The human race is living beyond its means. A report backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries -- some of them world leaders in their fields -- warned yesterday that the almost two -- thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure.
The study contains what its authors call "a stark warning" for the entire world. The wetlands, forests, savannahs, estuaries, coastal fisheries and other habitats that recycle air, water and nutrients for all living creatures are being irretrievably damaged. In effect, one species is now a hazard to the other 10 million or so on the planet, and to itself.
"Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted," it says.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report, prepared in Washington under the supervision of a board chaired by Robert Watson, the British -- born chief scientist at the World Bank and a former scientific adviser to the White House, was to be launched yesterday at the Royal Society in London.
It warns that: Because of human demand for food, fresh water, timber, fiber and fuel, more land has been claimed for agriculture in the last 60 years than in the 18th and 19th centuries combined.
It estimates that 24 percent of Earth's land surface has now been cultivated. Water withdrawals from lakes and rivers have doubled in the last 40 years. Humans now use between 40 percent and 50 percent of all available freshwater running off the land.
At least a quarter of all fish stocks are overharvested. In some areas, the catch is now less than a hundredth of that before industrial fishing. Since 1980, about 35 percent of mangroves have been lost, 20 percent of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed and another 20 percent badly degraded.
Deforestation and other changes could increase the risks of malaria and cholera, and open the way for new and so far unknown diseaseso to emerge.
The report says that after "an unprecedented period of spending Earth's natural bounty" it was time to check the accounts.
"It is a sobering statement with much more red than black on the balance sheet," the scientists warn. "In many cases, it is literally a matter of living on borrowed time."
Flow from rivers has been reduced dramatically. For parts of the year, the Yellow River in China, the Nile in Africa and the Colorado in North America dry up before they reach the ocean. An estimated 90 percent of the total weight of the ocean's large predators -- tuna, swordfish and sharks -- has disappeared in recent years. An estimated 12 percent of bird species, 25 percent of mammals and more than 30 percent of all amphibians are threatened with extinction within the next century. Some of them are threatened by invaders.
Invaders can make dramatic changes: the arrival of the American comb jellyfish in the Black Sea led to the destruction of 26 commercially important stocks of fish. Global warming and climate change, could make it increasingly difficult for surviving species to adapt.
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