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ysmad statistics -

Effects of current lifestyles


Well, one effect is species extinction, see other page. Listed here are more general effects, which again lead to more species extinction ...

About three quarters of the world's original forests destroyed

"By the late 1980s (...) about three quarters of the world's original forests had been destroyed, including 50 percent of rain forests in both tropical and temperate regions."

[Edward O. Wilson in a foreword to "The Diversity of Life", 1998]

Earth exploitation costing 4 to 4.5 trillion US dollar per year

"The exploitation of Earth costs 4 to 4.5 trillion US dollar per year"

[Article headline on heise.de, referring to the WWF Living Planet Report, 10/29/2008 ]

Reported is, that the human species takes much more from Earth, than it is able to provide. In other words: we are building up debt.

Exceeding the world's capacity to regenerate by about 30 per cent

"Our global footprint now exceeds the world's capacity to regenerate by about 30 per cent."

[WWF Living Planet Report 2008 (5MB!) ]

By the mid-2030s we will need the equivalent of two planets to maintain our lifestyles

"If our demands on the planet continue at the same rate, by the mid-2030s we will need the equivalent of two planets to maintain our lifestyles."

[WWF Living Planet Report 2008 (5MB!) ]

With current trends, commercial fishing won't be possible any more by 2050

"As per the [U.N.'s] FAO's latest figures, a quarter of all wild fisheries are endangered; with current trends, commercial fishing won't be possible any more by 2050."

[German Federal Office of Environmental Protection, 2008 ]

... which means we may have to revert to sick, hormone-fed farm fish, if available at all, as farmed fish is fed with fish, needing many times the amount produced (see other statistics).

38% of mangrove loss due to shrimp aquacultures

"(...) shrimp aquaculture is responsible for 38% of total mangrove loss and (...) shrimp culture is, by a considerable margin, the greatest single cause of mangrove loss."

[Article "From Wetlands to Wastelands: Impacts of Shrimp Farming", March 2003, referring to "Valiela et al." ]

This means nothing of course without a statement on mangrove loss in general. But as mentioned in another statistics box, we are loosing approx. 2% of mangroves per year. Is it a good idea to provide shrimps at fast food chains to be munched away like popcorn?!

Gallons of ground water being poisoned in Fukushima, for future generations to deal with:

(Unknown "safe" amount of radioactive water released into the Pacific)

Some shark species have been reduced by 99.9 percent due to overfishing

"Almost 75 percent of the planet's fisheries have been classified as either overfished or depleted altogether. Some shark species, for instance, have been reduced by 99.9 percent due to overfishing in the past hundred years."

[Article "The Cold Hard Truth About Fish" in National Geographic "Adventure" December 2008/January 2009, p. 32]

19% of the original area of coral reefs lost

"(...) the world has effectively lost 19% of the original area of coral reefs; 15% are seriously threatened with loss within the next 10-20 years; and 20% are under threat of loss in 20-40 years."

[Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, Status Report 2008 ]

Should be mentioned, that coral reefs are considered to have a similar ecological value for the aquatic life, as rainforests have for the life on land (if this should be mentioned that separated at all). By percentage, the loss of coral reefs exceeds the loss of rainforests by far.

Three quarters of all fish stock is on the brink of collapse

"[Man lands] 100 million metric tons seafood per year (...) three quarters of all fish stock is on the brink of collapse (...) one third of all fishing is illegal (...)"

[TV program "ZDF.Umwelt", 6/28/2009 ]

Even if you don't know a word German, the footage is worth being seen: pictures of fish being industrially treated like .. say .. construction sand or gravel, instantly grinded down to fish meal, by-catch being dumped over board in streams of fish through presumably designated trawler outlets. It's a mess. Throwaway culture unveiled - however, far away from the supermarket showcases.

Dams reduced salmon in the Elwha River to less than 1%

"The lives of the Clallam Indians (as well as many tribes of nunhumans) were centered around the 400,000 salmon who came up the river each year [the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington]. Now, about 3,000 fish come up the river annually. The reason? Dams."

[Derrick Jensen in "Endgame, Volume II", page 590 (in my edition)]

80% of major Chinese channels can no longer support fish of any kind

"Many river systems approach the fate of those in China, where chiefly because of pollution 80 percent of the 50,000 kilometers of major channels can no longer support fish of any kind."

[E.O. Wilson, The Creation - An Appeal to save Life on Earth]

1/4 of Earth's species will be headed for extinction by 2050

"1/4 of Earth's species will be headed for extinction by 2050 if the warming trend continues at its current rate. Right now, 10 percent of all known plant species are under threat of extinction."

[Delta Sky Magazine April 2010, page 69]

Thanks to Delta Airlines for this information; not quite innocent on this. Like me and you I guess.

In 90 years the ocean's acid concentration will have doubled

"As man blows more and more CO2 into the atmosphere, the oceans will soon be significantly more acidic. In 90 years the acid concentration will have doubled."

["ZDF heute journal", 7/19/2010 ]

For effects on sealife and the base of foodchains here just a link to Wikipedia: Ocean acidification, possible impacts

May we suggest: Green Tips




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