Extending the idea of a submission on the state of the environment and extinction, the following paper moves from Heinz’s more personal and local perspective to that of a global outlook. As such, this most powerful of papers could have been included under the ‘State of the Environment’ category, but as it also covers current responses (or lack thereof) and potential future directions, I thought it qualified as a more general piece for this section.
This is a most forceful and confronting article. Figure 1 (below) alone, is breathtaking in the range and degree of destruction we have wrought. Even someone familiar with much of this data cannot help but feel stunned after reading it.
Figure 1. Summary of major environmental-change categories expressed as a percentage change relative to the baseline given in the text. Red indicates the percentage of the category that is damaged, lost, or otherwise affected, whereas blue indicates the percentage that is intact, remaining, or otherwise unaffected.
1Bradshaw, C., et. al. (17 authors). 2021. Understanding the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future. Frontiers in Conservation Science. January 13th.
