Elon Musk Could Avert Global Species Extinction
{Elon Musk Could Avert Global Species Extinction – Earth and Leaf editorial}
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Elon Musk could avert global species extinction
Only a portion of Elon Musk’s wealth could halt over half of global species extinction. The most vulnerable countries are Madagascar, Colombia, Philippines, Brazil and Indonesia.
Can we save thousands of the world’s most threatened animals and plants from extinction by protecting just a tiny fraction of the Earth’s surface? A new study in Frontiers in Science suggests that safeguarding just 1.2% of the planet’s land surface, about 1.64 million square hectares (633,200 square miles), or an area slightly smaller than Alaska, could do just that.
Researchers mapped out 16,825 unprotected sites harboring rare and threatened species. Dubbed “Conservation Imperatives,” these are the areas they say must be protected within the next five years to avoid imminent extinctions.
The researchers combined six different global biodiversity data sets and used satellite imagery to determine which places still contain suitable habitat for rare species, excluding urban areas, farmland and severely degraded land.
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