Far before the time of human beings, dinosaurs alongside many other prehistoric species used to roam the lands and seas of planet Earth. The extinction of such species is a widely known fact and is taught to children at a very young age. However, many people are not told the actual extent of the extinction and the amount of species that disappear every single day. There are a massive amount of organisms dying off the earth within the span of each twenty-four hour period which is making the potential to survive into the upcoming years less likely. It may be hard to swallow, but about one-hundred-fifty to two-hundred types of animals, insects, plants, etc die every day and it is expected to stay that way throughout the twenty-first century. Though many disappear because of natural causes or because of changes in their food chain, a few go extinct because of humans. In every million species to go extinct, around a hundred to a thousand are due to human interference every year.
Though a thousand compared to a million does not seem like much, imagine all the groups that could still be around to this day if people attempted to prevent their decrease in numbers. Of course, destruction of some groups are inevitable and can only be helped so much, but extinction or endangerment by humans can be stopped. Furthermore, there are tons of people such as scientists and researchers who help and there are plenty examples of successful processes
Tran 2 that have worked. These processes have
Extinction: Most species become extinct because they can’t cope with the environmental change, and also because of introduced species that turned into competitors for
(home) If this organism disappears from the ecosystem Polar bears (Ursus Maritimus), Killer whales (orcinus Orca), Artic cod (Arctogadus glacialis)
A few of these remaining species are extremely close to extinction and if we don’t do something soon we may very well lose them good. They’re becoming extinct from the destruction of their natural habitat.
The ecological conditions might have changed quickly and the species was not able to adapt to those conditions, which eventually lead the species to go extinct.
In a summary, Kolbert explains the extinctions of a variety of different major animal species that became extinct. She also explains that if trends in the environment continue that the biggest extinction in history will occur soon. If global warming, deforestation, and glaciers continue to melt she says that more and more species will continue to become extinct. She explains how humans need to be more conservative and careful with what they’re doing to prevent extinction.
There are several hypotheses that are used to explain the causes of mass extinctions. Climate change, the warming or cooling of global environments over a short period of time, can lead to other occurrences. Shifts in climate can cause extinction by
The number of wild animals on Earth has halved in the past 40 years . Creatures across the land, rivers, and the seas are destroyed as humans killed them for food in unsuitable numbers, while polluting or destroying their habitats.
A report from Recovering America’s Wildlife Crisis states, “More than 150 species have already gone extinct and about 40% of freshwater fish species are imperiled.” Animals are being killed off by the minute. Now the wildlife species are going to abolished from Earth.
“Extinction means having no living representatives, having died out” (Dictionary.Com). We’re currently experiencing the worst spate of species die-offs since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago” (Center for Biological Diversity). Among all the species, there are still animals that have a hope of living the next generation. Despite being threatened they are not endangered. The orca whale, commonly known as the killer whale is a prime example. To date approximately 50,000 orca populations thrive though out the world. Previously the world wide estimate was double that, at 100,000 (Kirby). It has been found in resent studies that the orca population is decreasing due to many hardships they face such as toxins, captivity, and depletion of food.
In the history of the earth there have been five known mass extinctions (9, 12). The destruction of the dinosaurs is called the Cretaceous Tertiary extinction, also known as the K-T extinction (12). The extinction of the K-T happened 65.5 million years ago (9), caused by a huge meteorite hitting the Earth (12) and causing dust to block the sun (9, 12). Without sunlight, it became cold and food was scarce. Approximately 200 million years ago, the Triassic-Jurassic extinction occurred (9, 12). Grand scale of volcanic activity was the cause (12), which resulted in lava burning the organisms, environmental destruction, and food scarce. The Permian-Triassic extinction occurred 205 million years ago; also affected by volcanic activity (12). The result
Scientists calculate that without humans about one to five species would die a year, which is considered the background rate of extinction. But in our current society human activities are destroying many of the chances these animals need to survive. We as a planet are killing species at
Since the beginning of life itself, some species have lived and prospered while other species have gone extinct never to be seen again by mankind. Because of this, some would claim that extinction is natural and not significantly problematic to the world that we live in. Others, however, understand that due to climate change, habitat loss, and poaching, more and more species are becoming endangered which leads to a chain reaction that can be devastating to ecosystems. Species such as the Chinook salmon, gorillas, tropical sharks, and polar bears are all directly affected by climate change, species such as northern spotted owls, Sumatran tigers, and lemurs are greatly harmed due to habitat loss, and species such as the sea turtle, Javan rhinoceros, African elephant, and the Red-Fronted Macaw are all affected by poaching driving them all closer and closer to becoming extinct.
Dinosaur extinction: An analysis of events and theories that possibly led to the dinosaurs' demise.
Many species vital to ensuring that today’s environment will thrive are becoming extinct. If a species is slowly dwindling, and in imminent danger of becoming nonexistent, this species is considered to be endangered. “One in four mammals, one in eight birds, one third of all amphibians and 70% of the world’s assessed plants on the… IUCN Red List are in jeopardy” (IUCN, 2016). According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, upwards of 16,000 species are threatened with extinction, including both plants and animals (IUCN, 2016). Before becoming endangered, a species will show warning signs, either by starting to lose biological diversity or by losing the habitats for that species to flourish in, or in the worst case, both. The word endangered can sometimes be confused with threatened, extirpated, or extinct. Extirpated refers to the state of a species where its population has died out in a certain area or range, but other populations of said species still exist elsewhere (Olden, Julian D., 2008). When a species is considered threatened, or vulnerable, this refers to the state of the species being susceptible to endangerment and extinction (“Extinction crisis escalates”). So if a species is threatened, the first signs of endangerment come along, which are similar signs to that of a species in danger of becoming threatened, including lack of genetic diversity, or overhunting may be evident. (“Extinction crisis escalates”). When a species is labelled
There have been five well known extinctions on this earth. The one most well known is the mass extinction that ended the dinosaurs. Mass extinction is often described as the elimination of a large number of species in a short period of time. Despite what many think, the elimination of species is almost commonplace at this point. The Earth is currently in the middle of a sixth mass extinction, and it’s been caused by the human race.