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Collapse of Terrestrial Biodiversity

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Capitalism and Environmental Collapse

Abstract

Societies’ very survival depends on their ability to avert the impending threat of biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction of species, which has intensified over the last 50 years due to the globalization of capitalism. To date, more than 105,700 species have been assessed for the IUCN Red List, and more than 28,000 species are threatened with extinction (27%). Between 2000 and 2013, the number of threatened species nearly doubled, from just over 10,000 in 2000 to 21,286 in 2013. Speed ​is perhaps the most important feature of this process because this almost sudden characteristic suppresses a crucial evolutionary variable: the time it takes for species to adapt to and survive environmental changes. Defaunation and species extinctions in all taxonomic groups are undoubtedly accelerating, as demonstrated by successive assessments from the IUCN, the Living Planet Index, and other scientific assessments. Gerardo Ceballos, Paul Ehrlich, and Rodolfo Dirzo (2017) warn about the false impression that the threat of biological annihilation is not imminent: “even species that have not yet been classified as endangered (roughly 30% in the case of all vertebrates) are declining.” There is no hyperbole in the claim that the collapse of biodiversity and the acceleration of global warming, two processes that interact in synergy, entail an increasing risk of extinction for the Homo sapiens.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The IPBES was established in 2010 by the UN to improve the interface between science and policy on issues of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

  2. 2.

    See Convention on Biological Diversity. http://www.cbd.int/convention/parties/list/. The USA is the only country that has not ratified this treaty.

  3. 3.

    See Global Biodiversity Outlook 4, 2014, p. 87 e p. 10.

  4. 4.

    See “Time to tackle biodiversity loss: Draft post-2020 UN Framework not ambitious enough.” Friends of the Earth, 17/I/2010.

  5. 5.

    A species is “Critically Endangered” when (a) it has less than 250 mature individuals, or (b) it has lost at least 90% of its population for more than 10 years or for three generations (whichever is longer), if this reduction is considered reversible, or (c) it has lost 80% if such loss—observed or projected—is considered irreversible, or (d) its geographic extent is too small or fragmented, or (e) if a quantitative analysis shows that the probability of extinction in the wild is at least 50% within 10 years or three generations (whichever is longer). See IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria

    http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/categories-and-criteria/2001-categories-criteria#critical

  6. 6.

    See “Brasil responde por 15% do tráfico de animais silvestres.” ANDA, 16/XI/2017.

  7. 7.

    See http://www.mma.gov.br/mma-em-numeros/biodiversidade.

  8. 8.

    See “Drug may poison Europe’s Eagles.” New Scientist, 2972, 7/VI/2014, p. 7.

  9. 9.

    See “Potential Risks of Nine Rodenticides to Birds and Nontarget Mammals: a Comparative Approach.” EPA, 2004.

  10. 10.

    “Pesquisadores da Unicamp elaboram plano contra extinção de borboletas”. Globo.com G1, 12/IX/2012.

  11. 11.

    See Kim Kaplan, “Usada/AIA Survey Reports 2010/2011 Winter Honey Bee Losses”, Agricultural Research Center. 23/V/2012; S. Goldenberg, “Rate of U.S. honeybee deaths ‘too high for long-term survival’”. The Guardian, 15/V/2014.

  12. 12.

    Quoted in “Nova pesquisa acirra polêmica sobre uso de agrotóxicos”. Fapesp, 30/VI/2019

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  1. Department of History, Univerity of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

    Luiz Marques

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Marques, L. (2020). Collapse of Terrestrial Biodiversity. In: Capitalism and Environmental Collapse. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47527-7_10

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