A recent global Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was completed which was a partnership of some 1,500 scientists studying the consequences of ecosystem change. this program was created in collaboration of the United Nations and the World Bank and the Convention on Biological Diversity. There was a global assessment that was part of a prestigious award given Osvaldo Salva, lead author on the report and a Brown University ecologist.

The report says the way society obtains its resources has caused irreversible changes that are degrading the natural processes that support life on Earth. Even with advancements in health care, medicines, and cleaner fuels the ecosystem might not be able to correct itself from the harm that has been done.