{"id":2683,"date":"2019-05-17T12:08:34","date_gmt":"2019-05-17T12:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/?p=2683"},"modified":"2021-03-04T12:17:15","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T12:17:15","slug":"one-million-species-at-risk-of-extinction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/17\/one-million-species-at-risk-of-extinction\/","title":{"rendered":"One million species at risk of extinction…"},"content":{"rendered":"

A United Nations report<\/a> published in May 2019 warns that a staggering one million endangered species of plants and animals are at risk of going extinct. The landmark global assessment, compiled by more than 145 scientists in 50 countries, highlights the losses biodiversity has suffered in the last half century and which species will become extinct – many within decades –\u00a0 if human pressures such as deforestation, overfishing, and pollution of the planet\u2019s air and water are not curbed.<\/p>\n

Collectively, our planet\u2019s living species provide us with food, air, clean water and more. When nature suffers, people suffer. At a time when species are being lost tens or even hundreds of times faster than ever before, the report provides a clarion call for reversing the trend of biodiversity decline.<\/p>\n

According to the report, the drivers of this rapid deterioration in ecosystem health are changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of animals and plants, climate change, pollution, and invasive alien species, in that order. The report stresses the urgent need for transformative change to protect the planet and its endangered species and sets out possible pathways for building a global sustainable economy.<\/p>\n

Explore our endangered animals gallery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mammals<\/h1>\n

25% of mammals are at risk of extinction<\/p>\n

Shockingly, the IUCN estimates that nearly half of the world\u2019s primates \u2013 our closest evolutionary cousins \u2013 are at risk of disappearing. The majority live in tropical forests that are being rapidly lost to deforestation. Mammals such as the pangolin are being pushed to extinction by illegal hunting for scales and meat, while marine mammals are under threat from pollution and overexploitation of our seas.<\/p>\n

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