Spoilers Follow

The following is an excerpt of the most depressing thing I've read in my life.

The spoilers I refer to in my article title aren't a warning of a plot leak or a surprise cameo but mood spoilers.  Possibly permanent mood spoilers.  Read on at your peril.

The World Wildlife Fund has been studying biodiversity around the globe for over 50 years and recently published some absolutely heart wrenching figures that collate data collected since 1970 to paint a bleak picture of the state of the planet's wildlife populations.

The study has tracked vertebrate life (mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians) and report a staggering 69% decline over 48 years between 1970 and 2018.  69% global biodiversity loss in less than 50 years sure as hell spoiled my mood.

The pertinent details (calling them highlights would be macabre) that helped the research reach that sad 69% figure:

• Wildlife populations in biodiversity-rich regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean have fared worst, with an average decline of 94 per cent over the 48-year period studied.

• Populations of monitored wildlife in Africa were seeing average declines of around 66 per cent.

• In the Asia Pacific region, monitored wildlife vertebrae populations were down 55 per cent.

• The Living Planet Index (LPI) showed that populations of species in North America declined by an average of 20 per cent.

• The LPI for Europe and Central Asia shows an average population decline of 18 per cent.
  

It's sad to note that the declines in North America, Europe and Central Asia of 18-20% seem almost positive by comparison to the declines in other regions.  Sadly, those lower decline rates are found in places that by 1970 already would have been highly populated and developed by comparison to the regions suffering the more severe decline numbers.  It's almost certain that Europe, Central Asia and North America had already long since suffered the kinds of declines seen elsewhere in the last 50 years long before this study began.

The entire article is here if you can bring yourself to read it. It's depressing as hell.