Extinctions 1,000 x faster than before humans

[maryjane48]

please cite your sources. We've cited numerous sources full of Facts, (not opinions) which show that this is occuring.

Also, please explain how this is left wing, or propoganda, or what this has to do with terrorism.

i think that person is trying to say money trumps everything , even the earth and the life that lives on it

[Omnitheo]

On this subject, this study released today states that humans were responsible for the extinction of woolly mammoths, among numerous other species.

As the ice melted at the end of the Pleistocene epoch about 12,000 years ago, large mammals (greater than 10 kilograms) such as the woolly mammoth, the giant sloth, cave dwelling lions, etc. began dying off, eventually disappearing altogether. The cause of the extinctions has, in many cases, been blamed on changing environmental conditions, despite a lack of evidence. In this new effort, the research team has found some evidence to suggest the die-offs were more likely caused by humans—either directly by hunting, or indirectly by burning vegetation needed for survival.

Suspecting that humans were the cause, the researchers conducted a survey of all known species of large mammals that went extinct during and after the Pleistocene epoch. To gain a new perspective they conducted the survey on a country by country basis, rather than by continent as past studies have done. The team then used the data they'd collected to perform a comparative analysis with known weather conditions in the areas where the animals went extinct. In so doing, the team found a pattern emerging—the shorter amount of time that the large mammals lived together with humans, the greater the number of species that went extinct. Put another way, the team found that extinctions were few in Africa where large mammals and humans had existed since the time humans learned to hunt them. More extinctions occurred in Eurasia, but the greatest number by far occurred in the Americas and Australia, where humans arrived later, armed with much better hunting skills.

The researchers even went so far as to calculate the percentages of species extinctions they believe can be blamed on humans—64 percent globally—while only 30 percent could be blamed on fast changing weather patterns (mostly in parts of Europe and Asia).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... imals.html

[steven lloyd]

I just finished watching another one of those very intriguing “how will the world end” documentaries on Discovery Channel (source: Discovery Channel). Of course, these shows refer not, in fact, to how the world will end, but to how our civilization or humankind will end. In this particular show, it was stated there is a one in twenty chance that we will witness an extinction level impact event in our children’s lifetime. Not terrific odds – especially considering the reduction in spending by the US on its space program (maybe the Chinese will be able to save us). As one astronomer pointed out it will not be like TV or the movies where we might have months or even years to prepare for such an event. Space is a big black place and there are objects flying around all over the place. We might have as little as a couple of weeks warning before impact, and while our planet and life on it has proven to be resilient, we (or whoever or whatever is left) will be starting all over from scratch.

[Omnitheo]

Also gamma ray bursts. We'd never see it coming.

[steven lloyd]

And there would be nothing we could do about that even if we could see it coming (I remember on another recent how it will all end program that we had a near miss in the gamma ray department not too long ago). Maybe some bugs would survive.

[forum]

It's called progress.

[Poindexter]

lol! Amazingly some people do think this. Sounds like something a lemming might say to himself before following the lemming in front of him off a cliff. "At least this line is making good 'progress'."

[Poindexter]

Hilariously poignant.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WfGMYdalClU

[Omnitheo]

lol! Amazingly some people do think this. Sounds like something a lemming might say to himself before following the lemming in front of him off a cliff. "At least this line is making good 'progress'."

just to clear up a misconception, lemmings do not suicide themselves off cliffs. If you saw footage of this, it was because the filmmakers were throwing them off a cliff.

[Poindexter]

Actually when a population of lemmings grows too large for an area they will seek out a new home which may invoke crossing rivers or other obsticals giving the impression they're commuting suicide. But I know what you're talking about, the Disney movie into the wilderness or something like that where they shoved the poor little buggers into the water off a cliff and called it suicide.

Besides it's just a medaphor. Next thing you'll tell me is that pigs dont fly when we all know they do.

[fvkasm2x]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/30/business/ ... ?hpt=hp_c4

CNN article reported from WWF

[Omnitheo]

inb4 glacier or logicalview tells us this is a natural cycle

[Glacier]

Losing half the animals is not the same as losing half the species, but why would anyone say this is a natural cycle? Sure it's natural since humans are part of nature, but that doesn't mean it is a cycle, nor that it's a good thing. Here in the Okanagan we have sadly destroyed much of the natural habitat thanks to urban sprawl 'n shiite, but have we seen a reduction in species? We have not. In my opinion we need to set aside more land for deer and badger habitat since the most biodiverse areas of BC are also the most populated. That is, if we want to preserve good numbers of natural plants and animals, which we do for a variety of reasons.

I'm all for preserving the environment, but I'm against exaggerating the facts since this tends to create bad public policy, and polarizes both sides.

[SmokeOnTheWater]

Here in the Okanagan we have sadly destroyed much of the natural habitat thanks to urban sprawl 'n shiite, but have we seen a reduction in species? We have not.

The Okanagan is not only noted for the diversity and uniqueness of its plant and animal species, it is also the region with the most endangered, threatened and rare species in the province. The South Okanagan is home to 30 percent of BC's Red-listed wildlife species, and 46 percent of the province's Blue-listed species.

Missing from the South Okanagan!!

Six vertebrate species that once lived in the South Okanagan - the Pigmy Short-horned Lizard, White-tailed Jackrabbit, Burrowing Owl, Northern Leopard Frog, Sharp-tailed Grouse, and Sage Grouse - have disappeared from the region.

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/okanagan/esd/atlas/atrisk.html

[Glacier]

Lots of new invasive species have been added though, so no net loss. But like I said, if we don't do more to protect the natural habitat from orchards and city sprawl, we will see a reduction in species.