Earth is Nearing 6th Great Extinction New Study Says

This little article is very short and very strange. I found this on Yahoo of all places; Yahoo...! Anyway, this article goes on to say that researchers at Duke university are saying that due an increase in species disappearing from the Earth, de-forestation, and Climate Change.

The study, published Thursday in the journal Science, measured the the rate at which species are disappearing from Earth. In 1995, the researchers found that the pre-human rate of extinctions was roughly 1. Now, that rate is about 100 to 1,000.

So, there you have it, ATS. Now, even Yahoo is saying that we're screwed. Things are getting worse and worse these days, it seems. What says ATS?

theweek.com...

You will find that we are already in the 6th extinction event. It is called the Holocene extinction event, it began about 10,000bc and has sped up since the industrial age.

a reply to: lostbook

The article does not mention any humans being in danger, just various animal species.

"The pre human rate of extinction is 1"

How is "1" a rate of anything???

a reply to: Psynic

Maybe 1 species a year was going extinct?
Then now we have from a hundred to 1000?

Might also be a century or decade I guess.

Please forgive my cynicism. Global Cooling has gone to Warming, has gone to Change and Disruption. Whatever the science behind that, if any, it doesn't scare people any more. In fact, it is reducing the prestige of science.

Is it impossible to believe that a new crisis is being created to replace the old worn out one? The purposes, of course, are to get more grant money, make scientists more important in public, and to support the call for government to do something really big to avert the catastrophe soon to befall us.

Good. Maybe next time we won't create religions.

originally posted by: weirdguy
You will find that we are already in the 6th extinction event. It is called the Holocene extinction event, it began about 10,000bc and has sped up since the industrial age.

After the animals go.. we go.. we depend on certain species for our livelihood.

originally posted by: BasementWarriorKryptonite
Good. Maybe next time we won't create religions.

And let evil sons o' b!tches get into a position of power

originally posted by: DarkAngel8

originally posted by: weirdguy
You will find that we are already in the 6th extinction event. It is called the Holocene extinction event, it began about 10,000bc and has sped up since the industrial age.

After the animals go.. we go.. we depend on certain species for our livelihood.

Yep
It is probably the real reason behind all of the GM produce that "they" are pushing on us all. Some things are already confirmed in certain circles that our food chain is endangered, such as bees etc. Maybe in the near future 3D printed food will become common like a microwave oven and take some pressure off mother nature.

We need new episodes of Bill Nye The Science Guy to get to the masses

a reply to: Silicis n Volvo
The ones we have now are all saints?

a reply to: Ericthedoubter

I don't think you're paying attention.

We were always on a 1 way road and there was only ever going to be 1 outcome.

originally posted by: ArtemisE
a reply to: Psynic

Maybe 1 species a year was going extinct?
Then now we have from a hundred to 1000?

Might also be a century or decade I guess.

Well that's very helpful of you to suggest alternatives for an omission by the author, but the point I was trying to make is, a prediction of human extinction by someone who considers the single digit "1" a "rate" is tripe.

In general, why can't 1 be a rate. EG: 1 mile per hour

It calculated a "death rate" of how many species become extinct each year out of 1 million species.

1 per year and 1000 per year

a reply to: roadgravel

That does open a possibility of course, but 1 per what? I missed where it said "per year." It seems that 1, without a per something, isn't very helpful.

1 per hour, for example, might very well be my walking speed, but 1 by itself? I don't know.

a reply to: charles1952

From a the link in the first article is was referring to

"It calculated a "death rate" of how many species become extinct each year out of 1 million species."

a reply to: roadgravel

Dear roadgravel,

Thanks a lot for that, I appreciate it. I didn't follow the various links, I just stayed with the article itself. Good work, digging around for the extra information.

With respect,
Chaarles1952

a reply to: charles1952

Hard to believe a difference of 1 versus 1000. Almost sounds like nature in general plays a big part in it.