The article, "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice", has been co-signed by more than
15,000 scientists in 184 countries and is published today in the journal
BioScience.
Global trends
Among the negative 25-year global trends noted in today's article are:
- A 26 percent reduction in the amount of fresh water available per capita
- A loss of nearly 300 million acres of forestland
- A collective 29 percent reduction in the numbers of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish
- A 75 percent increase in the number of ocean dead zones.
The situation in Australia
Dr Newsome said habitat loss was the number one threat in Australia, and in 2017 we ranked
number two in the world for global biodiversity loss, behind Indonesia.
"There's been
recent reports on an alarming rise in tree clearance in Queensland - about 400,000 hectares per year; the equivalent of 400,000 football fields - which puts us in line with Brazil," Dr Newsome said.
"All the while we have very low public spending for example on threatened species - around $70 million each year, or less than one hundredth of a percent of the federal government's annual revenue of $416.9 billion - we spend more rehabilitating mine sites each year," he said.
