- Over 37,000 so-called alien species have been transported due to human activities around the world.
- The costs of invasive species have quadrupled every decade since 1970, according to the report.
- The true cost is more likely in the trillions, with human health issues taking up a large part of that price.
A lanternfly is seen on the roof of an apartment in New York City, Aug. 8, 2022. The NY State Department of Agriculture is encouraging residents to kill the invasive spotted lanternfly.
Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The carcasses of spotted lanternflies that now litter the streets of New York City are not just gross, they are expensive.
The annual cost of invasive alien species now exceeds $423 billion annually, according to a new report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, an organization that is a part of the United Nations.
The report…
