To take one example, of the 23 most consumed varieties of fish in the world 25 years ago, only nine are still commercially viable. Over the same time period, three-quarters of the cultivated grains-which are essential for breeding improved varieties-have been eradicated. There is no way for evolution to compensate for devastation of such speed.
如今全球物種因人類的疏忽籠罩在滅絕陰影之下，並回過頭來影響人類生活，例如二十五年前人類最常食用的二十三種魚類中，只剩九種常在市場出現；作為改善糧食基因的農作物品系則有四分之三已被摧毀。