Sixth Mass Genesis: The Rise and Fall of Species
Sixth Mass Genesis: The Rise and Fall of Species
Sixth Mass Genesis: The Rise and Fall of Species
amounts of water and amino acids with it. Life began in the form of single-cell bacteria. Since
then, bacteria have developed into more complex forms though different beings have also become
extinct.
Geologists divide the periods into a number of eras based on the fossil records. There are
only five eras which have drastically reduced the population of living beings on earth to warrant
the label of mass extinction. According to Barnosky, species go extinct all the time. But new
species also evolve constantly, which means that biodiversity usually stays constant. Mass
extinctions happen when that balance goes out of whack. Unexpectedly, extinctions far outpace
the genesis of new species, and the old rules for species survival go out the window.
Many recent books, notably Elizabeth Kolbert's “The Sixth Extinction”, have documented
the vanished species and explored the idea that we might be entering a new period of human-
caused mass extinction — the kind of biological annihilation so massive, that left an obvious scar
on the fossil record.
They found that the overall rate of extinction is, in fact, between three to 80 times higher
than non-mass extinction rates. Most likely, species are going extinct three to 12 times faster than
would be expected if there were no crisis. (Ferrer, 2018) The current rate is 1,000 to 10,000 times
faster, approaching one species per hour. A recent report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
revealed that worldwide, population declines of mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles have averaged
60% in the last 40 years. In addition, global trends in insect populations are not known but rapid
declines in some locations have also been well documented.
All these suggest around a million species now face extinction within decades, a rate of
destruction tens to hundreds of times higher than the average over the past years. The earth is now
entering its sixth mass extinction event. The big question here is, “Is the pace of evolution in
wildlife we're seeing today over these short time intervals usual or unusual? Is it ethical for us
humans to influence the alteration of the homelands of the massive number of wildlife?”
The "worldwide web" might have referred to the complex systems of connections between
living organisms and their environments before the internet. We often refer to it as the food web,
though it includes many more factors than just diet. The living web, like a tapestry, is held together
not by tacks or glue, but by interdependence—one strand stays in place because it is entwined with
many others.
The same concept keeps our planet working. Plants, animals and humans depend on each
other as well as microorganisms, land, water, and climate to keep our entire system alive and well.
Remove one piece, one species, and small changes lead to big problems that aren't easy to fix.
"When you remove one element from a fragile ecosystem, it has far-reaching and long-lasting
effects on biodiversity." (WWF, n.d.)
In most major land-based habitats, the average abundance of native species has fallen by
at least 20 percent, mostly since 1900. More than 40% of amphibian species, nearly 33% of reef-
forming corals, and more than one-third of all marine mammals are endangered. Since the 16th
century, at least 680 vertebrate species have been driven to extinction and by 2016, more than 9%
of all domesticated breeds of mammals used for food and agriculture have become extinct, with at
least 1,000 more breeds still at threatened. (IPBES, 2019)