UN Reveals One Million Species Of Animals, Plants Are At Risk Of Extinction

An estimated one million species of plants and animals will face extinction if we don’t to something about it now.

According to the United Nations, extinction now occurs at the fastest pace in history, standing at hundreds times more than what happened in the last century.

The revelation, which was based on the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services released on 6 May in Paris, also added that over 500,000 species have no suitable habitat for long-term survival, which is caused by human activity leading to threat to the welfare and security to our own kind.

“The ecosystem, species, wild populations, the diversity of plant and animal species are getting extinct.

"The interconnected cycle of the life in the world is now shrinking," said Professor Settele, representing Germany in a forum discussing the report.

Among others, the findings revealed that three quarters of soil environment and 66 per cent of marine environment have undergone changes due to human activity.

Additionaly, the report said over one-third of land surface and nearly 75 per cent of freshwater resources are used specifically for crop production or livestock.

The loss of ecosystems and biodiversity mostly occurs in tropical areas such as Southeast Asia, which has lost about 7.5 million hectares of forest land, with 80 per cent being used for palm oil production.

Plastic pollution is also one of the main causes of environmental degradation.

The panel explained that despite the circumstances, people still have the opportunity to change the future for the next generation.

The report is based on a review of about 15,000 scientific and government sources and compiled by 145 expert authors from 50 countries. It is the first comprehensive look in 15 years at the state of the planet’s biodiversity.