When it comes to the footprint we leave on this ever-shrinking globe, we humans wear some pretty big clodhoppers – size 13, triple wide. From space, man’s impact on our world is clearly visible. Bill Mckibben in his book, The End of Nature, writes that there is nowhere on Earth that man’s reach is unfelt. Even our aerial sea, Earth’s atmosphere, is out of tilt. All around us, wilderness is vanishing as development bleeds into our forests, mountains, deserts, wetlands, and savannahs.

The plants and animals that rely on these declining habitats are suffering mightily from our actions. Scientists believe we are experiencing the “sixth wave of extinction,” a species diminution that appears to be the direct handiwork of humankind. Experts estimate that the current extinction rate is somewhere between 100 and 1,000 times higher than historic background rates (others say it is even higher, up to 10,000 times the usual background extinction rate – one species per million per year).

You can find the rest of this article at www.cackel.com

Related posts:

  1. Extinction in Biology and Ecology: A Problem that Keeps Getting Worse
  2. Habitat Loss a Challenge for Inland Valley Area