Publication Details |
| Category | Text Publication |
| Reference Category | Journals |
| DOI | 10.1126/science.aax3100 |
| Title (Primary) | Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change |
| Author | Díaz, S.; Settele, J.; Brondízio, E.S.; Ngo, H.T.; Agard, J.; Arneth, A.; Balvanera, P.; Brauman, K.A.; Butchart, S.H.M.; Chan, K.M.A.; Garibaldi, L.A.; Ichii, K.; Liu, J.; Subramanian, S.M.; Midgley, G.F.; Miloslavich, P.; Molnár, Z.; Obura, D.; Pfaff, A.; Polasky, S.; Purvis, A.; Razzaque, J.; Reyers, B.; Chowdhury, R.R.; Shin, Y.-J.; Visseren-Hamakers, I.; Willis, K.J.; Zayas, C.N. |
| Source Titel | Science |
| Year | 2019 |
| Department | BZF; iDiv |
| Volume | 366 |
| Issue | 6471 |
| Page From | eaax3100 |
| Language | englisch |
| Supplements | https://science.sciencemag.org/highwire/filestream/735997/field_highwire_adjunct_files/0/aax3100-Diaz-SM.pdf |
| Keywords | Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Global Assessment; IPBES; global assessment; extinction; biodiversity; decline; transformative change; sustainability; biodiversity loss; climate change |
| Abstract | For decades, scientists have been raising calls for societal changes
that will reduce our impacts on nature. Though much conservation has
occurred, our natural environment continues to decline under the weight
of our consumption. Humanity depends directly on the output of nature;
thus, this decline will affect us, just as it does the other species
with which we share this world. Díaz et al. review the findings
of the largest assessment of the state of nature conducted as of yet.
They report that the state of nature, and the state of the equitable
distribution of nature's support, is in serious decline. Only immediate
transformation of global business-as-usual economies and operations will
sustain nature as we know it, and us, into the future. The human impact on life on Earth has increased sharply since the 1970s, driven by the demands of a growing population with rising average per capita income. Nature is currently supplying more materials than ever before, but this has come at the high cost of unprecedented global declines in the extent and integrity of ecosystems, distinctness of local ecological communities, abundance and number of wild species, and the number of local domesticated varieties. Such changes reduce vital benefits that people receive from nature and threaten the quality of life of future generations. Both the benefits of an expanding economy and the costs of reducing nature’s benefits are unequally distributed. The fabric of life on which we all depend—nature and its contributions to people—is unravelling rapidly. Despite the severity of the threats and lack of enough progress in tackling them to date, opportunities exist to change future trajectories through transformative action. Such action must begin immediately, however, and address the root economic, social, and technological causes of nature’s deterioration. |
| Persistent UFZ Identifier | https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=22545 |
| Díaz, S., Settele, J., Brondízio, E.S., Ngo, H.T., Agard, J., Arneth, A., Balvanera, P., Brauman, K.A., Butchart, S.H.M., Chan, K.M.A., Garibaldi, L.A., Ichii, K., Liu, J., Subramanian, S.M., Midgley, G.F., Miloslavich, P., Molnár, Z., Obura, D., Pfaff, A., Polasky, S., Purvis, A., Razzaque, J., Reyers, B., Chowdhury, R.R., Shin, Y.-J., Visseren-Hamakers, I., Willis, K.J., Zayas, C.N. (2019): Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change Science 366 (6471), eaax3100 10.1126/science.aax3100 |
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