Five graphics illustrating some of the biggest threats facing the natural world | CNN

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Blazing fires, biblical floods and catastrophic storms are becoming more common, but they could be just a taste of things to come. Scientists say our planet is heading toward a number of climate tipping points that could lead to irreversible changes to where we all live.

From the Antarctic ice cap to the Amazon rainforest, the consequences of climate change are visible now, but it’s not the only threat to the natural world. In a series of graphics, we look at some of the biggest environmental challenges facing our planet.

Human activities, including logging, pollution, overfishing and urban development, are causing a staggering loss of biodiversity. Global wildlife populations fell by 69% on average between 1970 and 2018, according to WWF’s Living Planet 2022 report.

It notes that land-use change, including clearing for agriculture or urban development, poses the greatest current threat to nature, but adds that climate change is likely to become the dominant cause of land loss. biodiversity in the decades to come.

The landmark 2019 UN biodiversity report says that one million of the planet’s eight million species are at risk of extinction. It says the global extinction rate is already tens, if not hundreds of times, higher than it has been on average over the past 10 million years.

Trees absorb planet-warming carbon dioxide and forests can lock away carbon for centuries, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate due to a combination of human activities.

Southeast Asia’s peatland forests are home to diverse wildlife and hold large underground carbon stocks, but many of these forests have been drained and degraded to make way for agricultural land. Drained peatlands can dry out and turn into tinderboxes, and if they catch fire they can release up to 10 times more carbon than wildfires.

Elsewhere, researchers have found that some tropical forests, notably the southeastern part of the Amazon rainforest, are transitioning from being a carbon sink to a carbon source, adding more carbon to the atmosphere.

Plastics can take between 20 and 500 years to decompose, and they are found just about everywhere, from city streets to Antarctic ice sheets and even in drinking water. Even the highest peak on the planet or the deepest ocean trench in the world cannot escape plastic pollution.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a 620,000-square-mile whirlwind of trash, floats on the surface of the ocean between California and Hawaii, threatening aquatic life with entanglement and chemical contamination.

Plastics pose a significant threat to wildlife, from seals to seabirds, and have been found in the guts of many aquatic organisms, including all species of sea turtles. Microplastics, plastics broken down into tiny pieces, can be found in our drinking water systems and even floating in the air.

Pollinators include bumblebees, wasps, moths and butterflies, as well as birds and small mammals, such as bats. But many face threats from pesticides and monocultures, as well as the destruction of their habitats.

A 2023 study from the University of Sheffield found that moths account for a third of pollinator visits to crops, flowers and trees across all urban areas, but their global abundance has declined by 33% over of the last 50 years.

If pollinator numbers continue to decline, it could have serious impacts on food production. One study estimates that the loss of pollinators globally is leading to a diminished supply of healthy foods, leading to an estimated 430,000 premature deaths per year.

Global bird populations face pressure from habitat destruction from agriculture, development and logging, while seabirds suffer the consequences of overfishing.

In 50 years, nearly 3 billion birds have disappeared from the skies of North America and the United Kingdom has 73 million fewer birds than in 1970, according to a study by the British Trust for Ornithology.

In Hawaii, 33 bird species have gone extinct since 1825 due to habitat loss and the introduction of mammals and disease, while in India, 178 wild bird species are of high priority for conservation .

Despite the magnitude of the challenges, countless groups and individuals are committed to protecting our planet. On Earth Call Day 2023, we celebrate initiatives that work to protect nature and our connected ecosystems around the world. Find out how you can get involved.