Tipping Point: What does WWF’s 2024 Living Planet Report say?

| Video Credit:
The Hindu

World Wildlife Fund’s 2024 Living Planet Report shows a decline in every indicator used to track nature globally.  

This report uses the Living Planet Index, which tracks sizes of animal populations and how they are changing. It can be used as an indicator for early warning risks related to extinction of species and ecosystem losses. 

According to the Living Planet Index, the average size of monitored wildlife populations decreased by 73% in the last 50 years. The worst trends were noticed in freshwater populations, that reduced by 85%. Latin America and the Caribbean were among the worst affected areas, and climate change is the leading cause for the loss of biodiversity in these areas.  

The report uses the Living Planet Index to highlight that nature is disappearing at a frightening rate. The study also identifies five tipping points which will trigger devastating consequences for the earth if they are crossed.

We then look at important updates on Hurricane Milton, which was even more intense than Hurricane Helene in its formation. According to the U.S. government, Milton became the strongest hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Hurricane Rita in 2005 based on wind speed. It was also the fifth most intense hurricane in the Atlantic basin based on pressure. Pressure is inversely proportional to the strength of a hurricane. 

This week’s climate hope is all about safeguarding the corals in Indonesia. 

Presentation: Priyali Prakash

Video and production: Zeeshan Akhtar

In a shocking incident, a woman died after she was chased by a bear in Slovakia, as per a report in BBC. The 31-year-old from Belarus was walking with a male friend when they were set upon by the animal. 

According to the officials at Slovak Mountain Rescue Service, the woman’s body was recovered from the forest in Slovakia’s Low Tatras mountains, which has deep ravines and dense woodland.

As per the report, both the man and the woman ran off in separate directions. The two were allegedly being chased while strolling in the Demanovska Valley, according to Slovak officials. A search dog discovered the woman’s body shortly after her partner sought assistance. 

When officials discovered her body, the bear was close and had to be driven away by repeated bullets fired by the Mountain Rescue Service. However, it remains unclear whether the woman was killed by the wild animal or died due to a fall. 

Though brown bears are widespread throughout eastern and northeastern Europe, they are mostly found in the Carpathian Mountains, which cut through Romania, Slovakia, Poland, and Ukraine. 

There are reportedly 1,275 bears in Slovakia, according to researchers. The nation has seen an increase in bear attacks, with one of the deadliest in over a century occurring in 2021.

The country’s brown bear population is a contentious political issue since Slovakia’s recently elected populist nationalist government wishes less environmental protection from the European Union for wolves and bears, among other predators.

Environmental organisations, including the Slovak Wildlife Society and the World Wildlife Fund, have opposed any proposals to reduce the number of brown bears in the nation.