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Friday, July 10th, 2020

Updated Species Extinction List Signals ‘Urgent Action Needed to Save Life on Earth’

Author:     Jessica Corbett
Source:     Common Dreams
Publication Date:     Thursday, July 09, 2020
 Link: Updated Species Extinction List Signals ‘Urgent Action Needed to Save Life on Earth’
Stephan:   I cannot find the words, at least words I am willing to publish, to express how angry this story makes me. Between human-mediated climate change, and human-caused destruction of the beings with whom we share the earth we are creating a catastrophe for which all future generations will suffer. And it is occurring for two reasons: greed and stupidity. You could make a strong case that humans are a cancer eating away at the earth's matrix of life.
All 17 species of Red Colobus, including Temminck’s Red Colobus (Piliocolobus basius temminckii) are threatened, making this Africa’s most threatened genus of monkeys. Hunting for bushmeat—much of it illegal—and habitat loss continue to pose the most urgent threats to primates across the continent. Credit: Mic Mayhew/IUCN

The U.S.-based Center for Biological Diversity warned Thursday of the “urgent action needed to save life on Earth” in response to a new global assessment revealing that nearly 27% of over 120,000 analyzed plant and animal species are now threatened with extinction.

“At this point it’s a matter of political will to rapidly move away from fossil fuels, stamp out the wildlife trade, and overhaul the toxic ways we produce food.”
—Tierra Curry, CBD

“This assessment shows that one in four mammals are facing extinction, and although we don’t prefer to think of ourselves as animals, we humans are mammals,” Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at CBD, said in a statement. “We have to take bold and rapid action to reduce the huge damage we’re doing to the planet if we’re going to save whales, frogs, lemurs, […]

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