A quarter of the world’s wildlife has disappeared since 1970, according to a new report prepared by the Zoological Society of London — a scientific, not political, organization — for the World Wildlife Fund.

Before I go any further, let me preempt inevitable comment: This isn’t about global warming. Well, not just about global warming, anyway.

The report details the wide range of causes. Habitat loss is the most significant, but there are many other factors — nearly all related to human activities.

Can we agree that this is a bad thing? It seems to me that we certainly ought to.

But inevitably, the question turns to what we should do in response. Should we limit human development? Can we? As Jim likes to point out, if we think we’re going to get China to play ball with touch environmental restrictions to protect species, we’re kidding ourselves.

Some organizations, like the Nature Conservancy, are using private donations to buy land, which they then preserve from development. That seems like a good approach. So do responsible government moves to declare certain areas national parks, wildlife preserves and the like. But that only works to a certain degree. What else can be done? I don’t know. I wish I had the solution.

But it does seem worthy of our attention. In addition to our responsibility to be stewards of God’s creatures, there are practical effects of species loss as well.

And, needless to say, the problem of species loss is only going to get worse and the effects of global warming become more pronounced. Just ask the polar bears, who this week were designated a threatened species by the U.S. government.

Finally, an interesting side-note. This report was covered today by the BBC, Telegraph, Guardian and several other outlets here in the UK, including shockingly the Daily Mail. When that group agrees on anything, it’s a notable story. And apparently, the report has not yet been released in the U.S., as there has been exactly zero coverage of it. I suspect my friends in the U.S. will be hearing more about this in the coming days. When you do, remember, you read it here first.