For thousands of years, humans have been modifying the environment around them, whether it was the first tool, made millions of years ago, or the latest computer processor. Now, with an ever-growing impact on the environment, and hundreds species dying daily , humans are beginning to create a sixth mass extinction.
MASS EXTINCTIONS IN THE PAST
Probably the best known mass extinction is during the Cretaceous in which the dinosaurs died. The extinction, which occurred 65 million years ago, killed off the dinosaurs and marine reptiles, and severely harmed fish and mollusks. The cretaceous was caused by a massive asteroid that crash landed into the earth. The asteroid killed of thousands of species, and the dust blocked out the sun for years. Massive wildfires were started by the flaming impact debris. This extinction enabled mammals to develop into the creatures they are today.
The worst mass extinction, however, was the Permian, which occurred 250 million years ago. During the Permian, 83% of all genera (genera are a taxonomic grouping above species) went extinct. The exact cause of the Permian is unknown, but PBS’s show Nova interviewed several people who suspect that the extinction was caused by the Siberian traps, a mass of now-extinct volcanoes in Siberia, that had released four quadrillion tons of CO2 into the air (about 20,000 times more than currently in the atmosphere) and 2 quadrillion tons of sun-blocking sulfur compounds. The Earth was too cold for most life, and once the sulfur cleared, the massive amounts of CO2 caused a massive surge of global warming, killing many more species, and causing the oceans to become anoxic, and filling them with anaerobic bacteria that made the water toxic. After the Permian, it took 30 million years for some species to recover.
HUMAN DRIVEN EXTINCTIONS
Ever since Homo Sapiens, or the modern man, has arrived on earth, it has caused extinctions. In the past 8000 years, humans have caused every single extinction. In fact, E.O. Wilson has created an acronym for the most common ways humans cause extinctions: HIPPO:
Habitat destruction
Invasive species
Population
Pollution
Overconsumption
Habitat destruction is caused by humans harvesting resources and building structures, such as was done in Manhattan, which was originally a wooded island with many springs and swamps. Humans arrived at the island, destroyed the forest, dried the swamps, and suppressed the springs, turning it into the massive metropolis it is today.
Invasive species, such as hogs, were introduced to other continents, where they wreak havoc on the local ecosystems. Overpopulation of hogs in North America has reached a point where it is legal to kill hogs with fully automatic machine guns in Texas.
Overpopulation is a problem that has begun to become much more severe, as human numbers are nearing 7 billion , small changes can have giant impacts, both in human livelihood, as well as in the environment.
Pollution in particular, is a problem that must be solved quickly and effectively, as global warming devastates the environment, and toxic chemicals leech into the ocean, creating uninhabitable conditions.
Overconsumption is the final way humans are affecting the environment. The US alone, with 5% of the global population, is consuming 25% of global resources. At this rate, people would need over 3 Earths to sustain global consumption at the same rate.
Even in early history, humans were causing extinctions. The Maori, For example, were the first to reach New Zealand in 1000 CE. Within 500 years of their arrival The Maori had eaten over 100,000 moas, effectively exterminating them. Moas are large flightless birds exclusive to New Zealand. This occurred because the moas did not know that humans were a threat, and did not evade them.
A similar thing happened with megafauna. Megafauna are very large animals, such as elephants and mammoths. When humans arrived at each continent, the amount of megafauna experienced a sharp decline, except for Africa. This is because the megafauna were “naïve” since they did not know humans were dangerous. This did not happen in Africa, however, because the animals there were already aware of humans, and only experienced a mild decline.
In comparison, natural and human-driven extinctions seem very different, but their effects are very similar: Both follow many traits regarding the likeliness of extinction, animals that are large, live long, and have special diets are much more likely to become extinct. They are also quite similar by their volume: both types destroy entire ecosystems, both directly and indirectly. They also last similar amounts of time, Natural extinctions can last millions of years, but will sometimes last only a few years, like human driven extinctions.
However, there are several differences: While Natural mass extinctions create new forms of life, human driven extinction cause “homogenous diversity” or a very limited variety of animals, all of which thrive off of human care. This can result in devastating consequences for the planet on a longer term, as entire species can die rapidly and almost instantly through things like diseases.
EFFECTS OF MASS EXTINCTIONS
Over the short term, natural mass extinctions tend to be devastating. Over 50% of all species go extinct, with large changes to their surroundings. Over the long term, conditions improve drastically. Often the change enables a new type of life to begin, and results in a permanent change in the way life exists on the planet.
Human caused extinctions, however, tend to have a more devastating effect. Human caused extinctions tend to wipe out entire habitats, not leaving room for any survivors, except those that thrive with humans, such as cows, chickens, rats, and head lice. In a long term situation, this is devastating. Permanently, this can reduce the variety of life so significantly that few new things will evolve for millions of years.
Species that are affected in particular by human activity include chickens and cows, which thrive off of human care and feed, as well as rats and lice, which have adapted specifically to thrive off of humans. Lice, for example, are so adapted to humans that they cannot feed off almost any other creature. Other animals, such as birds, are experiencing massive habitat loss and destruction as humans destroy the trees most birds depend on.
ANOTHER WAY
Human activity is clearly destroying the planet more effectively than any mass extinction in the past. The main way to help reduce this type of behavior is quite simple: have less children. Right now, over 2 babies are born for every one person that dies . More babies means more consumption, making it easier for everybody to help ruin the world. One organization aiming to stop this is VHEMT (pronounced vehement). VHEMT stands for “Voluntary Human Extinction Movement” which believes in extinction of humans, simply by not breeding. VHEMT claim that since humans are destroying the planet, there should be less of them, so that the problem is less significant. Of course, there are many other ways people can help the environment, but every baby born in a rich country has a very significant effect on the environment.
Among other things that can be done to help, an increase in reusability is essential. The amount of toxic chemicals produced through the manufacture of a new product is significant, and can cause humanitarian crises as well. Through reusing products, people can help reduce disease, save the environment, and reduce extinction rates worldwide.
Getting to such a situation, however, will need a change in what is socially acceptable. Right now, having the latest, coolest, newest things are a major trend in the industry Changing this trend is necessary to cause people to place the environment first and cool gadgets second.
Such an overhaul is unlikely, but could prove extremely fruitful if it is a success, and could be the key to saving the environment.
MASS EXTINCTIONS IN THE PAST
Probably the best known mass extinction is during the Cretaceous in which the dinosaurs died. The extinction, which occurred 65 million years ago, killed off the dinosaurs and marine reptiles, and severely harmed fish and mollusks. The cretaceous was caused by a massive asteroid that crash landed into the earth. The asteroid killed of thousands of species, and the dust blocked out the sun for years. Massive wildfires were started by the flaming impact debris. This extinction enabled mammals to develop into the creatures they are today.
The worst mass extinction, however, was the Permian, which occurred 250 million years ago. During the Permian, 83% of all genera (genera are a taxonomic grouping above species) went extinct. The exact cause of the Permian is unknown, but PBS’s show Nova interviewed several people who suspect that the extinction was caused by the Siberian traps, a mass of now-extinct volcanoes in Siberia, that had released four quadrillion tons of CO2 into the air (about 20,000 times more than currently in the atmosphere) and 2 quadrillion tons of sun-blocking sulfur compounds. The Earth was too cold for most life, and once the sulfur cleared, the massive amounts of CO2 caused a massive surge of global warming, killing many more species, and causing the oceans to become anoxic, and filling them with anaerobic bacteria that made the water toxic. After the Permian, it took 30 million years for some species to recover.
HUMAN DRIVEN EXTINCTIONS
Ever since Homo Sapiens, or the modern man, has arrived on earth, it has caused extinctions. In the past 8000 years, humans have caused every single extinction. In fact, E.O. Wilson has created an acronym for the most common ways humans cause extinctions: HIPPO:
Habitat destruction
Invasive species
Population
Pollution
Overconsumption
Habitat destruction is caused by humans harvesting resources and building structures, such as was done in Manhattan, which was originally a wooded island with many springs and swamps. Humans arrived at the island, destroyed the forest, dried the swamps, and suppressed the springs, turning it into the massive metropolis it is today.
Invasive species, such as hogs, were introduced to other continents, where they wreak havoc on the local ecosystems. Overpopulation of hogs in North America has reached a point where it is legal to kill hogs with fully automatic machine guns in Texas.
Overpopulation is a problem that has begun to become much more severe, as human numbers are nearing 7 billion , small changes can have giant impacts, both in human livelihood, as well as in the environment.
Pollution in particular, is a problem that must be solved quickly and effectively, as global warming devastates the environment, and toxic chemicals leech into the ocean, creating uninhabitable conditions.
Overconsumption is the final way humans are affecting the environment. The US alone, with 5% of the global population, is consuming 25% of global resources. At this rate, people would need over 3 Earths to sustain global consumption at the same rate.
Even in early history, humans were causing extinctions. The Maori, For example, were the first to reach New Zealand in 1000 CE. Within 500 years of their arrival The Maori had eaten over 100,000 moas, effectively exterminating them. Moas are large flightless birds exclusive to New Zealand. This occurred because the moas did not know that humans were a threat, and did not evade them.
A similar thing happened with megafauna. Megafauna are very large animals, such as elephants and mammoths. When humans arrived at each continent, the amount of megafauna experienced a sharp decline, except for Africa. This is because the megafauna were “naïve” since they did not know humans were dangerous. This did not happen in Africa, however, because the animals there were already aware of humans, and only experienced a mild decline.
In comparison, natural and human-driven extinctions seem very different, but their effects are very similar: Both follow many traits regarding the likeliness of extinction, animals that are large, live long, and have special diets are much more likely to become extinct. They are also quite similar by their volume: both types destroy entire ecosystems, both directly and indirectly. They also last similar amounts of time, Natural extinctions can last millions of years, but will sometimes last only a few years, like human driven extinctions.
However, there are several differences: While Natural mass extinctions create new forms of life, human driven extinction cause “homogenous diversity” or a very limited variety of animals, all of which thrive off of human care. This can result in devastating consequences for the planet on a longer term, as entire species can die rapidly and almost instantly through things like diseases.
EFFECTS OF MASS EXTINCTIONS
Over the short term, natural mass extinctions tend to be devastating. Over 50% of all species go extinct, with large changes to their surroundings. Over the long term, conditions improve drastically. Often the change enables a new type of life to begin, and results in a permanent change in the way life exists on the planet.
Human caused extinctions, however, tend to have a more devastating effect. Human caused extinctions tend to wipe out entire habitats, not leaving room for any survivors, except those that thrive with humans, such as cows, chickens, rats, and head lice. In a long term situation, this is devastating. Permanently, this can reduce the variety of life so significantly that few new things will evolve for millions of years.
Species that are affected in particular by human activity include chickens and cows, which thrive off of human care and feed, as well as rats and lice, which have adapted specifically to thrive off of humans. Lice, for example, are so adapted to humans that they cannot feed off almost any other creature. Other animals, such as birds, are experiencing massive habitat loss and destruction as humans destroy the trees most birds depend on.
ANOTHER WAY
Human activity is clearly destroying the planet more effectively than any mass extinction in the past. The main way to help reduce this type of behavior is quite simple: have less children. Right now, over 2 babies are born for every one person that dies . More babies means more consumption, making it easier for everybody to help ruin the world. One organization aiming to stop this is VHEMT (pronounced vehement). VHEMT stands for “Voluntary Human Extinction Movement” which believes in extinction of humans, simply by not breeding. VHEMT claim that since humans are destroying the planet, there should be less of them, so that the problem is less significant. Of course, there are many other ways people can help the environment, but every baby born in a rich country has a very significant effect on the environment.
Among other things that can be done to help, an increase in reusability is essential. The amount of toxic chemicals produced through the manufacture of a new product is significant, and can cause humanitarian crises as well. Through reusing products, people can help reduce disease, save the environment, and reduce extinction rates worldwide.
Getting to such a situation, however, will need a change in what is socially acceptable. Right now, having the latest, coolest, newest things are a major trend in the industry Changing this trend is necessary to cause people to place the environment first and cool gadgets second.
Such an overhaul is unlikely, but could prove extremely fruitful if it is a success, and could be the key to saving the environment.
