United Nations warning: a huge threat is looming over human civilization
According to the Washington Post website on September 4th, scientists have warned that invasive species are causing astonishing damage to society.
An important report supported by the United Nations states that invasive species are causing serious damage worldwide, damaging crops, spreading pathogens, causing a significant reduction in the number of fish available for human consumption, and leading to the extinction of local flora and fauna.
This milestone assessment report shows that over 3500 harmful invasive species cause over $423 billion in annual losses to society. As modern global trade and travel continue to drive the spread of flora and fauna to various continents in unprecedented ways, this number is expected to only increase.
With the help of cargo ships and jet airliners, alien species are able to cross oceans, mountains, and other geographical divides, which cannot be achieved without human assistance. The result is a fierce competition between animals and plants on Earth, seriously affecting humans and their dependent ecosystems.
Peter Stott, a professor at Ontario Institute of Technology in Canada who led more than 80 experts in writing this report, said, "I know this sounds exaggerated, but one thing we want to emphasize is that it does pose a huge threat to human civilization." He also said that estimates of losses are "extremely conservative.".
The migration of animals and plants between continents is one of the main causes of the current biodiversity crisis on Earth, which is an extinction event of comparable severity to the asteroid that caused the extinction of dinosaurs. The report states that invasive species play a certain role in 60% of species extinction events.
As more harmful invasive species establish themselves and reproduce in large numbers, humans also face enormous risks: pests may eat crops, transmit mosquito borne diseases and other diseases.
Professor Anibar Pochal from the University of Concepcion in Chile, who led the report writing team with Stott, said, "Species migration is normal." However, he also said that unprecedented in this era, animals and plants have crossed the "great barriers" between continents. He said, "It's abnormal for a species to cross the Atlantic. It's abnormal to come from Australia to Chile."
This report took over 4 years to be released and was written by the Intergovernmental Science and Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The summary of the research results was released on the 4th, and the complete chapter will be released later this year.
The conclusion drawn by the institution is that the threat posed by invasive species is "not taken seriously, underestimated, and often unrecognized", with only about one sixth of countries in the world having laws and regulations in place to address invasive flora and fauna. As new species are introduced at an unprecedented rate of 200 species per year, this problem is expected to worsen over time.
The report states that the most common invasive animal is the black mouse. They will hide on ships, not only entering cities but also remote islands, causing a large number of deaths of land nesting seabirds and other animals. Land dwelling rodents have a significant impact on islands, and even nearby reef fish can feel their effects after these rodents alter the nutrients flowing into the ocean.
Remote islands are particularly vulnerable to invasion as they often have flora and fauna that are not found elsewhere. For example, in Guam, the greedy brown tree snake has led to the extinction of some local birds. In the island of Maui, the destructive power of invasive vegetation was fully demonstrated last month, with invasive grasses exacerbating wildfires, resulting in over 100 deaths.
Many invasive species have also established themselves in aquatic ecosystems. In the Caribbean region, toxic lionfish has led to a decrease in local fish populations.
In the Great Lakes region of North America, zebra striped mussels have blocked drinking water systems and power plant inlet pipelines.
One of the most destructive aquatic invaders is a delicate looking plant. Water hyacinth is native to South America and is a freely floating plant that grows at an extremely fast speed. It can cover the entire pond and lake, hindering the passage of ships and fishing activities. In some cases, these plants can absorb too much water, causing lakes to dry up and resulting in communities without drinking water. The report suggests that water hyacinth is the most widespread invasive plant on Earth.
