Thiruvananthapuram: The world is heading towards environmental disaster as countries fail to achieve the target for a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.
Natural systems that support economies, lives and livelihoods across the planet are at risk of rapid degradation and collapse, unless there is swift, radical and creative action to conserve and sustainably use the variety of life on Earth.
That is the principal conclusion of the third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3), a major new assessment of the current state of biodiversity and the implications of its continued loss for human well-being.
The India release of the report produced by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of the United Nations is scheduled to take place here on Monday. Forest Minister Benoy Viswom would release the book at a function organised by the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala, at the Press Club, Thiruvananthapuram.
The book will be received by K. Jayakumar, Additional Chief Secretary. K.A. Hashim, Registrar, University of Kerala, will preside over the meeting.
The outlook warns that massive further loss of biodiversity is becoming increasingly likely, and with it, a severe reduction of many essential services to human societies, as several “tipping points” are approached, in which ecosystems shift to alternative, less productive states from which it may be difficult or impossible to recover.
The potential tipping points analysed in GBO-3 include the dieback of large areas of the Amazon forest, shift of many freshwater lakes and other inland water bodies to eutrophic or algae-dominated states and multiple collapses of coral reef ecosystems.
The document notes that the linked challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change must be addressed by policymakers with equal priority.
Source:The Hindu 19 July 2010
Natural systems that support economies, lives and livelihoods across the planet are at risk of rapid degradation and collapse, unless there is swift, radical and creative action to conserve and sustainably use the variety of life on Earth.
That is the principal conclusion of the third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3), a major new assessment of the current state of biodiversity and the implications of its continued loss for human well-being.
The India release of the report produced by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of the United Nations is scheduled to take place here on Monday. Forest Minister Benoy Viswom would release the book at a function organised by the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala, at the Press Club, Thiruvananthapuram.
The book will be received by K. Jayakumar, Additional Chief Secretary. K.A. Hashim, Registrar, University of Kerala, will preside over the meeting.
The outlook warns that massive further loss of biodiversity is becoming increasingly likely, and with it, a severe reduction of many essential services to human societies, as several “tipping points” are approached, in which ecosystems shift to alternative, less productive states from which it may be difficult or impossible to recover.
The potential tipping points analysed in GBO-3 include the dieback of large areas of the Amazon forest, shift of many freshwater lakes and other inland water bodies to eutrophic or algae-dominated states and multiple collapses of coral reef ecosystems.
The document notes that the linked challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change must be addressed by policymakers with equal priority.
Source:The Hindu 19 July 2010
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