Biodiversity and Children’s Health

Abstract

Abstract Despite the vital, life-supporting functions biodiversity provides, human activity is destroying it at a nearly unprecedented rate. The planet is in the midst of a sixth extinction crisis. It is estimated that 1 million of Earth’s 8.7 million species are at risk of disappearing, a rate of loss 1,000 times greater than what would normally be expected. The Earth is not only losing species, but there is also a massive reduction in the number of individuals within a species and their size. Overall, wildlife populations (excluding humans) have plummeted by 68% over the past 50 years. This is a massive, global loss of nonhuman biomass. Plummeting biodiversity, along with climate change, represent two existential threats to child health and security. Unlike climate change though, extinction is forever. Once a species disappears, it cannot come back. Because humans barely understand the interrelationships between species, the loss of a single species can have profound impacts on the web of life, creating downstream effects across entire ecosystems. Since biodiversity also regulates the climate, freshwater circulation, and weather patterns, species losses affect many aspects of child health.