World biodiversity is on the decline and fast, declining by almost one-third in the past 35 years due to habitat loss and the wildlife trade, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The WWF also cautioned that climate change could contribute to this loss further over the coming decades.WWF's Living Planet Index tracks 4,000 species of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and amphibians globally. According to the Reuters article covering the report, some scientists see this loss as the start of the sixth great species wipe out in the Earth's history, the last being when dinosaurs disappeared 130 million years ago.
What does this mean for humans? Scientists say that most of the world's medicines originally come from nature. Reduced biodiversity also puts people at risks of dwindling food supplies, as pests and disease take over due to the disruption.
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