That means scientists have cataloged less than 15 percent of species now alive—and current extinction rates mean many unknown organisms will wink out of existence before they can be recorded. The study was driven by a simple question: "Are we within reach of finding all species, or are we way off? Two hundred and fifty years after Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus devised a formal system for classifying the diversity of nature, the catalog for some classes of living things—such as mammals and birds—is nearly complete, the study says.
But the inventories for other classes are woefully sparse. For instance, only 7 percent of the predicted number of fungi—which includes mushrooms and yeasts—has been described, and less than 10 percent of the life-forms in the world's oceans has been identified.
What's been discovered so far are "those things that are easy to find, that are conspicuous, that are relatively large," Worm said. So far, some 1. To calculate the percentage of unknown species, Worm and colleagues first had to answer one of the great questions of ecology: How many species live on the Earth?
Previous guesses ranged from three million all the way to a hundred million. To gain a more precise answer, the authors examined the categories into which all species are grouped. Scientists lump similar species together into a broader grouping called a genus, similar genera into a still broader category called a family, and so on, all the way up to a supercategory called a kingdom. See photos of species classification in National Geographic magazine.
There are five kingdoms: animals, plants, fungi, chromists—including one-celled plants such as diatoms—and protozoa, or one-celled organisms. Worm's team estimated the total number of genera, families, orders, classes, and phyla—a designation above class—in each kingdom. That's a relatively easy task, since the number of new examples in these categories has leveled off in recent decades.
Using complex statistics, Worm and colleagues used the number of genera, families, and so on to predict Earth's number of unknown species, and their calculations gave them a number: 8. In many countries, where indigenous peoples were driven from their lands, their cultures and languages denigrated and their people marginalized from political and economic activities, they were never included in the social contract to begin with.
The social contract was made among the dominant populations. Over recent years and decades, various societies have sought to address this, including through apologies, truth and reconciliation efforts, legislative reforms, as well as constitutional reforms, while at the international level, these efforts have included the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and advisory bodies such as the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Despite the existence of international instruments to respond these inequalities, not all are embarked on the collective journey to ensure that no one is left behind, including indigenous peoples.
Therefore, the building and redesigning of a new social contract as an expression of cooperation for social interest and common good for humanity and nature, is needed.
The new social contract must be based on genuine participation and partnership that fosters equal opportunities and respects the rights, dignity and freedoms of all. Source: ILO Get to know more about this through data. Just one-sixth of wild mammals, from mice to elephants, remain, surprising even the scientists.
In the oceans, three centuries of whaling has left just a fifth of marine mammals in the oceans. But if I was trying to give them a more realistic sense of the world, it would be a cow next to a cow next to a cow and then a chicken. Viruses alone have a combined weight three times that of humans, as do worms. Fish are 12 times greater than people and fungi times as large.
As Monmouth University students, we are a mile away from the beach but most of us never listen to the waves crash along the shore. We have become accustomed to having a constant routine in our lives, and while consistency is good it may lead to a mundane existence.
Alyssa Consentino, a senior psychology student feels most alive with a suitcase and passport in hand. While all those things are important in leading a fulfilled life, there are several other elements that play a vital role. We all crave excitement, connection, and adventure. Spring break is only two weeks away, and summer is just around the corner. Finals are approaching, but so is the start of the summer.
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