WWF: Living Planet Report 2012 - Planet on the Limit
Posted by Tatjana Vukic | 17-05-2012 21:20 | Category: Education, EnvironmentEcologically speaking, we are sawing the branch on which we sit. According to a WWF study, humanity is such a strain on the global ecosystem so that we would need the equivalent of 1.5 earths to meet our needs in a truly sustainable manner. The consequences, for the habitats of animals and plants, are dramatic.
If humanity lives on as today, we will need two planets by 2030 to meet our needs for food, water and energy. By 2050 we will need three. These are the findings of the “Living Planet Report 2012”, a two-year study on the health of the world, which the WWF has submitted.
According to its per capita calculations, an American consumes an average of four planets worth of resources, a German 2.5 and an Indonesian only about 0.7. In other words, the wealthiest countries consume on average three times as much as countries with average levels of prosperity and five times as much as countries with low levels of prosperity.
The ten countries with the largest ecological footprint per capita are Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Denmark, the United States, Belgium, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Ireland. Germany is ranked 30th. (more after video break)
video translation:
2012: 7 billion people.
2050: 9 billion people.
Our Need for Energy knows no boundaries.
Humanity needs more space.
Every minute we destroy forrest in the size of 35 football fields.
Fresh water is scarce.
2.7 billion people at least one month in the year suffer from water shortage.
The overfishing is increasing dramatically.
3 from 4 fish stocks in Europe are over-exploited.
We consume more than we have.
In 2008, the humanity has used the resources of 1.5 planets.
The consequences: environmental disasters, habitat destruction and loss of species.
But we have a choice.
WWF calls for:
At least 20 percent of the major terrestrial ecosystems, wetlands and marine areas tounder protection.
The Proportion of sustainable renewable Energies worldwide to increase at least to 40 percent till the year 2030.
To reduce energy consumption in Germany by 2 / 3 till the year 2050.
All environmentally unsustainable subsidies to get abolished.
More justice / To stop unilaterally consumption.
For our children…
... and for their children.
The Living Planet Report (english publication) is created every two years with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Global Footprint Network (GFN) . New partner of the 2012 edition, the ESA (European Space Agency), wich astronaut André Kuipers, officially WWF ambassador observes the Earth from space.
Here what André Kuipers writes about our Planet Earth *source: WWF Living Planet Report 2012
EARTh NEEDS MORESPACE!
Looking out of my window and watching Earth from space comes with my job as an astronaut. Nevertheless, I feel I am privileged. PromISSe is my second mission into space. This time I will live on the International Space Station for five months, unlike my first mission of 11 days in 2004. However, those 11 days in space changed my life. Seeing Earth from space provides a unique perspective. Our planet is a beautiful and fragile place, protected only by a very thin layer of atmosphere essential for life on our planet. And seemingly large forests turned out to be small and passed by very quickly. It was this perspective, and realization, that lie behind my motivation to become a WWF ambassador.
The European Space Agency is conducting research to provide information about the health of our planet. Some of the threats to a healthy planet are visible to the naked eye, while others are translated into figures stating how, where and why the world is changing. What I can see from space is reflected in the report in your hands.
In this ninth edition of the Living Planet Report, the key indices again show unsustainable pressures on the planet. We now know that the demands on natural resources like fish, timber and food are rocketing to a level that is impossible to replenish sustainably.
All I care about, and cherish, is on this one planet. It is my home, the home of my family and friends, and the home of another 7 billion people. It is also the home of beautiful forests, mountains, savannahs, oceans, lakes and rivers and of all of the species living within. Our planet is beautiful, but our planet is also fragile. We have the ability to save our home, to protect our planet. Not only for our own benefit but, above all, for generations to come. We have the solutions. Everyone can make a contribution by making better choices in how we govern, produce and consume. Taking better care of the planet is in our hands.
André Kuipers
Astronaut, European Space Agency
Advertiser:
WWF
Source:
The Living Planet Report 2012
