Humans on Verge of Causing 6th Great Mass Extinction

[cynatnite]

snip:
Mass extinctions include events in which 75 percent of the species on Earth disappear within a geologically short time period, usually on the order of a few hundred thousand to a couple million years. It's happened only five times before in the past 540 million years of multicellular life on Earth. (The last great extinction occurred 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs were wiped out.) At current rates of extinction, the study found, Earth will enter its sixth mass extinction within the next 300 to 2,000 years.

snip:
The researchers worked to combine these two sources of data, Ferrer said, taking a conservative approach to filling in gaps and estimating future directions. 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 said.

That gives Earth between three and 22 centuries to reach the point of mass extinction if nothing is done to stop the problem. (The wide range is a factor of the uncertainty in the data and different rates of extinction found in various species.) The good news, Barnosky said, is that the total loss so far is not devastating. In the last 200 years, the researchers found, only 1 to 2 percent of all species have gone extinct.

snip:
The culprits for the biodiversity loss include climate change, habitat loss, pollution and overfishing, the researchers wrote.

"Most of the mechanisms that are occurring today, most of them are caused by us," Ferrer said.

So can we fix it? Yes, there's time to cut dependence on fossil fuels, alleviate climate change and commit to conservation of habitat, the study scientists say. The more pressing question is, will we?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/humansonvergeofcausing6thgreatmassextinction

[provis99]

1. the planet will survive, even if humans don't.

Maybe rats and cockroaches will have better luck at ruling the planet.

[MoonRiver]

7. Rats and cockroaches are better caretakers than humans.

Personally I want the gentle and sentient whales to take over.

[elocs]

2. Nothing will be done to address the problem until it is too late.

They won't even do anything to address the consequences of the problem until it is too late.

[MedleyMisty]

4. Yep

Just like what we've done here. What, fascist psychopaths taking over the country? I don't see nuthin'!

And now it's too late, so of course now we look around and notice that something's wrong. Some of us. Most still don't realize it or care.

Some days, I really do not like our species. If we're too stupid to live, fine. But it hurts my soul that we're taking so much other life with us.

[Countdown_3_2_1]

3. Colonize space.

move the multitude away from the earth and make it a protected park.

Let private business mine the asteroid belt, and they will finance the move to space (through taxes).

We have the technology to terraform Mars right now, we just can't afford to get the materials out there. All that will change if there is money to be made. The West was colonized by people seeking gold. The same will work with space. Give people an incentive to go and they will.

Overpopulation, pollution, a multitude of problems can be solved with an endless frontier. Political differences, religious differences will disappear with open stars and worlds to build independent colonies upon.

Once man moves into space, no single event can destroy us. No asteroid, nova, or devastating war will destroy everything we have built. Our history, music, art and culture will survive no mater what.

Space is the solution.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

5. Yeah. Let's go fuck up the rest of the universe.

Because that is what would happen. We'd be like those aliens in those Sci Fi movies who go from planet to planet raping and destroying them.

[Countdown_3_2_1]

6. Our destiny is to go into space.

There no reason to believe we would mess up the universe.

[MoonRiver]

8. No reason?!

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

9. Um, Rednecks in space.

Nuff Said!

[Countdown_3_2_1]

12. Enlightened progressives in space too...

on our own planet with our own rules. and no one telling us what to do.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

13. Good luck with that.

Probably won't happen. Honestly, watch Firefly/Serenity. THAT is most likely the reality of us going into space.

[xmas74]

25. Think they could haul

all those junk cars with them?

[Sal Minella]

19. This would be funny if it weren't so sad.

The OP is considering the way mindless human activities are driving multitudes other life forms on this planet into extinction, and your concern is "Our history, music, art and culture will survive" --

Personally, I would trade any number of Andy Warhol paintings to get the Galapagos tortoises back.

[Countdown_3_2_1]

20. Moving people into space will lighten the load upon the environment here.

Further, we can take and keep genetic samples now and bring them back on a 100 different planets.

The most valuable planets will not be earth-like with life. They will be earth-like without life. we can give new homes for every animal on earth. We can replant earth life to a 1000 worlds.

There is NOTHING sad about the possibilities here.

[Sal Minella]

22. On the contrary,

planning on screwing up another hundred planets the same way we've screwed up this one is INFINITELY sad, and I'm sorry you can't seem to understand that.

[Countdown_3_2_1]

23. We are made of star-stuff

Fear not for the future, Stay here if you want. I'm going to terraform Mars and stand in the breeze.

Man will not stay on earth forever. We will go into space. Destiny. Man will colonize a thousand thousand worlds, and after that there will be no fewer places to go. The future is wonderful. Do not fear it.

Space will be better for man. Carl Sagan said, "Humans are made of star-stuff. We are the way for the universe to know itself."

[tex-wyo-dem]

24. Well...

the movie Avatar comes to mind...

As long as the human experience is dominated by ego, power and greed, we have the capacity to fuck everything up.

[AsahinaKimi]

10. Space is a big place...

In case you haven't noticed.. It would be like a micro sized dirty spot appearing in your other wise clean swimming pool.

[RufusTFirefly]

14. Both our planet and our oceans were once considered big places

That's why we dumped and spewed with reckless abandon. We figured we had plenty of room. Now look where we are.

[AsahinaKimi]

15. Well ... yes however

UNLESS someone comes up with the WARP DRIVE..we are not going too far to threaten this universe.

[Countdown_3_2_1]

18. The next 1000 years will be the colonization of the Solar system

I don't think we will have warp drive before then. but that's just speculation on my part.
Land will be cheaper in space and minerals infinitely more abundant. I think by this time a majority will be living in space, not on earth.

[AsahinaKimi]

21. Well I sincerely hope so!

But as to polluting the entire Universe.. I rather doubt it. Size manners. I would like to hope some day we will have our own *Zephram Cochrane.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zefram_Cochrane

[The_Commonist]

16. We will go into space.

Or we will die off.
Soon.

[Maine_Nurse]

11. Well, it'll save some alien race the trouble of exterminating us to protect the universe.

[bemildred]

17. This story is about 15,000 years too late. nt