Today’s Solutions: December 24, 2024

This will be a hard pill for nature lovers to swallow, but a recent report from the United Nations revealed that the Earth has lost 68 percent of species since 1970. This a huge problem for both wildlife and humans. Without a diverse range of animals and the lands they inhabit, humanity is poised to lose the ecosystems that regulate our climate, provide natural resources, and gives us a buffer to prevent pandemics.

That brings us to an extremely important question: How can we halt biodiversity collapse? According to a team of scientists from the research organization RESOLVE, the most effective, cheapest solution is returning half of the planet to nature.

More specifically, the researchers say we must protect 50.4 percent of the Earth’s land, which is a massive increase from 15.1 percent of the land area currently protected. While this might seem difficult to pull off, the researchers at RESOLVE have teamed up with a number of organizations to create a report that identifies the exact land areas that need to be protected to prevent climate collapse and estimated the potential carbon storage for each region.

The report, which is being called the Global Safety Net,” goes a step further than other reports calling for the conservation and rewinding of half the world by providing a real blueprint that lawmakers can follow in order to save the planet from biodiversity loss. They’ve even created a Global Safety Net app that features an interactive map of those areas, made in partnership with Google Earth Engine.

Recently, RESOLVE’s founder Eric Dinerstein spoke with the green-minded publication Grist to speak at length about how saving our land means saving the world. You can find the interview right here.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

Beekeepers and airports join forces to save pollinators

Back in 2012, Ben Shertzer, wildlife administrator at Pittsburgh International Airport, found himself dealing with a perplexing problem: swarming bees. The bees would land ...

Read More

Reduce home food waste part II: The fridge

Food waste continues to be a huge problem all over the world. Luckily, according to the experts, you can help improve the global food ...

Read More

A four day workweek? 10 reasons it’s a great idea

While enduring the global pandemic, many of us have had the chance to reassess our values and goals for our lives. This has set ...

Read More

Five easy steps to start composting

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, about eight percent of all carbon emissions come from food waste, and about half of that comes from ...

Read More