I've been reading the 2018 Living Planet Index, something best read in daylight. I was alerted to it by a headline and link in Climate Action. The headline was: 60% of wildlife has been wiped out by humans since 1970, WWF finds
I thought to myself: "That can't be true", and of course it isn't.
My first thought was cavalier sub-editing at Climate Action, but WWF seems just as culpable. Compare these quotes from the report:
Page 6
"The astonishing decline in wildlife populations shown by the latest Living Planet Index – a 60% fall in just over 40 years – is a grim reminder and perhaps the ultimate indicator of the pressure we exert on the planet."
Page 9
"The latest index shows an overall decline of 60% in population sizes between 1970 and 2014."
Page 13
"The Living Planet Index has recorded an overall decline of 60% in species population sizes between 1970 and 2014."
Page 90
"The latest index shows an overall decline of 60% in population sizes between 1970 and 2014."
So far, so consistent, although I did wonder about the phrase population sizes as this is quite different from the wildlife that Climate Action used. It was only on page 92 that all was revealed:
"Average abundance of 16,704 populations representing 4,005 species monitored across the globe declined by 60%."
"The global index, calculated using available data for all species and regions, shows an overall decline of 60% in the population sizes of vertebrates between 1970 and 2014."
So, here we have it. The 60% doesn't apply to all wildlife, or all species on the planet. It applies only to the specific populations of a relatively small number of species that WWF has been monitoring over the years – and these were (understandably from WWF's point of view) all vertebrates. I could not find an explanation of this methodology in the report, but maybe I missed it.
This is bad enough, of course, though not yet as catastrophic as was reported. The Guardian, meanwhile: wrote: "Humanity has wiped out 60% of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles since 1970, leading the world’s foremost experts to warn that the annihilation of wildlife is now an emergency that threatens civilisation" which isn't true either ...
Respond