5 times in Earth’s history, global biodiversity has plummeted at an alarming rate. Now, due largely to human activity, scientists believe we are in the middle of the 6th mass extinction. They refer to it as the Anthropocene or Holocene extinction.

According to a report by the UN, the amount of species that have gone extinct in the last 50 years has reached an unnatural level. And many more being threatened. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) recently expounded on this in their report.

In fact, the 145 authors from 50 countries claim more than a million species are at serious risk. This includes roughly 33% of marine mammals, 10% of insects, 40% of amphibians, and 33% of coral. This is about 25% of all species on the brink, putting us in the beginning of the 6th mass extinction.

More importantly, if such large numbers of species die off, global ecosystems collapse. Of course, this threatens the survival of countless other species. Some experts found current extinction rates are “1000 times higher than natural background rates and future extinctions were likely to be 10000 times higher.”

If past extinctions are any indication, this could lead to a full blown catastrophe, as they resulted in the death of anywhere from 60-96% of all species. For example, the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction occurred 66 million years ago when an asteroid struck the Yucatan Peninsula, altering the climate, leading to a loss of 75% of global species.

Can We Prevent the 6th Mass Extinction?

The 6th mass extinction might not be inevitable, as stopping certain detrimental practices could turn the tide.

One of humanity’s biggest impact on the planet is the dumping of waste into the ocean. The IPBES report noted 300-400 million tonnes of industrial waste, such as heavy metals, toxic sludge, and solvents are put into the ocean each year. Large amounts of fertilizers leak into coastal ecosystems as well. These have caused over 400 dead zones, areas in which even the simplest of marine life cannot survive. An estimated 250,000 tonnes of plastic are also in the ocean.

Adding to the stress on marine life is that about 33% of fish populations are being harvested at unsustainable levels. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) notes ones of the biggest contributors is the $36.4 billion per year illegal fishing industry. This industry targets high-valued, often endangered catches. They also claim the global fishing fleet is more than twice the size needed. Due to government subsidies, this industry is artificially propped up.

Human activity on land is not any better. More than 33% of land and more than 75% of fresh water are being used for livestock or crop production. Overall, dedicating land to human food consumption has led to a 23% reduction of land productivity.

The IPBES claims “Three-quarters of the land-based environment and about 66% of the marine environment have been significantly altered by human actions.”

Likewise, humans have created large concentrations of methane, carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, soot, smoke, among many other pollutants in the atmosphere. This is mainly from the burning of hydrocarbons.

Changing Course

Solving the above problems won’t be easy, as it requires changing the behavior of individuals and governments. However, the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity has created 5 strategic goals. These are known as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. These include 20 subgoals designed to educate governments and the public about the threats to biodiversity, the importance of biodiversity, ways to eliminate threats to biodiversity, among many others.

Some countries, such as Costa Rica, Chile, and the UK have banned or raised taxes on plastic items. These include plastic bags, drinking straws, plastic microbeads, and other plastic products that are the scourge of the oceans. Many countries are also beginning to better manage the use of their land and marine resources, implement stronger air and water quality laws, and ban harmful fertilizers and pesticides.

The world is also turning to renewable sources of energy, such as solar and wind. Other experimental methods, such as artificial photosynthesis, are in the works.

While this is certainly progress, the IPBES is not confident these changes are enough to prevent the 6th mass extinction. Instead, they suggest a complete redesign of the “global financial and economic systems to build a global sustainable economy, steering away from the current limited paradigm of economic growth.”

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