What is the 6th mass extinction and how can we stop it?

Millions of years ago, dinosaurs roamed the planet but now they are extinct. The disappearance of these ferocious animals was, in fact, the 5th major extinction that the Earth had been through, and we are now on the verge of a sixth: the Holocene Extinction.

Mass extinction is when three quarters of all species vanish, forever. Unlike previous mass extinctions, the Holocene extinction is due to humans. Many scientists consider the sixth extinction to have begun with early hominids (hom-in-ids) during The Pleistocene (plies-toh-seen), which is the time period that began approximately 2.6 million years ago and lasted 11,700 years. They believe that humans began this extinction by over-killing big mammals such as mammoths.

Anthony Barnosky, a renowned ecologist, explained that humans have 20 years, at most, to make changes about nature in order to avoid the sixth extinction. 


But here’s what needs to happen, according to the experts…

We need to stop burning fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels and chopping down rainforests is heating up the atmosphere, creating trouble for all corners of the natural world. To avert the worst of climate change, we have to limit warming to 2 degrees celsius at most. For this, the world has to be off fossil fuels this century. 

Stanford researches have shown that we can do this with existing technology such as solar, wind and nuclear.

Some of the world's most iconic species, particularly the elephant and rhino, are threatened with extinction simply because people are slaughtering these creatures to sell their body parts on the black market. This needs to stop.

Efforts in the past to shut down these markets have been grossly inadequate as the black market in environmental products is estimated to be making up to $258 billion per year. Experts say that better law enforcement is essential in order to stop poaching. Consumers need to put an end to buying these illegal and harmful goods. 

When the buying of these parts stop, the killing will too.

We are on the brink of a mass-extinction crisis that could potentially wipe out all humans. We need to face this problem once and for all- carrying a metal straw instead of plastic or not blasting the aircon may be beneficial but it’s not enough. 

Whoever you may be, it’s time for you to make a difference...