What is sixth extinction?
Channel: Down To Earth
Date: 2015-07-23

Will humans survive the sixth extinction?

These are just a handfull of species amongst hundreds that have vanished from the face of the planet in the last 200 years. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources estimates that up to 617 species may have vanished from the planet in the last 500 years or so. And the bad news is that about 77 per cent of these species may have perished since the beginning of the 20th century.

And the primary reason for their extinction has been us, the human race.

But hold on. Is extinction not a natural process? Is Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest wrong? Are we witnessing a new trend in the last 500 years.
Well… Darwin is not wrong. And extinction is a natural phenomenon. But the rate of extinction  in recent years is so high that some scientists call it “catastrophic”, and draw paralleles with mass extinction events in the past.

Then what is the difference between natural extinction and mass extinction events? And…why are scientists so concerned about the current rate of extinction?