Biodiversity
Biodiversity
Scientists believe that we are entering a time where a huge proportion of living things are becoming extinct. Millions of years ago dinosaurs and many animals, plants and fungi died out due to a massive asteroid hitting the earth. This time it’s humans causing the damage: climate change, industrial farming and the destruction of wilderness.
Climate change is affecting the sea and land so fast that plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms can’t adapt. A large proportion of life on earth faces extinction unless we change course. The main driver of biodiversity loss is human food production. Animals kept for meat and dairy, along with their feed crops like soy, use 75% of all agricultural land. We must eat less meat to reduce extinctions. Chemical fertilisers and pesticides significantly compound the extinction rate of all living things. By contrast organic and regenerative farming dramatically reduce extinctions. Humans are destroying wild ecosystems on land and sea for food production, adding to extinctions. 10 million hectares of forest are removed each year - that’s 20 million football pitches. These places also suck carbon from atmosphere, which means that protecting, managing and restoring forests could achieve two thirds of the CO2 emissions cuts we need to keep climate change within safe limits.