Shocking facts about the mass extinction of wildlife

While the world's population continuesgrow, the number of animals with whom we share it seems to decrease every year. Today, the attention of the general public is focused on the effects of climate change, but the results of a study conducted by scientists from Sweden showed that the person himself does more harm than all other existing factors. The authors of the scientific work found that it is man who is responsible for 96% of all cases of extinction of mammals throughout the history of our existence. Moreover, according to the University of Gothenburg, over the past 126,000 years, the rate of extinction of mammals has increased 1600 times over the natural rate of extinction of animals. The researchers argue that even in prehistoric times, humans had a greater impact on biodiversity than destructive climatic events such as the Ice Age.

It turns out that since the very appearance of Homo Sapiens, we have contributed to the extinction of other species

Content

• 1 Man and mass extinctions
• 2 Shocking facts of mass extinction of wildlife
  • 2.1 More than one million species are endangered
  • 2.2 Species are becoming extinct more often than ever before
  • 2.3 Plants and birds are also endangered
• 3 What can be done to save the planet?

Human and mass extinctions

As the authors of the scientific work published inScience Advances, for the past 126,000 years, there has been little evidence of climate change-related wildlife extinction. Because mammals are historically resistant to survival, they can adapt to changes in their environment. The researchers note that the now extinct species were able to cope with extreme changes in the environment.

“The current rapid climate change along withhabitat loss, poaching and other human-related threats pose a great risk to many animal species, ”the study authors write. We will remind, earlier a number of scientific studies have shown that about a million species are threatened with extinction due to human fault. Read more in the material of my colleague Nikolai Khizhnyak.

Man is the main threat to the existence of at least a million species of animals and plants.

The study looks at large arraysfossil record, but the focus is on 351 extinct mammals from the Late Pleistocene. It includes many famous species that no longer walk the Earth, such as mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, and giant sloths. According to data analysis in all places where a person's foot has stepped, other species, as a rule, die out.

“It is important to understand that these extinctions did not occurcontinuously or continuously. Instead, extinction outbreaks are found on different continents at the time humans first reached them. More recently, the scale of human-induced extinction has picked up pace again, this time on a global scale, ”says Discover, one of the study's co-authors, Tobias Andermann.

Researchers believe that the current levelextinction is the highest since the end of the era of the dinosaurs. The Swedish research team warns that this figure could continue to rise if our behavior does not change in the near future.

Scientists estimate that by 2100, the level of wildlife extinction could exceed the norm by 30,000 times.

And yet, despite the gloomy forecasts, the situationcan be changed for the better. “We can save hundreds, if not thousands, of species from extinction with more targeted and effective strategies to conserve biodiversity and the environment. With each lost species, we irrevocably lose a unique part of the natural history of the Earth ”- write the authors of the scientific work.

Shocking facts of mass extinction of wildlife

Between 1970 and 2018 population sizewild animals decreased by 68%. Unfortunately, species are becoming extinct faster than ever before these days. Meanwhile, biodiversity is vital to the health and livelihoods of eight billion people on the planet. Below are the reasons why we too should be concerned about the future of the planet and the millions of species that call it home.

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More than one million species are endangered

Various animals die out in two or three human generations, so people do not notice the rapid deterioration of the situation.

More than a million species of animals and plants inare now threatened with extinction - more than ever before in human history, according to a report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecological Systems (IPBES).

Species are dying out more often than ever before

According to WWF's Living Planet 2020 report,Between 1970 and 2016, the number of amphibians, birds, fish, mammals and reptiles in the world declined by an average of 68%. Also, the report notes that the freshwater population declined by an average of 84% between 1970 and 2018. What's more, according to a 2014 study by Brown University in the United States, species are now becoming extinct 1,000 times more likely than 60 million years before humans appeared. The authors of the report urge to "preserve what is left."

See also: What caused the mass extinction of animals millions of years ago?

Plants and birds are also endangered

Yellow-clawed Finch Bunting is on the brink of extinction

Four out of 10 (39.4%) plants are underthreatened with extinction, according to a report by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. True, it is rather difficult to identify species even before they disappear, since 1942 new plant species were identified in 2019 alone.

The extinction of birds also worries scientists. So, according to the data presented in the IPBES report, about 3.5% of domesticated birds have become extinct since 2016. In addition, almost a quarter (23%) of endangered birds are already affected by climate change.

What can be done to save the planet?

The earth is our only home. Let's keep it safe

In all of the above reportsIt highlights that the loss of wildlife habitats is as serious a threat to life on Earth as climate change. Biodiversity is not only vital to a thriving natural world. Its deterioration also threatens the livelihoods, economies, food security and health of nearly eight billion people.

But all is not lost. Experts agree that one of the best ways to save the planet is to transform the global food system. Consumers can indeed make a difference by purchasing less meat, as raising livestock requires a lot of resources, including a lot of land and water.