We share our planet with millions of species, each forming a cog in the vast and complex machine that is the biosphere. Human activity has been driving species to extinction to the point where Life may now be entering a sixth mass extinction. Human-driven climate change could, over the next few decades, push millions of species and their ecosystems beyond the limits of their resilience. Professor Pigot discussed what we know (and don’t know) about the Earth’s biological diversity, how it is changing on our rapidly warming planet, why this matters, and what we can do about it.
Speaker
Alex Pigot is Professor of Biodiversity in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London. His research is supported by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and the Natural Environment Research Council. He was a contributing author to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report.