Save Nature to save ourselves, UN report pleads

The accelerating pace at which unique life-forms are disappearing could tip Earth into the first mass extinction since non-avian dinosaurs died out 66 million years ago. [AFP]

Humanity is rapidly destroying the natural world upon which our prosperity -- and ultimately our survival -- depends, according to a landmark UN assessment of the state of Nature released Monday.

Changes wrought by decades of pillaging and poisoning forests, oceans, soil and air threaten society "at least as much as climate change," said Robert Watson, who chaired the 132-nation meeting that validated a Summary for Policymakers forged by 450 experts.