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By Nigel Graber
Diverse events for
Year of Biodiversity
Numbers of plant and animal species are shrinking at an alarm- said: “If the future behaves anything like the IPCC models predict,
ing rate. So how much difference will the International Year of the Terre Adelie population will decline, probably dramatically.”
Biodiversity have made by the time world leaders set new bio- “Emperor penguins are not only the largest penguins alive,
diversity-loss targets in October? they are also the oldest,” said Barbara Wienecke of the Australian
In 2005, a classic film followed the trek of Emperor penguins Antarctic Division, who says their ancestors were on Earth 200
on their annual epic journey to their ancestral breeding grounds. million years ago.
March of the Penguins showed the courtship of these beautiful “Having been successful on this planet for millions of years,
animals, following which both parents must make multiple Emperor penguins now face the most serious challenge in their
arduous journeys between the ocean and the breeding grounds long history; in geological terms, a very rapid warming of their
for their chick to survive. home. They stand to lose their breeding grounds on the fast ice
But if biologists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and potentially their main prey species. Will they be able to
are to be believed, this amazing natural spectacle could be com- adapt rapidly to a completely altered Southern Ocean ecosys-
ing to an end - because Emperor penguins could be wiped out tem? Their chances are slim.”
before the end of the century. The current rate of climate But Emperor penguins are not alone in being threatened by
change, in the shape of rising temperatures that are melting the climate change. Some experts believe that man is causing the
sea ice, will see numbers shrink from 3,000 to only 400 breed- world’s animal and plant species to disappear at a rate around
ing pairs in Terre Adelie, Antarctica. 1,000 times the natural progression.
The predictions come in a paper published recently in the Pro- This estimate was made by the United Nations on January 1
ceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United this year, when it launched 2010 as the International Year of
States of America. The claims, which used mathematical models, Biodiversity – the variety of life on Earth.
are backed by evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the year-long event
Climate Change. Biologist Stephanie Jenouvrier, from WHOI, a ‘wake-up call’ to protect the globe’s natural resources. “Over
the past half-century, human activities have caused an unprece-
dented decline in biological diversity. A wide variety of envi-
ronmental goods and services that we take for granted are
under threat, with profound and damaging consequences for
ecosystems, economies and livelihoods.
“In this International Year, we must counter the perception that
people are disconnected from our natural environment. We must
increase understanding of the implications of losing biodiversity.
“In 2010, I call on every country and each citizen of our plan-
et to engage in a global alliance to protect life on Earth. Biodiv-
ersity is life. Biodiversity is our life.”
Global awareness
The IYB is a global awareness campaign bringing together hun-
dreds of organisations and groups across the world. But here in the
UK, we have one of the strongest programmes anywhere, with
everyone from charities to farmers, councils to wildlife rangers,
schools and colleges to zoos and museums getting involved.
Throughout the year and across the country, there will be
talks, artwork, citizen science experiments, public dialogues
and exhibitions that encompass both science and the arts to
help people learn the consequences of biodiversity loss, as well
as the huge benefits that are shared if we conserve and use life
on Earth in a sustainable way.
Along the way are some pretty fascinating opportunities. These
include the chance to take part in surveys of farmland birds,
butterflies, harvest mice, hedgehogs and water. Bat walks, bird-
Year of biodiversity. It is a celebration of
life on earth and of the value of
biodiversity for our lives. The world is
invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard
▲ UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. (UN Photo/Evan Schneider).
the variety of life on earth: biodiversity
4 actionetwork
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