The Impact Of Climate Change And The Role Of Humans On The Threat Of Mass Extinction On Earth

Earth illustration. (iPhoto: Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Environmental issues have become the most worrying thing for the sustainability of human life on earth. A study from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Red List of Threatened Species, and BirdLife International, found that Earth may be on the verge of a mass extinction event. One of the reasons, of course, is human involvement

This extinction situation also continues to this day. Even according to records in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, more than 500 land animal species worldwide are near extinction and could disappear in the next 20 years. Scientists estimate that 99 percent of all living organisms that have ever lived on earth are now extinct. This is because the planet's natural ecosystems are constantly evolving and as the environment changes, certain older species will begin to fade away.

The number of extinctions estimated in the next two decades actually has a possibility of extinction in thousands of years, were it not for the negative impacts of human activities.

Humans in Mass Extinction

Likewise, research from the University of Hawai'i in Mānoa and the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris also reveals that this extinction threat is driven by human action and not natural disasters. Research reveals that 7.5 percent to 13 percent of the two million different living organisms that inhabit this planet are now extinct. Even in more detail, the researchers calculated that between 150.000 and 260.000 species on land, sea, or air would no longer be found by 2022.

Pangolin, one of the most endangered animal species. (Photo: Canva/Euronews.com)

"The drastic increases in species extinction rates and decreases in the abundance of many animal and plant populations are well documented, but some deny that these phenomena are tantamount to mass extinctions," said Robert Cowie, principal investigator and research professor at the UH Mānoa Pacific Biosciences Research Center. BBC.com, Friday (4/2/2022). Are Mass Extinctions Something to Worry About?

Scientists explain that this mass extinction should not be underestimated. They predict this one extinction could occur in a timeframe, unlike many previous mass extinctions. If previously it took millions of years, for what we are facing today could change massively in just one human lifetime. This leads to a series of extinction in the near future, which could have catastrophic effects on natural ecosystems.

List of several types of animals that are threatened with extinction. (Photo: Activewid.com)

The closest evidence has been shown by the IUCN that 388 species of land vertebrates have populations of less than 5.000, and 84 percent are mainly found in areas where other species have populations of less than 1.000. With this threat, experts warn that 'extinction breeds extinction' because of the living species. also have an effect on life forms that have become extinct.