We are in the midst of a mass extinction, the sixth, and this time we humans too have to do with it
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Don't panic, people, after all, to the sound of climate changes, we should have expected it. We are in the midst of one mass extinction, the sixth, and this time we too come into it. Yes, in short, it seems that in just three generations there will be so significant changes to biodiversity that they will inevitably also affect our daily life.
And guess who's to blame? Dell 'man same, of course! Which between overpopulation, urban settlements, exploitation of land for agriculture, CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and water and the introduction of invasive species, has led itself to its own phase of extinction, the sixth for our planet . The man, in fact, could be among the first victims, 65 million years after the disappearance of the dinosaurs.
This is revealed by a article published in Science Advances which cites Duke University research published in 2014 and which states that in the short term extinction threatens 41% of amphibians and 26% of mammals. In the long run, however, the Earth will no longer be such a hospitable planetIn fact, in the last 100 years alone, almost 400 species have disappeared, a number 20 times higher than those extinct in the 17th century (and vertebrate extinctions today occur at a rate 114 times higher than the average in the past).
To release this impetuous report were the researchers of the flower of the Universities (Stanford, Barkeley, Princeton, University of Florida and Mexico), which, led by Professor Gerardo Ceballos, in practice gave an average value to the extinctions that occurred on Earth and compared it with the current one .
"The study undoubtedly proves - explains Paul Ehrlich of the Stanford Institute for the Environment - that we have entered the Event of the Sixth Mass Destruction. Throughout the world there are specimens of numerous species that have essentially died walking “.
Scholars highlight how the extinction rate increased immediately after the industrial revolution of the 800th century and reached 396 species in the last century. Examples of lost species are the Yangtze dolphin and the Costa Rican golden toad and, depending on the group studied, extinction rates are 10 to 100 times higher than normal. In addition, due to the progressive pollution, the pollination activity of bees could cease in a few decades, initiating a progressive destruction of the entire food chain.
In short, what the researchers want us to understand is that if in the past extinctions were often caused by natural disasters, now they are caused by the actions of ourselves, who exploit the planet that hosts us to the bone.
Scientists swear there is still time to avoid this mass extinction. How? Let's turn the tide, my dear, and you know perfectly well how. Let's do it at least for our children's children!
Germana Carillo
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