Agricultural trade is three times more harmful to biodiversity

[Judi Lynn]

Agricultural exports from 1995 to 2022 affected land use changes in the producing countries.
By
Ashwini Sakharkar
17 Dec, 2024

2 min read
Updated 17 Dec, 2024

It has long been recognized that intensive agricultural practices in tropical areas affect local biodiversity, but the influence of trade has been underappreciated, according to researchers from Technical University of Munich (TUM) and ETH Zurich.

Previously, it was estimated that 20 to 30 percent of biodiversity decline in these regions resulted from agricultural exports.

Livia Cabernard, Professor of Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agricultural Systems at TUM, with colleagues Stephan Pfister and Stefanie Hellweg from ETH Zurich, have uncovered that international trade is responsible for more than 90 percent of the biodiversity loss observed from 1995 to 2022, primarily driven by the transformation of natural landscapes into agricultural land.

The research team utilized data that disaggregates the global economy into various sectors, regions, and ecological effects. One notable divergence from earlier studies is that the researchers incorporated satellite data to consider the entire progression of a region, including after agricultural activity has ended.

More:
https://www.techexplorist.com/agricultural-trade-three-times-more-harmful-biodiversity/94775/

[multigraincracker]

1. Another result of overpopulation.

Earth can only handle about 1/3 of the current human population. We are drowning in our own sh^t.