Biodiversity - the Earth's natural balance of plants and animals - helps mitigate the effects of climate change. When it is destroyed, both nature and people suffer.
 | Picture Gallery (click the image to start)Haitians fleeing from floodwater. Experts believe that deforestation is responsible for the nation's vulnerability to storms. See how biodiversity can protect against the impacts of climate change (Photo: Reuters) |
Scientist call it the Holocene extinction event - 70 percent of 400 biologists questioned by the American Museum of Natural History believe that we are witnessing the early stages of a human-caused mass extinction.
This loss, however, could have dire consequences. The Earth's abundance of species is one of the best protection mechanisms against natural disasters - and possible impacts of climate change.
editor: Thilo Kunzemann
publishing date: August 31, 2007
