More and more species are becoming extinct and on the endangered species list. The main culprit is humans. This is caused by deforestation, poaching, and neglection. As a result of these actions, species are disappearing at a massive rate. There have been five mass extinctions and the last one wiped out the dinosaurs.A mass extinction is defined as a widespread and rapid decrease in the amount of life on Earth. Mass extinctions are normal it’s how the environment equals itself out.
We are upon the sixth mass extinction, but what makes this alarming is this mass extinction isn’t due for another thousand years. Once again humans are to blame for this next mass extinction. According to Cnn.com, Dr. Ceballos studies predicts that in just two generations, 75 percent of species will be extinct. Junior Zoe Emmons feels a change needs to be made.
“I think that we definitely need to drastically reduce the pollution rates. This means increasing the amount of things we recycle while decreasing the amount of trash we put into landfills. We should continue to make more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly cars. I think that we should begin switching over to wind,water, and light powered mechanisms,” Emons said.
Many people don’t believe there will be any severe repercussion from a mass extinction.
“People think nothing bad will come from species loss, because scientists can’t predict exactly how many need to go extinct before the world collapses… The problem is that our environment is like a brick wall. It will hold if you pull individual bricks, but eventually it takes just one to make it suddenly fall apart,” Ceballos said.
Biology teacher Rod Tickle thinks that environments can be broken.
“I think that there’s environments that are local can fall apart. Key stone species have a big impact on their environments; if it dies it affects lots of other species,” Tickle said.
Tickle also views that a change in attitude will be better for the environment.
“Why wouldn’t we try to protect our environment? You would protect your home from termites. You would protect your home from leaks by putting on a new roof,”Tickle said.
To prevent another mass extinction people as a whole need to seek action. Not everyone will be on board, but overtime this will slowly fall into place and people will become aware of the growing crisis on earth.
