To the editor:
Earlier this month, the United Nations, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released a report detailing the unexpected rate that we are destroying nature. Such as up to one million species are faced with extinction due to man made climate change. This harms not only the animal life and natural environments, but humans as well.
The destruction has occurred due to three major factors: the altering of land, the spread of the human population, and climate change. The first cause of natural destruction is the altering of land. This occurs as people use land for farming or raising livestock and as cities start to expand. This is dangerous as the land can not recover from this use and with human alteration many native species to that land disappear. Then there is the factor of the spreading of the human population. As we continue to grow the need for more space for homes and business which leads to less space for wildlife and flora. The last factor brought up by IPBES is climate change. This is our impact on the world’s overall temperature by man made pollution such as carbon waste. Currently we are set to continue to raise the earth’s overall temperature which will cause severe damage.
The good news is IPBES reports that we can fix this before the destruction is permanent. But this will take a lot of work and cooperation between people and nations. We would have to push people to consume less which means, eating less meat and changing the habits of people. The wealthy would be pushed to consume less as changing the habits of the affluent is central to a sustainable planet. Then we need to find a plan to halt climate change calls for less carbon use. The will be done by putting carbon fee and dividend plans in place that tax carbon pollution and return the money to households.
Megan Pardoe
Nashua