Sixth Mass Extinction Could Wipe Out Plants, Biggest Animals Caused By Humans

The planet Earth is in the early stage of an environment crisis known as the sixth mass extinction of plants and animals. Not like the past extinctions which were caused by asteroids strikes, natural climate shifts and volcanic eruptions, this current extinction crisis is mostly caused by humans.

The Biological Diversity stated that about 99 percent of the presently threatened species are in jeopardy from human activities, mainly due to driving habitat loss, global warming and an introduction of exotic species. It is a fact that every species' extinction could potentially lead to the extinction of others and the change of biosphere is increasing. With these, the number of extinctions would likely heighten in the coming decades as the ecosystems crumble.

The scientists calculate the losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background rate. Every day there are dozens of species go extinct. It is foreseen that about 30 to 50 percent of all species would possibly be heading to extinction by the mid-century.

Jonathan Payne from Stanford University and conducted a study on the mass extinction told Gizmodo that there is no past event that looks biologically like what's happening today. He further said that unlike the past the warming and ocean acidification are not the dominant cause of threat in the modern ocean. The dominant threat is humans with their harpoons, nets and trawlers that are emptying the oceans of marine life forms.

The researchers also viewed the sixth mass extinction would hit most the biggest animals than the smaller animals. This could potentially affect the food chain, which is described by the ecologists as a "tropical cascade." Biggest species play a significant role in global cycling such as whales poop fertilizes the oceans with irons. Likewise, the salmon migrations provide nitrogen and phosphorous upstream and onto the land. The extinction of big animals in the oceans could disrupt the ecosystems for million years.

On the other hand, Mr. Payne is still hoping for the bright side. He said that humans have the opportunity to totally avert this if they would make the right decisions. He further said that even on the land, where humans have lost a bunch of large species, almost everything at the genus level is still there.