Credit: Nation of Change

A million species are in danger from a coming mass extinction and it’s our fault.

A new draft UN report released this week shows in detail how humans’ destructive behavior has “undermined natural resources upon which its very survival depends.” The pace of loss suggests that “half-a-million to a million species are projected to be threatened with extinction, many within decades.”

The report states:

THE ACCELERATING LOSS OF CLEAN AIR, DRINKABLE WATER, CO2-ABSORBING FORESTS, POLLINATING INSECTS, PROTEIN-RICH FISH, AND STORM-BLOCKING MANGROVES—TO NAME BUT A FEW OF THE DWINDLING SERVICES RENDERED BY NATURE—POSES NO LESS OF A THREAT THAN CLIMATE CHANGE…

The full assessment was a three-year project and product of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). 150 experts from 50 countries as well as another 250 contributors worked to pull it all together.

The draft report summarizes:

THE DIRECT CAUSES OF SPECIES LOSS, IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE, ARE SHRINKING HABITAT AND LAND-USE CHANGE, HUNTING FOR FOOD […]