A major new report warns that global wildlife populations have been cut in half in just four decades due to unsustainable human consumption and widespread habitat destruction.
According to the Living Planet Report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), average monitored wildlife populations declined by 50% between 1970 and 2010.
The Living Planet Index, which tracked more than 10,000 populations across roughly 3,000 vertebrate species, paints a sobering picture of humanity’s impact on biodiversity. Freshwater ecosystems were hit hardest, suffering a 75% decline due to pollution, water extraction, and dam construction. Terrestrial and marine populations both fell by around 40%, driven by habitat loss and overexploitation.
The underlying driver is humanity’s expanding ecological footprint. Global consumption already requires the resources of 1.5 Earths to sustain. This burden is highly unequal: the average U.S. resident would need nearly four Earths, while the average UK resident would require 2.5 Earths. Wealthier nations often export their environmental impact through imported goods linked to deforestation and habitat destruction in developing countries.
The report calls for urgent global action, including a shift to sustainable food systems, greater resource equity, and stronger habitat protection to reverse these trends.
[WWF. (2014). Living Planet Report 2014: Species and spaces, people and places. World Wide Fund for Nature, Gland, Switzerland]
NEW: An Oxford study finds nearly half the world could face extreme heat by 2050 if warming hits 2.0°C - a scenario scientists say is increasingly likely.
Researchers call it 'a wake-up call.'
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The triumphant vote for swift bricks to be mandatory in all new dwellings in Scotland is wonderful news.
But it sharpens focus again on how deplorable was UK Labour’s decision not to help these marvelous birds👇
Climate change isn't just melting ice caps-it's a direct assault on our bodies & futures. Rising temps = killer heatwaves, heart attacks & mass deaths.
1. Extreme weather = injuries & trauma.
2.Warmer world = mosquitoes spreading malaria, dengue, West Nile farther than ever. Dirty air choking our lungs. Polluted water breeding cholera. Rising seas & droughts starving communities.This CDC wheel lays it bare: every breath, every bite, every child’s future is on the line. We’re not just warming the planet-we’re making humanity sick. Time to fight back. NOW.#ClimateHealth #ActOnClimate #StopFossilFuels
@AbiluTangwa@alexatweme
Taking food meant for Penguins and Whales in Antarctica
China launches mega krill-fishing vessel from Ningbo, set to sail to Antarctica in 2026
140 meters long, has a designed daily fishing capacity of 1,000 tons
automated krill-processing line
https://t.co/fJNeAa1z6f
Good news for this little guy! Thousands of acres of koala habitat (8,400 hectares (21,000 acres) of forest) are now protected and offlimits to logging in New South Wales: https://t.co/Os4xFPjRxS
Nature is amazing. Protect it. #ActOnClimate#climate#biodiversity
Harvesting giant bluefin tuna is extremely unsustainable.
Catching these large, mature individuals disproportionately removes the prime breeders from the population, drastically undermining the species' ability to reproduce and recover from critically low numbers due to their already slow-to-mature and long life cycle..
Furthermore these massive fish are apex predators and critical to the overall health of the ocean food web. As top-tier hunters, they regulate the populations of smaller prey fish, which in turn helps maintain the ecological balance necessary for diverse marine life, including the primary producers that ultimately contribute to the ocean's oxygen production.
#NSW
His mother carried him for nearly a year, then nursed him—at enormous cost to her body—for up to 10 months.
Then we drowned him in a useless shark net.
Shark nets are not barriers; they're just designed for catching and killing.
His life barely begun...ended in tragedy.
We're building a world of waste. The Bantar Gebang landfill outside of Jakarta alone stretches across 200 football fields.
It's time to move beyond linear systems to ones that are truly circular in nature: https://t.co/rWRSRcm4T1
#Useless#wasteless#buyless#gocircular
Antarctica heartbreaking scenes as defenceless penguins and whales look on as huge industrial ships scoop up their food, they depend on to survive, vast amounts of krill
BAN KRILL FISHING IN ANTARCTICA NOW https://t.co/kMR6Qt3Fo0
🚨 #CYPRUS CRACKDOWN: 5 Weeks, HUGE Impact so far!
🕊️ 1,954 birds rescued
🛠️ 1,488 traps dismantled
⚖️ 34 poachers convicted We're taking the fight to wildlife crime
This is a massive win for bird protection. Every bird saved matters!
We cannot even have one last untouched natural place on Earth
It has to bulldozed and concreted over - destroying amazing wildlife and threatening millions of birds
So fat cat billionaires can get even richer
Evil low life
The world needs topsoil to grow 95% of its food – but it's rapidly disappearing
Half of topsoil on Earth has been lost in the last 150 years
World could run out of topsoil in about 60 years
Yet most people still think there will be food on shelves
https://t.co/2UEN8QCsc6
These are the reasons why swift bricks need to be mandated. The vote is NEXT WEEK. To help swifts, please email [email protected] & who are crucial to the decision. Ask them to SAVE OUR SWIFTS ‼️put SWIFT BRICKS in the subject line 🙏#Swiftbricks#PeoplePower
Those stretchy fake spider-web decorations may seem fun… but for birds, bees and other beneficial insects, they become hidden traps. Every year, many songbirds and crucial pollinators get caught in them, struggle for their lives, and perish.
This season, let’s keep Halloween spooky for the right reasons—not by endangering the innocent wildlife around us. Pick safe décor and let real magic thrive.
#Halloween #WildlifeFriendly #SaveTheBees
Brazil is holding the climate summit and demanding climate action
whilst they fuel even more climate change
Building a massive highway through heart of Amazon and another highway for climate summit
Drilling for oil in Amazon
Promoting bio fuels worse than fossil fuels
CABS teams also found two #LongEaredOwls caught as ‘bycatch’ in brutal poachers' nets in #Cyprus.
One was so badly injured it had to be euthanised. The other remains under close observation with a vet.
These beautiful owls pay a devastating price for the illegal songbird trade.