World Wide Fund for Nature issues ‘dire’ biodiversity loss warning

We need to get our act together before we have no more cute animal videos to watch (and earth systems fail due to lack of biodiversity): Animal populations have dropped nearly 70% on average since 1970, a new study published by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) reveals (pdf). The WWF issued a dire warning about biodiversity loss, underscoring the calamitous side effects deforestation, industrial pollution and extreme weather have had on the 32k populations of 5.2k animal species scrutinized over the past 50 years. Freshwater populations declined by an average of 83% since 1970, and Latin America — home to the Amazon rainforest, where rampant deforestation has become a norm — saw average wildlife population size decline by 94% over the past 48 years. Africa had the second steepest drop at 66%. Asia and the Pacific came in third with a 55% decline, followed by North America with a 20% fall, and Europe and Central Asia with a 18% drop.