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Wildlife in decline two-thirds from 1970-2020?

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According to Living Planet. From Nisha Gaind at Nature:

The populations of Earth’s wild mammals, birds, amphibians, fish and other vertebrates declined by more than half between 1970 and 2012, according to a report from environmental charity WWF and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

Activities such as deforestation, poaching and human-induced climate change are in large part to blame for the decline. If the trend continues, then by 2020 the world will have lost two-thirds of its vertebrate biodiversity, according to the Living Planet Report 2016. “There is no sign yet that this rate will decrease,” the report says. More.

Apart from issues around data bias covered in Gaind’s article, a question remains: When we try to save a population level, as opposed to a species, what are we trying to do? Is it feasible or even desirable?

Contrary to claims, humans are not “just another species.” We manage the planet. No one manages well without good information.

Hysteria is never good information. If only the Birkenstock environmentalists could go extinct and be superseded by a wiser sort who ask ecologically relevant questions.

See also: Red wolf not “endangered”; a hybrid?

and

Nearly 50% Americans now think humans arenot special

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