We are taking the environment for granted, and it needs to stop.

A recent report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) details the harrowing crisis that we could be facing by 2050.

Why is that?

Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF-US, said when the report was released: “Natural systems essential to our survival—forests, oceans, and rivers—remain in decline. Wildlife around the world continue to dwindle.”

According to the report:

• Populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians alike have, on average, declined by 60 percent between 1970 and 2014.
• The Earth is estimated to have lost about half of its shallow water corals in the past 30 years.
• A fifth of the Amazon has disappeared in just 50 years.

The Living Planet Report 2018 also revealed that the portion of the planet’s land that is free of human influence is projected to plummet from 25 percent to under 10 percent, as species extinction rates are now more than 1,000 times higher than before human involvement.

The bottom line: current efforts to protect the planet are not keeping up with the spread of man-made destruction. WWF-UK Chief Executive Tanya Steele said, “We are the first generation to know we are destroying our planet and the last one that can do anything about it.”

So how have we done this much damage to our ecosystem in just 30 years compared to the history of the planet, 30 years is nothing; it’s not even a blink of an eye.

The situation has become so dire that we can no longer speak in centuries, or even decades. Politicians in power need to accept that climate change is a legitimate issue as soon as possible — every second we delay means the destruction of one more square mile of rain forest or the extinction of one more species of wildlife.

The politicization of climate change is a development that is hindering the progress we should be making.

And if they’re not willing to, then as citizens we need to elect politicians who will take action and stop the needle.

If you doubt the veracity of climate change, don’t just parrot what you see in the news. Read the studies. Understand the conclusions they draw. It’s easy to yell over commentators discussing the issue, but it’s much more difficult to challenge the cold, hard facts.

It is the responsibility of every human being to inform themselves on this absolutely critical issue. Only then can we progress forward on stopping the countdown toward complete environmental destruction.