A global scientific group on Sunday launched a three-year assessment of mankind's impact on nature to help protect plants and animals from threats ranging from pollution to climate change. The study, due in 2019, would examine biodiverstiy, from bacteria to blue whales, and “ecosystem services”, which range from the value of coral reefs as nurseries for fish to the role of forests in absorbing greenhouse gases. Governments in 2010 agreed a series of targets for protecting nature, including halting extinctions of threatened species by 2020, but scientists say they still have only a hazy idea of the pace at which animals and plants are dying out.
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Global group to assess human impact on nature over three years