Dwindling Life on Earth
Today is Endangered Species Day in the U.S., and the timing couldn’t be more sadly appropriate.
On the same day designated as Endangered Species Day by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (Maine) and Dianne Feinstein (California) comes news from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) that Earth has lost nearly a third of its biodiversity over the past 37 years.
According to the WWF’s Living Planet Index, the number of land species on our planet declined by 25 percent between1970 and 2007. Freshwater species dwindled by 29 percent, with marine species close behind at 28 percent. The worst losses of all have come to marine birds, whose number of species has dropped by 30 percent over the past decade alone.
In the U.S., while the federal government has finally decided to designate the polar bear as a threatened species, many other species await such protection. The Bush administration’s regard on this issue is nothing short of abysmal: only 59 species have received endangered or threatened status during W’s tenure — all of those at requests of the public rather than from officials inside the administration.
For comparison, consider that 521 species won protection during the Clinton years and even George W.’s father had a better record, with 231 species protected.
For a more vivid illustration of species at risk in the U.S., visit EndangeredSpecie.com, which has a clickable map showing life at risk in all 50 states. They range from six species of sea turtles in Florida to three species of whales in Alaska.
