Earth undergoes massive changes every day. Something new appears and something old goes extinct even without the human world knowing. But a mass extinction event will not go unnoticed. These activities remind us, humans, of how small we are in this large world- just like any other species. Are our activities leading to the extinction of other species?
It is not new knowledge that humans are causing nature to degrade. Our actions have caused major changes in the environment. Global warming, natural calamities, climate change, extinction of flora and fauna, and many more to come. Will our human follies lead to the next major mass extinction? Here are some things to know about the mass extinction event.
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History Of Mass Extinction Events
According to Britannica, a mass extinction event is “any circumstance that results in the loss of a significant portion of Earth’s living species across a wide geographic area within a relatively short period of geologic time“. There are only a few times that mass extinction has taken place.
A mass extinction causes great changes in the biosphere of the earth. But the surviving species will adjust to the changed conditions and their descendants will evolve accordingly. The reason for mass extinction events can range from a number of volcano eruptions, comet and asteroid impacts, and climate changes.
In Earth’s history, mass extinction events have happened five times – Ordovician-Silurian extinction, Devonian extinction, Permian extinction, End-Triassic extinction, and finally Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction.
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Will A Sixth Mass Extinction Happen Soon?
Unfortunately, human activities have already created the ground for a sixth mass extinction event. And many scientists opine that we’re amidst a catastrophe.
Obviously, the major causes pointed out include pollution, deforestation, an increase in urban and agricultural land, and climate change. All these have been talked about for a very long time and tougher action needs to be taken soon.
The current rate of species loss ranges between 100 and 10,000 times the background extinction rate. At this rate, there is no time to discuss and redeem plans. But it would be appropriate to create more awareness and to take the needed action.
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