Stocktake

Humans have had more of an impact on the world over the last 50 years than in any other time in history. 1,300 scientists from around the globe have laid out the figures in The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by almost a third over the last 250 years. 60% of that increase has happened within the last 50. We are degrading, or using unsustainably, 15 out of 24 ‘ecosystem services’ identified in the Assessment. In other words we are fouling up the benefits the Earth provides for humanity – a stable climate, fresh air, clean water, fertile soils, pollination of crops, food and materials, natural waste management... Water withdrawals from lakes and rivers have doubled in the last four decades. More than a quarter of the commercially important fish stocks are overharvested. More land has been converted to cropland since 1945 than during the whole of the 18th and 19th centuries. A quarter of the Earth’s land surface is now cultivated. Since 1980, about 35% of mangroves have been lost, 20% of the world’s coral reefs have been destroyed and another 20% degraded. Over half of all the artificial nitrogen fertilizer ever used has been applied since 1985. 856 million people are undernourished and 1.8 million people die annually due to inadequate hygiene, sanitation or water supply – in spite of the Millennium Development Goal to halve hunger and poverty by 2015. Find more facts and start the search for solutions at www.millenniumassessment.org

17 June 2005