Third of plants and animals 'at risk of extinction'

One third of plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction, a UN report is expected to conclude this week.

One third of plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction, a UN report is expected to conclude this week.

The world's biodiversity is threatened by the economic growth of countries like China, India and Brazil, the study will say.

While Western countries are increasingly aware of the need to protect endangered species, the developing world's appetite for raw materials is destroying vulnerable ecosystems, the report's authors will warn.

I've been noticing a lot more rhectoric on overpopulation and the Earth's "maximum capacity" as of late. Now imagine if 1/3rd of all plant and animal life were destroyed by human industrial expansion! That's ridiculous. Does the world realize how much could be lost with those animals?!?! We're not talking about common cats and dogs. These are animals and plants, that in some cases may hold significant scientific importance to the world. But if they die off, we'll never know.

He added: “It’s a problem if we continue this unsustainable pattern of production and consumption. If the 9 billion people predicted to be with us by 2050 were to have the same lifestyle as Americans, we would need five planets.”

I'm not sure if this is an exaggeration, and I realize Canada has enough space to house a bunch more people, but we really don't want to do that. I think the developing world should stop trying to place 'catch-up' and slow down a bit. Or they won't live long enough to see them prosper very much.

You contradict your own argument in your post. Congratulations!

Thus is the problem with man. Instead of looking, observing, admiring, he thinks, "how can I use this to my advantage". In most cases "to my advantage" means, "to make me money". Man does not realize that not everything on this planet was put here for him. All of the Earth's resources are not here just for the consumption of man. Something things should [i]just be.

You posted "These are animals and plants, that in some cases may hold significant scientific importance to the world. But if they die off, we'll never know". I take that is your opinion is that it would be a travesty for these things to disappear without man discovering their benefit to him? Did you ever consider that these plants and animals may have a right to exist freely on their own? Did you ever consider that this life may play a big part in the balance of the planet? That if a certain grass dissapears in a part of the world, the domino effect climbs up the food chain, leading to the extinction of more and more species?

We need to leave things alone. We should be able to look and think, "That is beautiful", instead of "That would look beautiful on my mantle".

Oh, and for the environmentalist that fears we're destroying the world...

Here

humans are a cancer. We are killing the planet and all life on it. The only ones that deserve to be here are the animals in my view.

reply to post by DOcean


We are part of the circle of life, therefore we are natural. I don't see how I am contradictory.

@Beast Master- We are animals.

reply to post by Portugoal


You know it's really too bad that not a SINGLE person cares. I bring this stuff up to people I know all the time and I just get people saying that's just the way things are and responses such of that nature. It's about time we try changing things or we are going to find ourselves in the worse kind of situation you can be in....where we're the destruction of ourselves. Good find s +f, so I can start to show people some facts when I talk about this stuff.

reply to post by agentofchaos


It's pretty sad. Even here on ATS, people seem to ignore these kinds of threads.