Climate Facts: Every four months, a new infection emerges in humans — 75% from animals

The complexities of climate change and its associated jargon can make it difficult to digest. TheCable’s climate quick facts will help to demystify these climate concepts through easy-to-understand and straight-to-the-point explanations.

Here are some to keep at the tip of your fingers:

• In its recent report, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) projected that climate change and land-use change will cause a global increase in extreme wildfires of up to 14 percent by 2030, 30 percent by the end of 2050 and 50 percent by the end of the century.
• The years 2021 to 2030 are referred to as the UN decade for ecosystem restoration. It is a period within which the world is expected to halt the degradation of ecosystems, and restore them to achieve global goals. It is also a period that calls for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, for the benefit of people and nature. 
• According to UNEP, an average of one new infection emerges in humans every four months and 75 percent of these infections come from animals. 
• Four billion people rely primarily on natural medicines, according to UNEP, while about 70 percent of cancer drugs are either natural products or synthetic ones inspired by nature. 
• One million species face extinctions as the world loses species at a rate 1,000 times greater than at any other time in recorded human history, says UNEP.