Some of us are missing!
Do you miss the corals that are no longer on Buccoo Reef? No, but you would miss mangoes in season if there were no pollinators. In this International Year of the Reef, more corals are likely to disappear as the earth warms. Dr Anjani Ganase, marine ecologist, reminds us of other creatures endangered or already lost; and asks us to pay attention to the accelerating decline in biological diversity because of the ways that humans have changed the environment. May 18 was World Endangered Species Day; and May 22 International Day for Biological Diversity. The reality is, as we lose more endangered species, the result is the decline of biodiversity. It is estimated that since 1970 (International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN), global vertebrate populations have declined by at least 30 %. Scientists warn that continued decline will result in extinctions, even potentially the sixth mass global extinction event. Humans have significantly accelerated the extinction rates of ...