World risks up to $39 trillion in economic losses from vanishing wetlands, report says

NAIROBI (Reuters) -The global destruction of wetlands, which support fisheries, agriculture and flood control, may mean the loss of $39 trillion in economic benefits by 2050, according to a report by the Convention on Wetlands released on Tuesday. Some 22% of wetlands, both freshwater systems such as peat lands, rivers and lakes, and coastal marine systems including mangroves and coral reefs, have disappeared since 1970, according to the intergovernmental report, the fastest pace of loss of any ecosystem. Pressures, including land-use change, pollution, agricultural expansion, invasive species, and the impacts of climate change - such as rising sea levels and drought - are driving the declines.