The Shocking Reality of Modern Day Extinction.

Hi ATS

I learned the year 2010 is the year of bio diversity...

So I’d like to raise the pints and drink a beer on it.
Belief me you are going to need one after this thread.

With Pain rushing through my body and grieve getting a hold of me, slowly the meaning of what I just read is forming a picture in my mind and with it something of a new kind of emotion . New ? Yes…
I have never experienced this form of anger before. It feels powerless yet is overwhelming to my senses. I can not say I like it.



I needed to cool down for a while but I will now start with an attempt to show you all a why I am bothered with what I learned this last few days. I will start at the very beginning going back in time working my way up to the present day.

[color=Cyan3]Extinction

Who has never heard about extinct animals, probably not a single one of you. It has been suggested that a staggering 99 % of every living thing that ever walked the Earth or swam the oceans is now extinct. Gone, never to return again… Well… ruling out cloning of course

We are all familiar with the dinosaurs and the giant mammals like the Mammoth. My presentation will start with [color=Cyan3][color=Cyan3]the Holocene era.
The Holocene Era is the time that started where the last Ice age ended, which was called : The [color=Cyan3][color=Cyan3]Wisconsin Glaciation.
The period spans approximately 12.000 years and it still is the period that we currently live in.
To be more specific I’m referring to a period called :[color=Cyan3][color=Cyan3]Anthropcene. Which is a period where man has a significant impact on nature and its climate. The Industrial revolution is considered by some to be the starting point of this period but it does not really have a start which is set in time.

Please watch this 5 minute teaser of the documentary : [color=Cyan3]The 6th extinction.


The first say 12.000 years are for a little perspective.

11.000 years ago.


• Dire Wolf. ( Related to the Wolf and part of the [color=Cyan3]Mega fauna.)

• Smilodon ( Sabre tooth Tiger )
• Cave lion ( Cougar )
• Giant beaver
• Ground Sloth
• Mammoth
• American Mastodont ( a species of elephant.)
• American camel
• American Equine ( A horse like species )
• and American Lion.

[color=Cyan3][color=Cyan3 ]Homo Florensis

A species of human, also called Flores man. Nick named : Hobbit.
Flores man is said to have lived along side us. Until they got extinct that is.
Indonesia was its home.


7000 ago.

• Steppe wisent ( species of Bison )
• Irish Elk

5000 years ago.

• Tilos dwarf elephant ( Lived on the island of Tilos in the Mediterranean.)

3000 years ago

• Balearic Islands Cave Goat

2000 years ago.

• The Dwarf Elephant

1000 years ago.

• Syrian Elephant

11th century AD.
• moa-nalo ( A species of wild Duck from Hawaii )


The animals that have gone extinct in this era where man can be pointed to for contributing to it stops here and are regarded by me as a natural occurring extinction.

Lets move on…

16th century AD.

• Moa ( Largest flightless bird from New Zealand )
• Megaladapis ( Includes 3 species of giant lemurs fro Madagascar. )
• Haast's Eagle ( A massive species of eagle from New Zealand. Went extinct
when its food source disappeared. The Moa. )

17th century AD.

• Aurochs ( A member of cattle )
• Mauritius Dodo ( Flightless bird. )
• Elephant bird ( Flightless bird )

18th century.

• Steller's Sea Cow ( A large marine mammal. )

19th century.

• Great Auk ( Species of Penguin from the Atlantic. )
• Atlas Bear
• Broad-faced Potoroo ( Species of Marsupial from Australia. )
• Falkland Islands Wolf / Fox
• Quagga

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/60928598766c.jpg[/atsimg]

The Quagga was a unique variety of Plains Zebra, marked by having stripes only on the front of its body, with hair color transitioning toward a light brown or tan along its rear and underbelly, until becoming white along its legs. This picture represents the only Quagga ever to have been photographed alive, taken at the London Zoo in 1870.
Its unique hide made the Quagga a target for hunters and poachers, and the last known wild Quagga was probably killed in the late 1870s. The species went extinct on August 12th, 1883, when the last specimen died at a zoo in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

• Eastern Hare-wallaby ( From Australia. )
• Eastern Elk

Well the numbers don't lie… Notice Anything ?


20th century.

Now we are going further into the future by the decade.

1900.

• Honshū Wolf ( from Japan )

1910s

• Passenger Pigeon
• Carolina Parakeet
• Tarpan ( Species of horse )

1930s.

• Giant Aye-aye
• Darwin's Rice Rat
• Indefatigable Galapagos Mouse
• Desert Rat-kangaroo
• Thylacine ( Tasmanian Tiger.)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/328b5023c171.jpg[/atsimg]

The last Tasmanian Tiger, or Thylacine, known to have existed died in the Hobart Zoo, in Tasmania, Australia, on September 7th, 1936. Despite being the last of its kind, the animal (named Benjamin) likely died due to neglect after being locked out of its sheltered quarters during extreme weather.
Although commonly referred to as tigers, and despite having the look of a canid, the Thylacine is not remotely related to cats or dogs. Rather, it was the largest carnivorous marsupial of modern times, meaning it carried its young in a pouch. Its closest living relative is the Tasmanian Devil.

1940s

• Vegas Valley Leopard Frog
• Toolache Wallaby

1950s

• Palestinian painted frog
• Caribbean Monk Seal

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6cc5dbd60d10.jpg[/atsimg]

The Caribbean Monk Seal was the only known seal which was native to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is also the only species of seal to go extinct directly due to human causes. It was officially declared extinct just last year, on June 6th, 2008, although the last recorded account of the species was made at Serranilla Bank between Honduras and Jamaica in 1952.
Their eventual demise, brought on by human hunting, was symbolized during Columbus 1494 voyage, when the tiny seals were described as sea wolves and 8 were recorded to have been killed and slaughtered for their meat.

• Crescent Nail-tail Wallaby

1960s

Titicaca Orestias ( Species of fish from lake Titicaca )

• Cape Lion
• Arabian Ostrich
• turgid-blossom pearlymussel
• yellow-blossom pearlymussel

1970s

Caspian Tiger

1980s

• green-blossom pearlymussel
• black spotted damselfish
• Golden Toad

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6012ed782264.jpg[/atsimg]

The first recorded account of the Golden Toad was by herpetologist Jay Savage in 1966, and the last sighting of the species was made in 1989. The toad, showcased by its brilliant golden orange colorization, was native to the tropical cloud forests which surround Monteverde, Costa Rica.
Their extinction symbolizes a large scale decline in amphibian numbers worldwide over the last several decades, which has likely been caused by global warming and climate change. In fact, famed Australian biologist Tim Flannery has described the extinction of the Golden Toad to be the first demise of a species due primarily to global warming.

• Atitlán Grebe ( Species of water bird )

To be continued in the following post.

Edit to fix video.and color.






[edit on 6/6/2010 by Sinter Klaas]

Continuation of the OP.

1990s

• Saint Croix Racer ( Species of Snake )
• Aldabra banded snail

20th century

• Pyrenean Ibex

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/4a3c8fc49e0a.jpg[/atsimg]

The Pyrenean Ibex has one of the more interesting stories among extinct animals, since it was the first species to ever be brought back into existence via cloning, only to go extinct again just seven minutes after being born due to lung failure. Here at Ecoworldly, we reported on the event, which happened in January 2009.
The last naturally born Pyrenean Ibex died on January 6th, 2000, after being found dead under a fallen tree at the age of 13. That animal’s only companion had died just a year earlier due to old age. Although the recent effort to resurrect the Ibex was short-lived, the event does bring optimism, and raise serious debate, about whether extinct creatures should be given a second chance.

• Po'ouli ( Hawaiian Bird . )
• baiji

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7eb2412c86de.jpg[/atsimg]

The inevitable appears to have arrived for the Baiji River Dolphin, a peaceful, majestic dolphin which had inhabited Chinas Yangtze River for at least the last 20 million years. The dolphin was declared functionally extinct after an expedition late in 2006 failed to record a single individual after an extensive search of the animals entire range.
Although unconfirmed sightings have come out since then, it is unlikely that any living individuals, should they still exist, would be able find each other and breed. This tragic demise makes the Baiji Dolphin the first recorded extinction of a cetacean in modern times.

• Western Black Rhinoceros
• Liverpool Pigeon
• Alaotra Grebe. ( Bird )

[color=Cyan3]Source : [/color

Shocking is it not ?


I’m sorry to say this but the list above isn’t even close to the amount of animals extinct in recent times.
Only the Timeline from 1788 to present day. For extinction of Australia’s wild life is longer.
Extinction rate in the rain forests.

[color=Turquoise1]Today, through the direct and indirect actions of man such as pollution, species of plants and animals are disappearing from the rainforests even before they can be cataloged and studied. The average rate of extinction in the rainforest is 140 per day and if this goes on, the animal and plant species in the rainforest would be wiped out even before we know it. That would be almost half of the total number of plant and animal species on Earth.

[color=Cyan3][color=Cyan3]Link.

An article called : World's Species Going Extinct Faster than Scientists Thought.
[color=Cyan3][color=Cyan3]Link.


For the entire European continent 17.291 of the total 46.677 remaining species are now on the endangered species list.
42% of the Mammals.
52 % of the fresh water fish.
15 % of the birds.

The Iberian Lynx leads the race. There are only a few of them left.
There are warnings spread that if the new economies continue to grow as they do now.
By the 2300 the Earth has become no longer a safe haven for life as we know it.

[color=gold]The following link contains hundreds of links to extinction related articles. It looks like it is a set up by the Natural History Magazine. This is a must view link.

[color=Turquoise1] The Current Mass Extinction:
Human beings are currently causing the greatest
mass extinction of species since the extinction of
the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If present trends
continue one half of all species of life on earth will
be extinct in less than 100 years, as a result of
habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species,
and climate change. (For details see links below.)
Scroll Down For Hundreds Of Links:
This website began on April 22, 1998 with the posting
of the article below. (The article is still here to provide
historical context.) Following the article are more than
300 links to recent authoritative reports and updates
about the current mass extinction. New articles are
added regularly. (Most recent update May 13, 2010.)

[color=Cyan3][color=Cyan3]Link.

More extinct animals.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/dfa8ce2fbad3.jpg[/atsimg]
The Bubal HarteBeest.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/dcf243800a79.jpg[/atsimg]
Javan Tiger.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/fd5e2f450ab4.jpg[/atsimg]
Tecopa Pupfish ( which has the honor of being the first endangered species to go extinct.)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b39c4873cc4b.jpg[/atsimg]
Syrian Wild Ass.

Think about the fact not one of the animals in the pictures is ever coming back.
They were the very last of their kind.


Image Credits: Ibex photo by José M. Gómez under the GNU Free Documentation License; Baiji Dolphin photo copyright by the baiji.org foundation, Steven Leatherwood; All other images are public domain via Wiki Commons

en.wikipedia.org...:Spanish_ibex.jpg
en.wikipedia.org...
www.baiji.org...
en.wikipedia.org...

Sources :

www.bspcn.com...
www.sciencefriday.com...

And Wikipedia.



PS.
As this thread has only showed some of the land animals that no longer exist, Marine life as we no it is also in rapid decline. Where man is undeniable 100 % responsible.
I have only searched for a short time now.
Unfortunately the amount of data is so fast the end isn't anywhere near I'm afraid.
What Ive seen and read just brakes my heart. I'm no longer of the opinion that everything will be just fine and works out for the best.
How are we as a species supposed to survive without our fellow Earthlings ?
We are in big doo doo ladies and gentlemen and I honestly doubt we will be able to live through it.

I can’t understand why this does not affect people in such a way they would stop dead in their tracks.
Could it be real. Is there truly an event of unimaginable change or destruction coming our way.
Is that the reason people just keep doing what they do ?

Let us hope a 2012 ascension is really going to happen. I don't see how our kids would not personally experience the misery that will be a direct result of the 6th extinction.

The worst thing is : I will wake up tomorrow and do my everyday routine. Burning fuel, using resources and so on… With the stuff I learned the last couple of days in the back of my mind…

Much love and peace to you all.
Kind regards.

~ SK


Edit for fixing color. and picture.



[edit on 6/6/2010 by Sinter Klaas]

Great presentation with these extinctions. I often wonder what this world would be like if these extinct animals would have had a chance.

I fear the extinction levels are going to grow more and more exponentially every year that goes by.

When the food chain starts getting so far unbalanced (if not already) then and only then will it be too late and the only saving of life can be a restart, or do-over.

Many of these extinctions were caused by natural evolution, and some due to the dependence on the mercy of man.

Now mankind is dependent upon the mercy of man.


We'll have to wait and see how merciful we will be. Wish I could be more optimistic.

Hi I had to ad this video.
Kandinsky posted it a while ago. It is about the oceans and it is without exaggerating...
just as disturbing.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


I still can't believe we have caused a Cetacean to get extinct.

Two or three years ago, They were spotted. 50 years ago that river was full of the biggest and unimaginable monsters on the planet.

Can you imagine a fish 6 meters across ? From a river. I'm horrified by it.( not from the fish or the river )

The reason for me to start with the natural extinctions was to show the difference. Did it work ?

[edit on 6/6/2010 by Sinter Klaas]

The Dodo , WE " the human race", single-handily forced them unto extinction .

So sad.

[edit on 6-6-2010 by WXBackdoor]

Originally posted by WXBackdoor
The Dodo , WE " the human race", single-handily forced them unto extinction .

So sad.

[edit on 6-6-2010 by WXBackdoor]

It seems it was an easy meal.

Originally posted by Sinter Klaas

The first recorded account of the Golden Toad was by herpetologist Jay Savage in 1966, and the last sighting of the species was made in 1989. The toad, showcased by its brilliant golden orange colorization, was native to the tropical cloud forests which surround Monteverde, Costa Rica.
Their extinction symbolizes a large scale decline in amphibian numbers worldwide over the last several decades, which has likely been caused by global warming and climate change. In fact, famed Australian biologist Tim Flannery has described the extinction of the Golden Toad to be the first demise of a species due primarily to global warming.

Great presentation, but a massive one-sided guilt inducing argument:

A more recent study confirms the El Niño hypothesis, in which it is stated that "The new study finds that Monteverde was the driest it’s been in a hundred years following the 1986-1987 El Niño, but that those dry conditions were still within the range of normal climate variability". The new study has shown that the Chytrid Fungus has spread due to the dry conditions caused by El Niño. [10] LINK

Cherry trees killed the Golden Toad??

I'm sure there are species out there gone due to humans, but that doesn't mean all of them are so lets not cherry pick theories of where they went now.

[edit on 6-6-2010 by IgnoranceIsntBlisss]

reply to post by Sinter Klaas


I think you accomplished what you set out to accomplish.

Truthfully, my favorite part was the expression of your own thoughts in the "PS" portion. It was moving. Simultaneously infuriating and devastating.

But we can't find a way to disbelieve. Believing is the first step.
It's happening, and it's getting worse. We seem to have lost respect for those non-human creatures who have as much right to this planet as we do.

[edit on 6/6/2010 by ladyinwaiting]

reply to post by Sinter Klaas


This is amazingly disturbing, though unfortunately, for the most part nothing I didn't know before. The only thing that gives me hope it that sometimes in the future, once we've evolved into a more peaceful and care civilization we find a way to journey back and preserve these species in some sort of arc initiative.

The scary thing is, we've become such a global and connected society that the only way to end our dependence on one thing is to abandon it all the same time. At least that's what I feel most of the time.

Back on topic. This is horrific and I hope you reach man new people and enlighten them to the horrors of our "Modern" Society,


Unseen

very sad indeed, it looks like bees will also be exstinct in the not so distant future and many other insects

[edit on 6/6/10 by l77way]

reply to post by IgnoranceIsntBlisss


Honestly... It was the text that was posted with the picture. I did read it but I didn't bother to worry about it.

My personal opinion is that the climate change is a self sufficient event. I do not deny we don't have anything to do with it. There are to much scenarios that could cause it and two much unknowns . But that just my opinion from what I've learned along the way.

There is another reason I think it is irrelevant. Almost all extinctions caused have by man are going two ways. We have hunted them down or destroyed their habitat. The climate doesn't really have got its turn yet, if it ever will in our lifetime. An ice age would cause the biggest problems. I think.

Why do you think I'm cherry picking ? Or were you talking about the Author of the text you quoted ?

By the way... Did you see the video on the oceans I posted in a reply ?
If you didn't. Please do ?

I can't think about extinction without leading onto the path of being pissed off at mankind for a lot of these. It's depressing to not have these awesome animals around, and frightening to think we will almost certainly lose more.

But hey, at least Australia is finally taking legal action against Japanese whaling

reply to post by l77way


If the bees go extinct. Pooh.. We got some major problems on our hands.
Just try and learn a sparrow to fly from flower to flower.

Unfortunately even the sparrow is on the endangered species list out here.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


Thank you very much. It is nice to hear that.

Reply to post by Unseenmoment.

Thanks.

You know what would help ?

Spread the word. Link to these sites and movies. Make people aware.
If there is anything what could round up a force reckon with... animals in distress.

reply to post by WishForWings


Yeah, Sweet.

How does that work actually. Don't they need some sort of leverage to force their ways ?
Bombing Japanese harbors is not an option I would think.

Well made thread Sinter. Thanks for taking the time to put it all together. Yes, extinctions and the threat of more is quite depressing at times but I do have hope. They say the mountain lion was extirpated from eastern north america 100 years ago but I;ve seen one in the wild.
Nature abhors a vacuum. where animals go extinct other species view this as an opportunity. Nature will create new species in time as it always has, provided that we allow the process to continue. Give nature space and time and you can see miracles.
The planet will heal itself, even if we nuke ourselves out of existence new life forms will rise up and fill the planet again. It may take millions of years and humans will all be gone of course but the fact remains.
This is not to say that we should not do more to protect the species that we have. Each is a beautiful work of creation, god's brushstrokes if you will on the canvas of earth. Who are we to destroy what the creator has made?
We are young as a species; young, brash and stupid. Our technologies amplify our ability to destroy and rearrange the planet to suit ourselves. Until our morality and ethics catches up with our ability to create new technologies the trend in extinctions will continue. We may destroy key species that we depend on thus ensuring our own extinction. It may happen that way, I'm not sure. Yet we are awakening as a species; learning that everything we do has real consequences on life around us. This is a fairly recent realization and it will take some time to for us to fully internalize and make the changes necessary to stopping it.
Whether or not mankind makes it, life on earth will in some form, somewhere. We show promise that perhaps we will change our life ways and leave room to ensure the survival of the species that we know now. I pray that is so. This thread is one sign that it is becoming reality and that you and I are all part of the solution.

Star and flag, nicely done!

reply to post by Sinter Klaas


From what I'm aware of their doing the whaling in Australian waters off the coast of Antarctica.. Don't quote me on that but I'm sure it's fairly accurate.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


I absolutely agree with you.

Talking about missing species.
Yellowstone Wolves were once hunted to extinction. Because of the Wolf was a key predator in Yellowstone the whole park underwent changes . Losing the Biodiversity it once had.

A Park Ranger noticed while watching old pictures that a river or creek in Yellowstone once had a thriving eco system with bushes on it's river banks and beavers and so on.

After they introduced the Wolf back in Yellowstone the bushes strated growing again the beavers returned and with this all kinds of other species.

The main meal of the wolf in Yellowstone was Elk and Deer. Without Wolves to worry about they simply ate all the bushes making the eco system a barren place.

We are talking about just one species missing from the scene and it all fell apart.

Here a nice video.


Enjoy !

The planet will heal itself, even if we nuke ourselves out of existence new life forms will rise up and fill the planet again.

You have got to watch and read this thread called :Chernobyl - 24 years on

Especially this post. Post from Sandri Life in the dead zone.