,

the introduction of invasive alien species, nutrient loading and climate change

-- show no sign of abating, " the report said.

 

Despite the threats, it said the 2010 goal was " by no means an impossible one " .

 

It urged better efforts to safeguard habitats ranging from deserts to jungles

and better management of resources from fresh water to timber. About 12 percent

of the earth's land surface is in protected areas, against just 0.6 percent of

the oceans.

 

It also recommended more work to curb pollution and to rein in industrial

emissions of gases released by burning fossil fuels and widely blamed for global

warming.

 

The report said, for instance, that the annual net loss of forests was 7.3

million hectares (18 million acres) -- an area the size of Panama or Ireland --

from 2000-2005. Still, the figure was slightly less than 8.9 million hectares a

year from 1990-2000.

 

And it said that annual environmental losses from introduced pests in the United

States, Australia, Britain, South Africa, India and Brazil had been estimated at

more than $100 billion.

 

About 300 " invasive species " -- molluscs, crustaceans and fish -- have been

introduced to the Mediterranean from the Red Sea since the late 19th century

when the Suez Canal opened.

 

It gave mixed overall marks for progress on four key goals.

 

It said there was " reasonable progress " towards global cooperation but " limited "

advances in ensuring enough cash and research. It estimated that annual aid to

help slow biodiversity losses sank to $750 million from $1 billion since 1998.

 

And it said there was " far from sufficient " progress in better planning and

implementation of biodiversity decisions and a " mixed " record in better

understanding of biodiversity.

 

 

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