sixth extinction

[STYRBJORN]

WE ARE DOOMED AND THIS TIME I MEAN IT.

The New York Times recently carried an article about a report in Nature, one of the most reputable science magazines of all. It concerns research carried out at U.Cal Berkely, a highly rated scientific University. We are not looking at a lunatic fringe group here, nor at people with a financial interest in the results.

"Over the past 540m years Earth has seen 5 great mass extinctions [in which] at least 75% of species died out."

If endangered species continue to die out at the current rate, which is far above normal, a sixth extinction will occur within the next few centuries or millennia, an eyeblink of geological time. The scientists say that their figures may badly underestimate the real rate. Besides hunting, overfishing and deforestation, many expect that global warming could add to the toll. "The current rate and magnitude of climate change are faster and more severe than many species have experienced in their entire evolutionary history" said the lead author of the study.

The other extinctions seem to have been linked with asteroidal or cometary impact, or massive volcanic activity. This time there is no need to seek the cause. It's us. Ever since H.sap left Africa ~100,000 BP we have been killing, eating, out competing other life forms. Now we're reaching the end-game.

It should be possible to access the article via The Observer.

Ric