The sixth mass extinction is underway and it is accelerating threatening the collapse of civilization.
A new scientific study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, states are 515 species are on the brink (1.7% of the evaluated vertebrates) of extinction. This number is the same number lost over the whole of the last century.
“When humanity exterminates populations and species of other creatures, it is sawing off the limb on which it is sitting, destroying working parts of our own life-support system. The conservation of endangered species should be elevated to a national and global emergency for governments and institutions, equal to climate disruption to which it is linked,” says study coauthor and Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich.
According to EcoWatch, species are going extinct at rates hundreds or thousands of times faster than the “background” rate for the last tens of millions of years, and are being killed off by one overriding factor: us. Several specific human actions are behind these losses, including habitat loss, hunting, the introduction of invasive species, pollution, the wildlife trade, and the climate crisis.
The study’s researchers also warned of the possibility of a domino effect which the loss of one species resulting in more losses. “Extinction breeds extinctions,” they claim.
Biodiversity is necessary for Earth’s health and for humanity’s wellbeing.
Rising human population, destruction of habitats, the wildlife trade, pollution, and the climate crisis must all be urgently tackled, says The Guardian.
These findings could help aid conservation efforts so certain species currently in high danger of extinction can become a priority of our attention.
The researchers are calling for a ban on all international wildlife trade to help with the dire situation. They have also started an initiative they are calling “Stop Extinction” to help address the current biological extinction crisis, by reducing the loss of wild animals and plants globally.
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