Since 1750, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by about 32% (from about 280 to 376 parts per million in 2003), primarily due to the combustion of fossil fuels and land use changes. Approximately 60% of that increase (60 parts per million) has taken place since 1959.

Data: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis.
Island Press, Washington, DC.

Between the early 1980′s and 2000, most States conducted annual bald eagle surveys. Since then, many states recognized that annual surveys were no longer necessary. That is why you will not see annual data after 2000. On August 9, 2007, the bald eagle was removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species.

General Statistics for Endangered Species current as of October 15, 2009

How many species in the United States are listed as threatened or endangered?

614 U.S. animal species are listed.
747 U.S. plant species are listed.

How many species in the United States are proposed for listing as threatened or endangered?

18 U.S. animal species are currently proposed for listing.
46 U.S. plant species are currently proposed for listing.

How many listed species have designated critical habitat?

539 U.S. species have designated critical habitat.

How many candidate species are there?

138 animal species are candidates for listing.
110 plant species are candidates for listing.

How many habitat conservation plans (HCPs) have been approved?

1017 habitat conservation plans have been approved (849 current, 168 expired).

How many listed species have approved recovery plans?

1134 species have approved recovery plans.

Have you heard of The Penguin Project?  Neither had I until I had the opportunity to attend the Wildlife Conservation Expo in San Francisco on October 3rd.  Well, The Penguin Sentinels (formerly the Penguin project) has been established to protect and study the largest Magellanic penguin colony in the world. And for the last 25 years that is exactly what they have been doing.  Here are the numbers from 1983-2008:

A total of 56,289 penguins banded

                -42,137 chicks, 2,194 resighted

25,472 eggs measured

174,019 chick measurements

                -56,568 individual chicks

443 satellite tags deployed

1,838 books of data

2,358,205 records

Check out The Penguin Sentinels great website!

-The human population quadrupled during the 20th century, increasing from about 1.5 billion in 1900 to about 6.8 billion in 2009

-This explosive population growth reached a peak of 2.1% growth rate in the late 1960s, the most significant demographic process since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

-The world population is expected to reach 9.1 billion in 2050 and to be increasing by about 33 million persons annually at that time.

-The population growth of the 49 least developed countries is still the fastest growing in the world, at 2.3% per year.

-During 2010-2050, nine countries are expected to account for half of the world’s projected population increase: India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, the United States, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, China andBangladesh, listed according to the size of their contribution to global population growth.

-Globally, life expectancy at birth is projected to rise from 68 years in 2005-2010 to 76 years in 2045-2050.

-In terms of annual averages, the major net receivers of international migrants during 2010-2050 are projected to be the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, Australia and France.

-The number of cities of one million or larger was 76 in 1950, 522 in 1975, 1,122 in 2000, and is set to exceed 1,600 by 2015. Using current population projections to 2050, most of the forthcoming growth in population will be in cities, with poor countries having “to build the equivalent of a city of one million people each week for the next 45 years” (Cohen, 2005).

References:
United Nations – Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Cohen, J.E. 2005. Human Population Grows Up. Scientific American Sept 2005: 48-55.
McNeely, J.A. and Mainka, S.A. 2009. Conservation for a New Era. IUCN, Gland,  Switzerland. 220 pp.

Whaling data by scientific permit, aboriginal catches, and whales taken under objection by the International Whaling Commission from 1985-2007

For more information check out Thriving Oceans and “Whaling under the guise of science”

-1.5 billion animals moved across US border by importers from 2000-2006

-That equals 5 pets per person in the US

-90% came from wild populations where disease testing is not mandated

-More than 67% came from Southeast Asia

-52% were only identified by Class

-13.6% were classified by Species

-11.9% were identified by Family

-11.1% were labeled only by Genus

-3.9% were identified by Order

-7.5% of animal imports were labeled as unknown

Data: Conservation Magazine July/Sept 2009

According to Conservation Magazine’s reporting of an Environmental Science & Technology publication, “It can take 800 gallons of irrigation water to produce the amount of corn necessary to make one gallon of ethanol.”

Here is a breakdown of the amount of water needed to produce the fuels needed to quench our energy needs (Liters per Megawatt hour):

Oil refining: 80-150

Oil Shale: 170-681

Natural Gas Combined Cycle power plants: 230-30,300

Coal: ~900

Nuclear, closed loop cooling: ~950

Geothermal, closed loop cooling: 1,900-4,200

Enhanced Oil Recovery: ~7,600

Natural Gas Combined Cycle power plants, open loop cooling: 28,400-75,700

Nuclear, open loop cooling: 94,600-227,100

Corn ethanol irrigation: 2,270,000-8,670,000

Soybean biodiesel irrigation: 13,900,000-27,900,000

Data: Conservation Magazine July/Sept 2009

More than 1,000 species of sharks and rays inhabit the earth’s oceans

Basking sharks filter up to 1,500 gallons of water per hour

The smallest is a lantern shark, averaging just 8 inches

The largest fish in the world is the whale shark and can reach lengths of over 40 to 60 feet

The fastest shark is the Mako, which has reached speeds of more than 45 miles per hour

Blue sharks have been tracked swimming more than 10,000 miles

Sharks may hear a fish a mile away

Sharks can smell blood in the water from 1/3 of a mile away

The Spiny dogfish has a gestation period close to 2 years, which makes it one of the longest of any animals

Spiny dogfish females are thought to reach breeding age at 35 years

Dusky shark females reach breeding age at 20 years

The smalltooth sawfish population has declined by 99%

The IUCN estimates that 20% of sharks are in danger of extinction

Worldwide shark takes have tripled since 1985

Tens of millions of sharks are accidentally caught as bycatch in commercial fisheries each year

According to Oceana, “estimates of the total number of sharks killed each year for their fins range from 26 to 73 million per year.”

Data: Ocean Conservancy and Oceana

869 species are Extinct or Extinct the Wild and this figure rises to 1,159 if the 290 Critically Endangered species tagged as Possibly Extinct are included.

Only 2.7% of the 1.8 million described species have been analyzed.
Overall, a minimum of 16,928 species are threatened with extinction.

Threatened with Extinction:

38% of all fishes in Europe and 28% in Eastern Africa.
At least 17% of the 1,045 shark and ray species are threatened
12.4% of groupers
 6 of the 7 marine turtle species are threatened with extinction.
27% of the 845 species of reef building corals are threatened
20% of reef building corals are Near Threatened
27.5% of marine birds are in danger of extinction
11.8% of terrestrial birds.
33% of amphibians
Nearly 25% of mammals are threatened with extinction.
28% of Conifers
52% of cycads

Data: Vié, J.-C., Hilton-Taylor, C. and Stuart, S.N. (eds.) (2009). Wildlife in a Changing World – An Analysis of the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. 180 pp.

Photo Credit:
Asian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus). Threat category Endangered © Jean-Christophe Vié