Experts Warn: 1 Million Species Are at Risk Because of Human Activity

This trend is accelerating, the United Nations said, quoted by NOVA TV. 

UN group of biodiversity experts warns that 1 million species of the existing 8 million are threatened with extinction and this trend is accelerating, BTA reported.
Destruction of wildlife is as big a threat to people as climate change, scientists will say in the global assessment - the first such report since 2005 and the most comprehensive of its kind.

Agencies cite a report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biological Diversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). 

"Our destruction of biodiversity and ecosystem services has reached levels that threaten our well-being at least as much as human-induced climate change," said Robert Watson, IPBES chairman.

We face the sixth mass extinction of species in the history of the planet and the first caused by human activity. It can only be prevented if rapid and decisive action is taken. Loss of biodiversity threatens humanity to the same extent as climate change.

The five main reasons for the disappearance of organic species today are improper use of land (intensive agriculture, deforestation), direct exploitation of resources (hunting, fishing), climate change, environmental pollution and invasive species.