25/07/03

Population growth ‘main threat to global biodiversity’

By: Tom Clarke

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<h1>Population growth ‘main threat to global biodiversity’</h1>
<h4>By: Tom Clarke</h4>
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<p><P>A controversial new model suggests that the world’s growing population is the greatest threat to global biodiversity.</P><br />
<P>A study by Jeffrey McKee of Ohio State University in Columbus, United States, and colleagues suggests that the average nation could have 7 per cent more threatened species by 2020 and 14 per cent more by 2050, regardless of how much people consume.</P><br />
<P>The authors of the study, published in the journal <em>Biological Conservation</em>, say that it highlights the need to put population at the top of the conservation agenda. But other researchers argue that the research oversimplifies a highly complex relationship.</P><br />
<P><a href="http://www.nature.com/nsu/030721/030721-11.html" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/tracking/external/'+this.href);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link to Nature Science Update news story</A> </P></p>

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<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/news/population-growth-main-threat-to-global-biodivers/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
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A controversial new model suggests that the world’s growing population is the greatest threat to global biodiversity.

A study by Jeffrey McKee of Ohio State University in Columbus, United States, and colleagues suggests that the average nation could have 7 per cent more threatened species by 2020 and 14 per cent more by 2050, regardless of how much people consume.

The authors of the study, published in the journal Biological Conservation, say that it highlights the need to put population at the top of the conservation agenda. But other researchers argue that the research oversimplifies a highly complex relationship.

Link to Nature Science Update news story