Did you know? Maybe that's the problem.
The estimated number of participants in the United States that are actively engaged in environmental issues. (in 2015)
1. - What is 65 million 2. - What is 176 million 3. - What is 83 million
What is 65 million. Not even one third of the US population.
Individual actions that collectively shape global sustainability. (Multiple answers acceptable just list one in your answer)
What are small things such as recycling, conserving water, and other sustainable lifestyle practices? These actions can result in massive environmental change through united communities. Even though you as an individual might seem meaningless in the whole schemes of things, not only do you inspire and educate others and if everyone held that mentality then no one would do it so why should you?
A trade worth $7-$23 billion and results in the death of rhinos at a rate of 1 per 15 hours.
What is poaching? Including elephants, there are nearly 30,000 species that are driven to extinction annually and 38 million animals get trafficked from Brazil alone.
Between 1990 and 2020, 420 million hectares of forest disappeared (the size of Europe).
What is global deforestation?
When biodiversity declines, climate change accelerates, which then decreases biodiversity more.
What is a reinforcing feedback loop? In most cases like this, we are the initiator and can also be the eliminator. We need to understand our actions and change our habits for the bettering of the future. Therefore this reinforcing feedback loop needs to become a balanced feedback loop with that goal in mind.
This is the main reason why increased environmental literacy is essential, according to a 2025 study.
1. Though personal behavior wont change their public opinions will and therefore their political support. 2. Environmental literacy significantly affects environmental behaviors. 3. People need to know what's good for the environment.
What is 2? The study shows there is a clear correlation to their behaviors and current knowledge, therefore it is necessary to fix that current lack of environmental literacy in America and other parts of the world. In doing so, the world will face a great and necessary shift in common behaviors.
Without them, efforts fail because real progress starts when people work together to protect their environment.
What is community? Communities are powerful for keeping the individuals accountable and influencing others to take part which will can increasingly become more and more impactful.
It is identified as a main threat to 85% of all species described in the IUCN's Red List (those species officially classified as "Threatened" and "Endangered").
1. Poaching 2. Eating Meat 3. Habitat loss
What is habitat loss? Habitat loss is a result of human activities destroying natural environments and resulting in animals loosing their homes such as deforestation, urbanization, and pollution.
This caused from 2001 to 2024, a total of 150 Mha (around the size of Mongolia) tree cover lost globally and commonly heard about in California as of current.
What is forest fires?
Achieving sustainability requires this kind of mindset. Where you see nature, economy, and society all interconnected as one system.
What is systems thinking? It is a necessity to realize everything we do is connected somewhere else and realize that the smallest changes can have drastic effects. For example, you throw out a battery, its toxins leak, the soil is damaged, the surrounding plants die, then the insects die, and then the animals that eat those insects die too.
This percentage represents the national curricula in the world that have a reference to climate change. Reminder: The global adult literacy rate (ages 15 and over) is about 87%
1. What is 67%? 2.What is 36%? 3.What is 53%?
What is 53%? In comparison to the global literacy rate, there is a steep difference. In other words 47% don't even reference climate change a definitive global issue within their national curricula.
This percentage of deforestation is linked to unsustainable agricultural practices and can be improved through communal support of sustainable brands and means of products.
1. What is 30% 2. What is 53%? 3. What is 80%?
What is 80%? We as consumers and communities have power over companies. With this power through unity we can refuse support of companies and incentivize them to change conditions or loose our investments and support more sustainable businesses instead.
Percentage that animal population have decreased globally between 1970 and 2014.
1. What is 75%? 2. What is 60%? 3. What is 35%?
What is 60%? In other words, most animal groups have seen more than half of their population disappear.
Main driver of deforestation and accounted for 40 percent of tropical deforestation between 2000 and 2010.
What is Agricultural expansion?
Each year, 24 billion tons of this vital resource are lost to erosion.
What is fertile soil? Fertile soil is the foundation of everything we need, not only can good soil protects us from floods but it keeps our foods healthy. Bad soil means bad food.
A key component of lasting impact that will help individuals understand and experience how their efforts, even seemingly small ones, can add up to transformative change.
What is education on environmental literacy? Their is a clear lack of environmental literacy and a clear necessity of improvement in order to change current behaviors that are detrimental to our world.
When neighbors organize clean-ups, plant trees, and advocate for green policies, they practice this kind of environmental engagement.
What is community organization?
Over 1 million seabirds and 100 000 marine mammals die each year from this man-made material.
What is plastic pollution?
Between 15 and 30 percent of the world’s timber trade comes from this practice. (Hint: its not a good thing)
What is illegal logging? This is one of the main threats to forests today. This is because the logging is illegal and therefore is in places where trees shouldn't be cut and often highly concentrated places so they can't get caught. This damages natural environments that were previously protected or untouched and also breaks violations and does not follow and sustainable practices.
When an animal in the food chain vanishes, ecosystems unravel in this domino-like event.
What is a trophic cascade? This is the result of a lot of our actions, even with if we aren't directly hurting one animal likely we've hurt something in its food chain resulting in things like a trophic cascade.
This program funds grants and supports projects that teach people how to use Earth system science to build community resilience and ecosystem stewardship
What is NOAA’s Environmental Literacy Program? This and many programs are making the effort to increase environmental literacy. This program specifically provides grants and support for other programs that educate and inspire people to use earth system science to improve ecosystem stewardship and increase resilience to environmental hazards.
This country's community-run forests now cover nearly 40 percent of the nation proving local stewardship can restore ecosystems.
1. What is Nepal? 2. What is Russia? 3. What is Libya?
What is Nepal’s community forest program?
A global partnership combating wildlife poaching and trafficking.
What is Global Wildlife Program?
Program that helps developing countries reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhance forest carbon stocks. The program aims to support these countries in implementing forest-based solutions to the climate crisis through policy and financial support.
What is United Nations Collaborative Program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UNREDD)?
This scientific framework defines nine planetary boundaries that regulate the stability of Earth’s systems — and warns that seven of them have already been exceeded, including climate change, biosphere integrity, and land-system change.
What is the Planetary Boundaries Framework? This and many other clear issues just show how urgent this issue is and how immediate our response has to be.