Signal Global vertebrate population index fell an average 73 percent from 1970 to 2020

Summary

The biodiversity overview cites a report that the global index of monitored vertebrate populations declined by an average of 73 percent between 1970 and 2020. The survey calls this accumulated population decline an invisible extinction because it unfolds before species formally disappear. It warns that the decline risks pulling forward critical thresholds at which ecosystem functions are lost. Biodiversity supports climate, water, soil, food and health, so such losses affect human security as well as nature. The figure is presented as a measure of how far nature has deteriorated according to global assessments.