Extinction
If one takes the meme here out of context, we’re doing pretty well. The problem is that the rate at which species are going extinct is going through the roof, due to the intrusion of humankind into animal habitats, coupled with climate change.
The current rate of extinction is hundreds or thousands of times higher than the natural baseline rate. The natural baseline rate is about one species per million species per year. However, estimates of the current extinction rate vary widely:
- Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Up to 8,700 species per year, or 24 species per day
- U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity: Up to 150 species lost each day, which could be as much as 10% per decade
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