Our Crucial Role In Extinct Species

Humans and Extinction

It is neither meteorites, or climate change, or any other natural phenomenon. Those responsible, in this case, are humans. Humans have led Earth to its sixth wave of mass extinction, as witnessed by most scientists in a comprehensive study of various universities led by University College London United Kingdom, Stanford and California universities in Santa Barbara USA and scientific institutions from different countries collected by the magazine Science, which highlight the evident fact that the current biodiversity of the planet is in serious danger.

More than 320 terrestrial vertebrates and the species that survive have become extinct since 1500, their population has decreased an average of 25%. Invertebrates suffer the same fate.

We are facing the first steps of the sixth wave of mass biological extinction on the planet, in which insects, spiders or worms, so important in our daily life such as pollination, pest control of crops or the decomposition and cycle of nutrients have suffered a decline such that their loss and deterioration do no more than attest to the worrying situation in which we find ourselves.

This loss in the number of invertebrates is due, above all, to

global climate change and habitat loss. Their decline in numbers jeopardizes nature's ability to provide humans with the elements they need to live. We were shocked to discover similar losses in invertebrates to those of larger animals, as it was previously thought that invertebrates were more resistant.

Although we do not fully understand what the long-term impact of the decrease in these numbers will be, we are currently in the potentially dangerous position of losing an integral part of ecosystems without knowing what role they play, says Ben Collen, leader of the study.  

By Ignacio Negrette,

 Step 8 Blue Project