IUCN Red List Update

IUCN has released its annual update to the Red List. Of the nearly 50,000 species surveyed, close to 20,000 are threatened. In other words, more than 1/3 of the species evaluated by IUCN are vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.

It is high time that biodiversity loss receive at least the level of international attention that has recently been paid to climate change. As I have noted many times on this blog and elsewhere, perhaps linking those two issues will offer an opportunity for stemming some of the hemorrhaging of biodiversity. The CBD has recently released two reports (here and here) detailing scientific linkages between the issue areas.