Growing conservation investments and efforts could put off the risk of extinction for one in three species that can be threatened or extinct by 2100
The wave of extinction of species underway across the globe might be more intense than previously thought, a new research led by the University of Minnesota indicated.
Nearly 30 per cent of the species, have been facing global extinction since 1500, according to the new survey published July 18, 2022, in the Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment journal.
“The extinction crisis is really a part and parcel of climate change," Noah Greenwald, Director for endangered species at Center for Biological Diversity, told News Wise.
"It took many years for climate change to become a prominent household concern,” he added.
Also read: Good while it lasted - III: Why this is a mass extinction
The survey received 3,331 responses from biodiversity scientists across 187 countries.
The study had also recognised essential demographic and geographic variations in experts’ perspectives and estimates, said a press note released by the University of Minnesota.
“Since biodiversity is highly regional, the attempt of our study to bring together the opinions of regional experts from around the world is unprecedented,” said co-author Akira Mori, University of Tokyo in Japan.
The experts believe that substantially growing conservation investments and efforts could put off the risk of extinction for one in three species that can be threatened or extinct by 2100.
"Those are the very species, which help us in purifying air, filtering water and maintaining the health of our soils,” Healy Hamilton, Chief Scientist at the non-profit research group, NatureServe told Star Tribune.
It is one of the first studies to bring together diverse geographical and demographic data from thousands of international biodiversity experts. Each expert’s perspective contributed to a comprehensive assessment of biodiversity loss and the most influential factors affecting the world’s ecosystems.
The paper included the perspectives of a very wide range of experts, who were underrepresented in the global literature, claimed scientists. The experts who identified as women and who are from the Global South had provided significantly higher estimates for past biodiversity loss and its impacts.
Wealthy countries have provided lower estimates for biodiversity loss in the past and more pessimistic estimates for the future, noted the scientists.
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