Global economic growth over the past half-century has changed our world unrecognisably, driving exponential improvements in health, knowledge and standards of living. Yet this has come at a huge cost to nature and the stability of Earth’s operating systems that sustain us. Since 1970, global GDP has increased four times, the extraction of living materials from nature has tripled and the world’s human population has doubled, along with an enormous trend towards urbanisation. People living in cities now account for 50% of the global population.
Trade has exploded; the value of exports rose 200-fold from 1970 to 2017, with the largest increases in developed countries. This boom has enabled higher-income countries to increase their consumption even though nature, within their own boundaries, is relatively well protected; much of the added consumption is from nature’s contributions imported from lower-income countries, and these contributions are sometimes surrendered for little economic growth.
THE COST OF GROWTH
The biodiversity cost of the world’s expanding population and economic output has been significant. Since the industrial revolution, human activities have increasingly destroyed and degraded forests, grasslands, wetlands and other important ecosystems, threatening human well-being. Seventy-five percent of Earth’s ice-free land surface has already been altered significantly, most of the oceans are polluted, and more than 85% of the area of wetlands has been lost. This destruction of ecosystems has led to one million species (500 000 animals and plants and 500 000 insects) being threatened with extinction.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 02, 2020 من Farmer's Weekly.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 02, 2020 من Farmer's Weekly.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Africa goes from net carbon sink to source
New research shows Africa's impact on greenhouse gases and the need to focus on climate-smart agriculture
Ireland potato farmers unable to complete planting
Irish potato farmers have reported a delay in harvest and said that the UK might have to prepare for shortages of the produce. The shortfall is due to extreme wet weather during their planting season.
Zero-residue fresh produce a reality
Retail giants are calling for caution when using biologicals and chemical pesticides,
Big boost for mohair producers in Eastern Cape
A collaboration between the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) and the Mohair Empowerment Trust (MET) has resulted in a R1,4 million injection into four emerging Angora goat farming operations in the Eastern Cape.
KZN Youth Show at Roval Agricultural Exhibition
The KZN Youth Show will run from Friday, 24 May to Sunday, 26 May at the Royal Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg.
Hemp permits and irrigation system handed over
In an effort to fast-track the entry of rural farmers into the cannabis and hemp industries, KwaZuluNatal Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Super Zuma, visited the Shukasibheme Project in Mbazwana, a co-operative in Mseleni, uMhlabuyalingana in the Umkhanyakude District, to hand over cannabis and hemp permits as well as a borehole and irrigation system.
Meet some of the heroes behind avitourism destinations
Exploring what the Garden Route offers birdwatchers, Brian Berkman discovers some special people who run hospitable places to meet and see a variety of species.
What the Citrus Academy offers aspiring producers
Cobus du Plessis takes a look at the Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa's Citrus Academy and how it is helping to develop aspiring farmers in the sector.
Natural-born killers of the insect world
The Myrmeleontidae family of lacewings from the Neuroptera order of insects consists of about 2 000 species of which 125 are found in South Africa.
Seeder kick-starts vegetation in challenging environments
Dr George Craven of Noorspoort, Steytlerville, in the south-eastern Karoo, is successfully using a home-built 'bedstead seeder' to re-establish veld plants in an arid area, writes Roelof Bezuidenhout.