8 possible facts about the Earth you don't want to be true
- By Gong Yingchun
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 21, 2015
Editor's note: Over the past year, scientists have warned more than once that human beings will face severe threats to our survival if the ecological environment on Earth continues to be damaged. They expressed great concern about possible consequences that human activities may cause, ranging from environmental pollution to global warming and wildlife extinction.
Based on a series of reports released in 2015, China.org.cn has summarized eight possible facts regarding our planet's near future that everyone hopes won't be true.
Extinction of the Orangutan on Borneo after 2080
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The orangutan, one of our closest relatives, is facing extinction on Borneo, the world's third largest island, due to deforestation and the impact of climate change. An estimated 55,000 Bornean orangutans remain in the wild today, but orangutans' solitary nature and slow reproductive rates leave them particularly vulnerable to deforestation. Scientists anticipate that about 68 percent to 81 percent of the current orangutan habitat might be lost by 2080. It is time for us to abandon our unsustainable pathway to development. It is clear that a future without sustainable development will be a future with a different climate and, eventually, without orangutans.
