Global Biodiversity Stress

With 2010 having been designated by the UN as the International Year of Biodiversity, there will likely be a significant increase in media coverage on this subject as well as Climate Change because of the inextricable link between the two.

In a recent BBC Viewpoint (01/2010): Biodiversity Nears 'Point of No Return' - the author, Hilary Benn, the UK's Environment Secretary warns that the world's biodiversity is reaching a point of no return. He offers comments like:

• "Our ecological footprint - what we take out of the planet - is now 1.3 times the biological capacity of the Earth!"
• Ecosystems are important to humanity because "they sustain our economies - purifying our drinking water, producing our food and regulating our climate."
• "Perverse subsidies and the lack of value attached to the services provided by ecosystems have been factors contributing to their loss. What we cannot cost, we don't value - until it has gone."

So, while their have been erroneous/debatable scientific statements by key organizations - Disappearing Himalayan Glaciers, Increase/Decrease of Atlantic Hurricanes, there should be little question that our environment is changing AND the biodiversity of our planet is extremely important to our survival as a species.

It is never too late to think about ways we can contribute to reducing the size of our ecological footprint.