Human activity and climate change are the two main drivers of biodiversity loss. Human activity such as farming, agriculture and deforestation has modified over 70% of land and destroyed natural habitats. Climate change is causing global temperatures to rise, which forces plants and animals to move habitats, losing 4-41% as temperature increases 1.5-3 degrees Celsius. Both factors remove important carbon sinks like forests and coral reefs. Rising ocean temperatures acidify seas and bleach corals, threatening marine ecosystems. The current rate of biodiversity loss from these factors risks a sixth mass extinction.

1. How Human
Activity and
Climate
Change Impact
Biodiversity

2. Earth's biodiversity refers to the different
types of plants and animals, from the
tiniest living matter (genes and bacteria) to
whole ecosystems such as forests and coral
reefs. Today's biodiversity culminates from
4.5 billion years of evolution.
Unfortunately, human activity and climate
change have adversely impacted
biodiversity on Earth.

3. Biodiversity is essential to support healthy
ecosystems. Predators within the plant and
animal kingdoms maintain a balance of
species within the ecosystem. Removing a
species or introducing an invasive species can
harm others and disturb this delicate balance.
When removing a species, other species
become impacted when natural predators
leave the habitat. Alternatively, introducing an
invasive species can increase competition for
space or food.

4. Not only does the loss of biodiversity affect plant
and animal life, but it also adversely impacts
human life. More than half of the world's GDP
depends on nature, and the world's forests
support the livelihoods of 1 billion people,
illustrating biodiversity's significant role in
human existence. Food and water sources,
medicine, economic growth, and climate stability
depend on biodiversity.

5. Biodiversity loss is related to two factors, the first being human
activity. Humans have modified more than 70 percent of ice-
free land for farming and agriculture. In doing so, plant and
animal species lose their natural habitat, and in a worst-case
scenario, these species can face extinction.

6. Humans remove a natural carbon sink through
farming and other agricultural activity that feeds
into deforestation and loss of plant life. A carbon
sink is anything that soaks up carbon in the
atmosphere and holds it long-term. Because trees
absorb carbon dioxide, they are a significant
carbon sink, with the world's forests capturing
15.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually,
according to a January 2023 World Economic
Forum article.

7. While farming and agriculture have played
significant roles in biodiversity loss, climate
change is the other key factor driving
biodiversity loss. Global temperatures might
rise 1.5 degrees Celsius (an increase of 2.7
degrees Fahrenheit) in 20 years. As the Earth
becomes warmer, plant and animal species
move from environments they have existed in
for millions of years because the area
becomes uninhabitable.

8. As the temperatures rise, the percentage
of habitat loss increases. At an increase
of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees
Fahrenheit), animals lose 4 percent of
their habitat. At 2 degrees Celsius (3.6
Fahrenheit) increase, habitat loss
increases to 8 percent. Finally, at 3
degrees Celsius (5.4 Fahrenheit)
increase, animals will experience a 41
percent decrease in habitat.

9. The impacts on marine life are just as severe
as on land life. While forests are a significant
carbon sink, the oceans that cover most of the
Earth's surface are responsible for 25 percent
absorption of carbon emissions, making it the
planet's largest carbon sink. The oceans,
referred to as the planet's lungs, are an
essential buffer against climate change.

10. The ocean takes in 90 percent of the atmosphere's
additional heat when the climate becomes warmer
compared to normal temperatures. However,
when warmer ocean waters are combined with
increased levels of carbon dioxide, the adverse
impacts include seawater becoming acidified,
adverse impacts on sea life, and the handicapping
of the ocean's role in stabilizing the climate.

11. Also, rising sea and ocean temperatures negatively
impact marine life and coastalecosystems. Nearly
half of all coral reefs have been lost in the past 150
years. If the Earth continues to warm, coral reefs
face extinction. If the Earth's temperature rises
even 1.5 degrees Celsius, 70 to 90 percent of the
coral reefs will disappear. With a 2-degree Celsius
rise in heat, 99 percent of the coral reefs will
vanish.

12. The rate at which the Earth is experiencing
biodiversity loss is alarming, with 1 million
animal and plant species facing extinction.
This extinction rate has been so severe that
many environmental industries predict it
could lead to the sixth mass extinction.