A new research has found that the global population of vertebrates has declined by 58 percent between 1972 to 2012. If the trend continues, two-thirds of the world's vertebrate wildlife could be extinct by 2020.

This year's Living Planet Report released by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has revealed that while the global vertebrate population has plunged by 58 percent, creatures living in freshwater systems fared worse with an 81 percent drop in the last four decades. The trend shows that if no action is taken, the decline might fall to 67 percent by the end of the decade.

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The decline is attributed to several factors. The report indicates that overexploitation and habitat loss are the two biggest threats to wildlife. Climate change and pollution are also other factors as well as human activities (hunting, fishing, etc.) related to addressing the increasing demand for food.

Marco Lambertini, the director general of WWF International, wrote in the foreword of the report that "For decades scientists have been warning that human actions are pushing life on our shared planet toward a sixth mass extinction."

What humans are unaware of is that the invasion of natural resources is not only damaging to animals but will indirectly affect humanity in the long run. The report noted that agriculture has taken up about one-third of the Earth's land area while overriding 70 percent of all freshwater.

The CEO of WWF Carter Roberts said that the recent report was more of a wake-up call. "We created this problem," he said "The good news is that we can fix it [by] updating our approach to food, energy, transportation, and how we live our lives," he added.