Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.
The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) has recently released its 'Living Planet Report 2022' - this finds a 69% decline in wildlife populations between 1970 and 2018. 'Vertebrate wildlife groups have fallen by two-thirds globally while freshwater species have shrunk by 83%. One million planets and animals face extinction - about 2.5% of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and fish have gone forever. The crisis is caused by the Anthropocene, our era of sprawling human impacts, extending from heating Earth's atmosphere to making oceans acidic and destroying habitat. Many animals inhabit trees, nooks and crannies in forests across Earth - yet, every year, we destroy ten million hectares of forestlands. Our greenhouse gas emissions warm the world, causing extreme weather events, droughts, heatwaves, wildfires and the collapse of productive plants. This forces wildlife to travel, seeking water and food. As they wander, they face human-animal conflicts over resources. We have a few consolations of metal and plastic to amuse ourselves with through this destruction - the animals of the Anthropocene have none.
However, losing them has huge implications for humanity. According to the World Economic Forum, an analysis of 163 industry sectors shows over half the world's GDP is dependent on nature and ecosystem services performed by animals. About 2.7 trillion annual decline in global GDP by 2030, South Asia among the worst-hit. Alongside, without our fellow species, we lose the wonders and beauty of the world. There are solutions to halt this growing loss. We can rejuvenate wild habitat, protect humans sharing lands with animals and respect wildlife's need or peace. Thinking about animals helps us understand the alchemy of existence.
How much forestland, according to the passage, is destroyed every year?
- ATen million hectares
- BTwo and half billion hectares
- CTwenty-seven trillion hectares
- DTwo-and-a-half percent of land
Solution & Step-by-step Explanation
The passage explicitly states: "...yet, every year, we destroy ten million hectares of forestlands."