Humanity exploits resources beyond the capacity of the Earth

On May 15, in the report, it will be announced before the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio + 20) in June in Brazil, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warned in rhythm. Using current resources, humanity needs another Earth to meet the demand for land for agriculture, forests and livestock.

The WWF report on 'Living Planet' emphasizes that humanity is using more than 50% of the natural resources that the Earth can provide. Since 2008, humanity needs 18.2 billion hectares of land, but the Earth has only 12 billion hectares of cultivable land.

In addition, 55% of the land is needed for forests to collect carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) emissions causing greenhouse effect. The Earth takes 1.5 years to recreate the natural resources people have used every year, and if the world does not quickly change the way resources are used, by 2030, even two The current land cannot meet the demand.

WWF calls on the emergency world to reduce waste and use more sustainable sources of food, energy and water. In 2008, an ordinary person needed 2.7 ha of land (in biological production) to produce their own consumption resources, while the Earth's biological capacity could only provide 1.8 ha. one head.

Rare earth mining

The range of global biological soil varies by country, of which the highest is Qatar 12ha / person, the lowest is Palestine less than 1ha / person. With the current pace of consumption, resources are rapidly depleted, even some ecosystems will soon disappear before resources are completely exhausted.

The WWF study warns that between 1970 and 2008, nearly 30% of Earth's biodiversity has disappeared. According to the survey on the number and density of 26.88 animal species in different regions of the world, biodiversity in tropical regions has decreased by 61% and in temperate areas by 31%. In particular, wild tigers are facing extinction.

WWF reports that over the past three decades, 70% of wild tigers have been disappearing on Earth. So far, this rare animal has only about 3,200 individuals living in the wild. The main cause of this phenomenon is that tigers are over-hunted by humans to satisfy their needs such as taking high-quality leather, fur and other parts of their bodies, making medicines and making ornaments for people. .

According to the assessment, the number of tigers that were massacred often concentrated in areas with high population density, forests were often destroyed, the area was not preserved. People not only hunted tigers but also slaughtered the tiger's prey, which depleted the life of these predators.

Given this situation, WWF and other conservation organizations around the world aim to double by 2020 the number of tigers currently to 6,000 individuals. At the same time, WWF also warned about the increasing damage of ecosystems and wildlife species that people, especially in low-income countries, rely on to get food and fuel resources. and clean water.