Issue 58
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Weather Trivia |
A Changing World |
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The world is changing before our eyes. People have altered ecosystems more in the past 50 years than in any other time in human history. And, the trend is continuing. Many ecosystem changes have been essential to meeting globally growing needs for food and water: they have helped reduce the proportion of malnourished people and improve human health. However, ecosystem manipulation has also caused significant environmental damage and reduced the Earth's long-term ability to meet essential needs. |
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The world's poorest people are already being left behind; continuing to be malnourished, living with curable diseases and suffering the immediate consequences of failing ecosystem services. Millennium Ecosystem AssessmentThe United Nations convened the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment between 2000 and 2005 to review the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and to establish the scientific basis for necessary improvements to conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems worldwide. Using knowledge held by the private sector, scientists, local communities and indigenous peoples, the assessment's 2000-plus authors and reviewers synthesized, collated, and evaluated existing research on ecosystems worldwide.
The assessment focuses on the links between ecosystems and human well-being and, in particular, on "ecosystem services." An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal and microorganism communities and the nonliving environment interacting as a functional unit. Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. These include provisioning services such as food, water, timber and fiber; regulating services that affect climate, floods, disease, wastes, and water quality; cultural services that provide recreational, aesthetic, and spiritual benefits; and supporting services such as soil formation, photosynthesis, and nutrient cycling. The Past Few DecadesHumans are fundamentally changing the Earth as we know it. Farmed areas now cover one quarter of the Earth's landscape. Reservoirs hold three to six times as much water as natural rivers. And, 20 per cent of coral reefs have been lost along with 35 per cent of mangrove area. When it comes to species, all regions of the world are becoming more and more similar to one another because of increased travel and shipping of species. At the same time human activity is causing unprecedented species extinction so that there are fewer types of species on the planet. |
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