Report highlights human damage to planet
Published Oct. 31, 2006
Mankind might be overusing the planet's natural resources.
The World Wildlife Fund released its Living Planet Report on Oct. 23. The report cites two measurements, the Living Planet Index and the Ecological Footprint, to suggest that humans are overusing the planet's natural resources.
"The Living Planet Index measures trends in the Earth's biological diversity," the report states. "It tracks populations of 1,313 vertebrate species — fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals — from all around the world."
The information is intended to study the health of ecosystems, which is accomplished by tracking wild species. The report states the index has fallen about 30 percent between 1970 and 2003, suggesting that humans are degrading ecosystems much faster than previously observed.
"Biodiversity suffers when the biosphere's productivity cannot keep pace with human consumption and waste generation," the report states. "The Ecological Footprint tracks this in terms of the area of biologically productive land and water needed to provide ecological resources and services — food, fiber and timber, land on which to build and land to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) released by burning fossil fuels."
This is the third Living Planet Report, which the World Wildlife Fund releases every two years.
"It's the first report of its kind to look at a single index of the impact of humans on the earth," WWF spokesman Richard Mott said. "Also, it is the first index to look at species and the effect on their environment."
The report uses the two indicators to suggest that it is necessary to reduce the use of resources by mankind by extrapolating three different scenarios in relation to how the ecological footprint progresses.
"We work on solutions all the time," Mott said. "The report itself has some scenarios for shifting away from what it calls overshoot, shifting away from overusing the resources of the planet."
The three scenarios are called "business as usual," "slow shift" and "rapid reduction." All three names refer to the amount of action taken to reduce the Ecological Footprint.
According to the report, the "business as usual" scenario, which is based on estimates from the United Nations with moderate increases in overshoot, would result in the Ecological Footprint having doubled by 2050.
"Slow shift" refers to a gradual and concentrated effort to reduce the Ecological Footprint. Through these efforts, the amount of fishing and creation of farmland in relation to population growth would be decreased approximately 50 percent. If enacted, this scenario is expected to reduce the Ecological Footprint to not exceed the Earth's natural renewal of resources by about 2080.
"Rapid reduction" refers to more concentrated efforts to immediately reduce the Ecological Footprint of mankind. This scenario discusses the need to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 50 percent by 2050. The scenario would be expected to reduce the Ecological Footprint to not exceed the Earth's natural renewal of resources by about 2035.
The Living Planet Index and the Ecological Footprint have not been proven to be scientifically linked, but the report discusses their correlation.
"We don't try to scientifically prove a correlation between the two indicators," said Brooking Gatewood, a spokeswoman for the Global Footprint Network, the group that produces the information about the Ecological Footprint. "If you look at the graphs, it is very clear that the two are correlated."
