Tuesday 11 July 2017

Species End


it's looking bad for biodiversity and the survival of ecosystems on the planet as the 6th mass extinction is reportedly well underway (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-scientists-warn). Scientists have recorded that billions of regional and local populations have been lost and, of the mega species studied, around half have lost 80% or more of their range. The authors suggest that human over-population and activities (the Anthropocene era?) accounts for most of this event. In spite of this, many people seem to view the losses as an unfortunate side-effect (perhaps reducing the content matter of a new series of Life on Earth) rather than a real challenge to the viability of the planet's life in its present form (i suspect the bacteria will still be around so we wouldn't be starting from scratch).

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