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Thursday April 25, 2024

Humanity’s follies

By Editorial Board
September 18, 2020

According to the latest UN report, humans are the most dangerous creatures living on earth. Since the 1970s, humans have been able to exterminate more than 70 percent of animals and birds living on the planet that we all share. This would obviously have devastating impacts on biodiversity and the Earth's ability to survive. All 190 nations linked together within the UN will be unable to meet the targets they set themselves a decade ago. The WWF has also in its latest annual report backed such findings.

It is noted that over the last decade, over a million species have faced more and more pressure and could one day be extinct. This would obviously lend a devastating blow to the planet and all those who live on it. While there have been small gains, such as the increase in the number of tracts of land, under forest cover, these are small. Generally, the use of fossil fuels and the increase in human populations, which have literally eaten away natural habitats, have destroyed other creatures which share the planet with us. It is humanity's primary responsibility to prevent this. There is now plenty of data which shows the destruction caused by us. This can only stop if all countries work together and all people put in their part. The wildfires currently raging in California are an example of human inability to save the habitat they live in. We have seen such fires before, both in America and in Australia. There are also other examples of similar devastation coming in from other parts of the world. These have to be stopped. We need to save the creatures which live with us, given the complex systems that hold the planet together and ensure the survival of all beings, including man himself. So far, we are failing. This is obvious from the latest figures being put out by international organizations. All countries have not shown sufficient interest or given sufficient significance to the need to save ourselves and our planet. We need to remember that the Earth is the only place we know as our home. If the new reports coming out are correct, and there is every evidence that this is indeed the case, then human civilisation should be blamed at an international forum for the damage it has caused everyone and every creature that lives on this planet. The Covid epidemic has also to some degree, been created by us. Certainly its presence means there's less attention to the need to save wildlife and to conserve our planet. This will add to the problems which are placing it under greater and greater threat.