Population and Wildlife

The unprecedented rate at which the human population has grown since the beginning of the industrial revolution has had immeasurable impacts on the ability of non-human species to survive. More people using more resources results in less and less suitable habitat for wildlife, pushing many species to the brink of extinction. While extinction of species has been a normal phenomenon throughout history, today we are experiencing a mass extinction comparable to that of the dinosaurs where nearly 20 plant and animal species become extinct every hour.

Population growth and resulting human activity is encroaching upon migratory pathways critical to the survival of such varied species as the Humpback Whale, Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Cerulean Warbler, Arroyo Toad, and Monarch Butterfly, among others. Of the 850 bird species in North America, more than 300 of them are migratory, spending their summers in the United States and their winters in Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Deforestation in tropical wintering grounds is the biggest threat to these neotropical migrants. About 18.5 million acres of rainforest is lost each year from Latin America and the Caribbean. Other threats include development, wildfires, invasive species, loss of wetlands, and pesticides. Each of these threats stems from rapid human population growth.

Arroyo Toad

On a global scale, the highest levels of population growth are taking place in biodiversity hotspots — areas deemed to be most rich in plant and animal species but most threatened by human encroachment and consumption. Approximately 20% of the human population lives in biodiversity hotspots, even though hotspots comprise only 12% of the planet’s land surface. The population growth rate in biodiversity hotspots is much greater than the global growth rate and in some spots, such as in the Amazon, the growth rate is four times the global average! Also significant is the fact that 10 of the 25 major hotspots are located in water scarce regions.