There hasn’t been any real doubt that humans cause environmental issues in the world for a long time.

There also hasn’t been much doubt that we cause issues with biodiversity.

There has, however, been some questions regarding the extent to which we impact our environment in this way.

That doubt should be laid to rest now, however, thanks to a new study that has been published in Nature.

It is a synthesis study that looked at more than 2000 publications and the results couldn’t be more clear.

People are a major cause of the devastating loss of biodiversity across all areas of the world and all types of organisms.

The study was done by researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology and the University of Zurich.

They took data from about 2100 studies and were able to look at the biodiversity data from nearly 50,000 sites around the world that have been impacted by human activity.

They then compared that data to a similar number of locations that were not directly affected by humans.

Using this information, they were able to identify a set of 3667 comparisons of the biodiversity impact that humans have.

In a statement, the professor of aquatic ecology at the University of Zurich, who is also the head of a research group at Eawag, Florian Altermatt, said:

“It is one of the largest syntheses of the human impacts on biodiversity ever conducted worldwide.”

While all types of organisms are dramatically impacted by human actions, the study did find that microbes and fungi seem to be impacted the most.

Francois Keck is a postdoctoral researcher at Altermatt’s research group, and is also the lead author of the study. He commented in the same statement:

“This could be because these organisms have short life cycles and high dispersion rates and therefore respond more quickly.”

The study does point out drops in the numbers of all types of organisms and stresses the importance of how all organisms in a given area have an impact on each other. So, when the microbes and fungi are impacted, it will have a direct impact on other plants and animals now and in the future.

Having this much information together in one study will, hopefully, be able to help direct human efforts when it comes to reducing or reversing our impact. Keck explains:

“Our findings provide clear indications of which human influences are having the greatest impact on biodiversity. This also shows what goals need to be set if these trends are to be reversed.”

The question, as usual, will come down to whether people are willing to put in the effort to help protect the biodiversity of our planet.

Our impact on the world around us cannot be overstated.

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