By one estimate up to two-thirds of all the species on the planet may be lost over the next 100 years. The world appears to be in the early stages of a mass extinction, to rival those of prehistoric times, the latest of which wiped out the dinosaurs. Great holes will be torn in the web of life, and countless species that could have brought great benefits to medicine and food supplies will be lost. About 40 per cent of what is left is under threat. Some 16 million hectares of forest, an area about twice the size of Austria, are felled every year.
Species become extinct, and global warming increases.
It can take anything up to 1,000 years for a couple of centimetres of topsoil to form. But increasingly this much is being washed or blown away in a few seasons. Every year the world loses some 25 billion tonnes of it. By one estimate, crop yields in Africa could be cut in half within 40 years if degradation continues at its present rate. The climate is getting warmer.