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May 6, 2019

U.N. Report: 1 Million Species at Risk of Extinction
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An alarming new report by a panel of leading scientists warns that human
activity is causing the disappearance and deterioration of wildlife at a
rate that could represent an existential threat to humanity within our
lifetimes. The United Nations' Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform
on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, released its conclusions today,
and found that one million species could go extinct in the foreseeable
future unless current trends are reversed. The report will be released
in full later this year. This is chair of the UN panel, Sir Robert
Watson.

Sir Robert Watson: "We're losing species at a historical rate,
potentially 500,000 to a million species are threatened with loss. We've
lost much of our native forests, much of our native wetlands and
effectively biodiversity needs to be considered as an equally important
issue as climate change. It's not just an environmental issue, it is an
economic issue, a development issue, a security issue, social, moral and
ethical issue."



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