The Sixth Mass Species Extinction Crisis (SMSEC)

Navigation
Unless action is taken now to reverse the harmful effects of human activity on ecosystems, a mass extinction wiping out 75% of life on Earth could occur within a few centuries on the scale of the apocalyptic event that wiped out the dinosaurs and take millions of years to recover. Learn more.
Click images to learn more.
Human beings are currently causing the greatest mass extinction of species since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago at rates 1000 to 10,000 times faster than normal. The 2014 Living Planet Report, which is the world's leading, science-based analysis on the health of our planet and the impact of human activity, states that 52% of all animals have been wiped out in 40 years. The 2012 update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species shows that of the 63,837 species examined worldwide, 19,817 are threatened with extinction - nearly a third of the total, including 41% of amphibian species, 33% of reef building corals, 30% of conifers, 25% of mammals, 13% of birds and one in five plant species. We are now losing between one and ten percent of biodiversity per decade and compared to the natural background rate of one extinction per million species per year, we are now losing 30,000 species per year, or three species per hour, which is faster than new species can evolve. If present trends continue, scientists warn that within a few decades, at least half of all plant and animal species on Earth will be extinct, as a result of climate change, habitat loss, pollution, acidifying oceans, invasive species, over-exploitation of natural resources, overfishing, poaching and human overpopulation. According to the IPCC, direct climate change impacts will commit some 20-50% of species globally to extinction, possibly by 2100. Unless action is taken now to reverse the harmful effects of human activity on ecosystems, a mass extinction wiping out 75% of life on Earth could occur within a few centuries on the scale of the apocalyptic event that wiped out the dinosaurs and take millions of years to recover. Losses of such magnitude, occurring at such a rapid pace, will stress ecosystems to the breaking point and threaten the stability of the Earth’s entire biosphere, the web of life itself. From the most remote forests to the depths of the sea, from the beautiful corals to towering mountaintops to forests, rivers, grasslands, and deserts, reports from around the world tell the same story - weather patterns are being disrupted, forest and water sources are being depleted and plants and animal species are vanishing faster than ever before. Each of the past five extinction events were actually a slow decline, taking many centuries, hundreds of thousands of years, or even millions of years to occur, yet the average length of these periods were brief compared to the many millions of years the Earth takes to recover its diversity after each mass extinction occurs. Unlike the previous five events, this human-induced sixth mass extinction will not take hundreds of thousands of years to unfold. In fact, it is taking place in our lifetimes. View the 'Most Comprehensive Source of Information on the Current Mass Extinction' 
Earth's Past Five Mass Extinction Events
  • Ordovician (443 million years ago, 86% of species extinct)
  • Devonian (359 million years ago, 75% of species extinct)
  • Permian (251 million years ago, 96% of species extinct)
  • Triassic (200 million years ago, 80% of species extinct)
  • Cretaceous (65 million years ago, 76% of species extinct)
"The source of our food, medicines and clean water, as well the livelihoods of millions of people may be at risk with the rapid decline of the world’s animal, plant and fungi species." ~IUCN, Securing the web of life

The current mass extinction differs from all others in being driven by a single species rather than a planetary or galactic physical process and the current rate of species extinction far exceeds anything in the fossil record, including the Cretaceous extinction which wiped out the dinosaurs. Learn more.
basketball

SMSEC Importance

Why preserve biodiversity? Because everything connects. The fate and prosperity of humanity is inextricably connected to the health and balance of the natural world. Every single organism plays a role in its ecosystem that contributes to the overall stability and health of that ecosystem. We depend on countless species directly for basic needs such as food, shelter, medicine, pollination and clothing, and on the complex network of all species which is necessary to support those species that we depend on directly.

basketball

Poaching

Poaching is the illegal hunting, killing or capturing of any wildlife, in violation of local, state, federal or international conservation and wildlife management laws. Poaching is typically done for profit where poachers sell the animal parts, ranging from tusks and horns to fur and bone, to black markets. Wildlife crime is usually run by dangerous international networks where animal parts are trafficked similarly to illegal drugs and arms. Poaching robs legitimate sportsmen of game and fish, robs businesses and taxpayers of revenues generated by hunting and fishing, robs nature of biodiversity and robs us and future generations of wildlife.

basketball

Pollinator Decline

Although many people may think of bees as a nuisance, they are among the most important pollinators of wild plants and agricultural crops around the world, provide enormous benefits for humanity and are vital for agriculture, yet since the last few decades of the 20th century, they are in major decline in what has become known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), largely due to the increased use of pesticides, changing and shrinking habitats and new diseases. Bee populations have been dropping 29%-36% every year since 2006 and according to the most comprehensive national census of the insects to date, the abundance of four common species of bumblebee in the U.S. has dropped by 96% in just the past few decades.

basketball

Invasive Species

Invasive alien species, which can be plants, animals, disease, fungi, parasites, insects, weeds, marine pests or other invertebrates and organisms, are one of the leading and most rapidly growing threats to food security, human and animal health and biodiversity. Invasive species are defined as a species that is non-native or alien to the ecosystem under consideration are are primarily introduced to non-native habitats or areas outside their natural ranges by humans either intentionally or unintentionally, which damages the health and balance of ecosystems that native plants and animals depend on, hurts economies and threatens human well-being.

According to the End of the Line Documentary, "90% of large predatory fish such as tuna, swordfish, sharks, are now gone. 90% of large whales and 60% of the small ones are also now gone from estuaries and coastal waters. 100 million sharks are killed every year. A study done by the Dalhousie University of Canada projects that by 2048 all the species that we fish today extinct." Oceans in Peril: Overfishing
“Recent work on plant assessments suggests that around 1 in 5 plants are threatened with extinction. Three quarters of the world’s population depends directly on plants for their primary health care. Eighty percent of our calorie intake comes from 12 plant species. If we care about the food we eat, and the medicines we use, we must act to conserve our medicinal plants and our crop wild relatives. There are large gaps in our knowledge and much work needs to be done to secure the future of plants and fungi which are critical to our survival.” ~Professor Stephen Hopper, Director (CEO and Chief Scientist) Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Source: IUCN - Securing the web of life
In 2007, the IPCC warned that “As global average temperature increase exceeds about 3.5°C [relative to 1980 to 1999], model projections suggest significant extinctions (40-70% of species assessed) around the globe.” We are currently headed towards a 6°C global average temperature rise on our current emissions path, which would likely put extinctions beyond the high end of that rate.
Most animals, including all mammals and birds, are conscious and aware to the degree that humans are. Learn more.
"Fast isn’t always good. Species, for instance, are estimated to be heading towards extinction at a rate of about one every 20 minutes. That’s a pace a thousand times faster than the norm during Earth’s history. That’s not just fast, that’s out of control. And it’s definitely not good. This situation is directly tied to two issues – habitat destruction and climate change. In the same 20 minutes, we will destroy 1,200 acres of forest and emit 180,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere worldwide. Less forest cover means fewer acres of habitat for species and more climate-changing carbon in the atmosphere. As climate, landscapes, and oceans change, species must move or adapt. Those that can’t simply die out." ~Conservation International
Acting as vital wildlife and ecosystem indicators, butterflies can tell us almost everything we need to know about the health of an ecosystem. According to a report by the Dorset-based charity Butterfly Conservation, 72% of butterfly and moth species have declined in the last ten years, and 54% have decreased in the UK.
"We can no longer see the continued loss of biodiversity as an issue separate from the core concerns of society: to tackle poverty, to improve the health, prosperity and security of present and future generations, and to deal with climate change. Each of those objectives is undermined by current trends in the state of our ecosystems, and each will be greatly strengthened if we finally give biodiversity the priority it deserves." ~Convention on Biological Diversity's 'Global Biodiversity Outlook 3' Report
Berkeley environmental scientist James W. Kirchner and paleontologist Anne Weil found that the recovery time for mass extinction is around 10 million years. This is significantly longer than previously thought, and seems to hold true for any level of extinctions from major extinctions of 75% of to minor ones of 25%. Learn more.
"As scientists begin to realize the severity of the crisis and new worldwide assessments are made, the news is difficult to believe. At least half of all plant and animal species are likely to disappear in the wild within the next 30-40 years, including many of the most familiar and beloved large mammals: elephants, polar bears, chimpanzees, gorillas and all the great apes, all the big cats, and many, many others. Bird species are similarly imperiled, songbird populations have declined by 50% in the last 40 years. One out of every eight species of plant life worldwide and almost one third of the plant species within the United States already face extinction. Populations of large ocean fish have declined by 90% since the 1950s. All around the world, birds, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, as well as trees, flowering plants, and other flora, are all in steep decline. The rate of extinction today could be as much as 10,000 times greater than the expected natural or background extinction rate. Scientists estimate that tens of thousands of species are vanishing every year, including many that have yet to be discovered or named." ~Call of Life
"Every time we lose a species we break a life chain which has evolved over 3.5 billion years.” ~Jeffrey McNeely, UNEP International Resource Panel and former Chief Scientist at IUCN
Scientific Experts: We Are In The Midst Of The Fastest Mass Extinction In Earth's History
Nationwide Survey: Biodiversity in the Next Millennium Highlights:
  • Seven out of ten biologists believe that we are in the midst of a mass extinction of living things, and that this dramatic loss of species poses a major threat to human existence in the next century.
  • This mass extinction is the fastest in Earth's 4.5-billion-year history and, unlike prior extinctions, is mainly the result of human activity and not of natural phenomena.
  • Scientists overwhelmingly believe that we must act now to address the biodiversity crisis. The majority of scientists believe the crisis could be averted by a stronger stance by policymakers and governments and by individuals making changes in their daily lives.
  • In strong contrast to the fears expressed by scientists, the general public is relatively unaware of the loss of species and the threats that it poses.
  • Scientists rate biodiversity loss as a more serious environmental problem than the depletion of the ozone layer, global warming, or pollution and contamination.
  • In strong contrast to the fears expressed by scientists, the general public is relatively unaware of the loss of species and the threats that it poses.
  • Scientists believe some of the most important effects of this dramatic species loss are:
    1. Serious impairment of the environment's ability to recover from natural and human-induced disasters.
    2. Destruction of the natural systems that purify the world's air and water.
    3. Reduction of the potential for the discovery of new medicines.
    4. Increased flooding, drought, and other environmental disasters. 
    5. Substantial contribution to the degradation of the world's economies, thereby weakening the social and political stability of nations across the globe.
"But in a sense they are an indicator of the wider changes that are happening in the countryside but also urban environments, in terms of whether nature can continue to provide the services as it has been doing for thousands or millions of years in the face of acute environmental change"
~ Nick Nuttall/UNEP Spokesman
Facts on Biodiversity & Human Well-being: A Summary of the M.E.A. Biodiversity Synthesis
Convention on Biological Diversity: Global Biodiversity Outlook 3
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Species Extinction - The Facts
"Each species on our planet plays a role in the healthy functioning of natural ecosystems, on which humans depend."
~ William H. Schlesinger, President, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Last Revised: 10/01/14
Commenting Rules
comments powered by Disqus