Half the World's Wildlife Has Vanished Since 1970

There's a new study out from the World Wildlife Fund that says humans have caused the population of wildlife around the world to decline over 50% between 1970 and 2010. It looks like not only have we screwed up all the oceans and the atmosphere with toxic fumes and pollution, we've killed off half the animals as well.

According to the group's Living Planet Report, the decline in wildlife population has been much greater than anyone ever anticipated. Totals for mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians in the wild have dropped so much that less than half the wildlife that was living in the world when most of us were born is now gone.

Most of the decline has been due to human activity including climate change, habitat loss, over-fishing and other man-related factors. The study also found that humans consume resources equal to one-and-a-half times the earth's sustainable rate.

The scientists conducted research on 10,380 different populations from 3,038 species to develop the index which measures trends over a specific period of time. Of all the earth's continents, South America had the largest losses where the land-based wildlife population decreased by 83%.

Freshwater species suffered the most decline worldwide, with animals such as geese, ducks, fish, salamanders and frog populations dropped by 76%.

According to the report, there is a distinct possibility that there will be a critical "tipping point" in the not so distant future, for most wildlife species. This would be similar to the well-accepted possibility concerning global warming, where a self-sustaining loss of major ice sheets becomes inevitable and the oceans rise and devastate most major coastal cities.

Calling the report a "wakeup call," WWF Chief Scientist Jon Hockstra says he hopes the decline in wildlife species can be reversed, but that the problems we face today in our environment are far more serious than we have originally thought. "There is a lot of data in this report and it can seem very overwhelming and complex," he says. "What’s not complicated are the clear trends we’re seeing — 39 percent of terrestrial wildlife gone, 39 percent of marine wildlife gone, 76 percent of freshwater wildlife gone – all in the past 40 years."