Environmental Crisis

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation and Nature) Red List is a massive enterprise involving the IUCN Global Species program staff, partner organizations, and experts in the IUCN Species Survival Commission. It is a powerful tool used by government agencies, wildlife departments, conservation-related NGOs, natural resource planners, and educational organizations.  At its most basic, it ... Read more
It took 200,000 years for the human population to reach 1 billion—and only 200 years to reach 7 billion. Human population growth has slowed in recent years as women are having fewer children on average, however the world population is still expected to hit 11 billion people by 2100. As our population grows, so do ... Read more
A mass extinction is the extinction of a large number of species within a relatively short period of geological time. The Earth has seen five great mass extinctions in the past that correspond to a loss of at least 75% of the species that were alive at that time. But the sixth mass extinction isn’t ... Read more
The transformation needed to improve lives and well-being sustainably through healthy environments “The current situation and the challenges ahead call for a transformation in the way we manage our environment with respect to health and well-being. Current approaches have laid the foundations, but they have not proven sufficient for sustainably and efficiently reducing environmental risks ... Read more
According to new data from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), it looks increasingly unlikely humankind will meet the targets set out by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and slow the planet’s crash course toward a climate disaster.  Earth’s average global temperature is already over 1°C (1.8°F) above the pre-industrial period and the last 5 ... Read more
Led by the United Kingdom’s Met Office, the Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update utilizes the expertise of top international climate scientists as well as computer models from leading climate centres around the world to produce actionable information on the climate outlook for the next 5 years.  This update presents a summary of annual to ... Read more
UN Report: Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’ A landmark report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warns that nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history, and the rate of extinctions is accelerating.  The report also states that current global responses are insufficient and that transformative changes are needed ... Read more