The sixth mass extinction

The sixth mass extinction is here, say Stanford researchers

June 19, 2015

Cumulative vertebrate species recorded as extinct or extinct in the wild by the IUCN (2012) (conservative estimate) (credit: Gerardo Ceballos et al./Science Advances)

There is no longer any doubt: we are entering a mass extinction that threatens humanity’s existence.

That’s the conclusion of a new study by a group of scientists including Paul Ehrlich, the Bing Professor of Population Studies in biology and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Ehrlich and his co-authors call for fast action to conserve threatened species, populations and habitat, but warn that the window of opportunity is rapidly closing.

“[The study] shows without any significant doubt that we are now entering the sixth great mass extinction event,” Ehrlich said./.../