Animal populations shrunk an average of 69% over the last half-century, a report says

We don't have a lot of time to try to fix global animal populations.

The World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London analyzed years of data on thousands of wildlife populations across the world and found a downward trend in the Earth's diversity.

Between 1970 and 2018, the world's animal populations shrunk by an average of 69% according to the Living Planet Index.

Some areas of the world saw more drastic changes than others. The steep loss of biodiversity is a sign of what is to come for the natural world according to experts.

The lights are red and the message is clear.

The main cause of biodiversity loss is land-use changes caused by human activity, according to the report.

Climate change may become the leading cause of biodiversity loss

Climate change may become the leading cause of biodiversity loss if rising temperatures aren't limited to 1.5C, according to a report.

Death and displacement from extreme weather, a lack of access to food and water, and a spike in the spread of zoonotic diseases are all linked to the crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.

He said world leaders should take major steps to reverse the damage to the environment.

This is the final chance we will have. The fight for people and nature will be decided by the end of this decade. The signs are not great. There is no sign of bold action needed to achieve a nature- positive future in the discussions so far.

There are signs that there are feasible solutions to the loss of biodiversity.

The report said that solutions ranged from the preservation of mangroves to a cross-border barter system in Africa.

Human habits have to change

Shaw told NPR that humans have a chance to change how they do things.

We don't have to keep doing the same things. Habitat destruction is caused by food production, diet and food waste. Shaw said that we have an opportunity to change the way we produce and consume food. The direction of population declines can be changed by little things every day.

The average change in therelative abundance of wildlife populations was calculated.

Europe and central Asia saw its wildlife populations diminish by 18%, while Latin America and the Caribbean lost 98% of their population.

The disparity could be due to the fact that most of the development in North America and Europe took place before 1970.