...dozens of species are disappearing every single day. That rate is so staggering that experts say Earth is experiencing a sixth mass extinction. Officials are working hard to curb it, but that's so far proved difficult. Unlike the previous five extinctions, this one has been caused almost entirely by humans.
http://www.fox25boston.com/news/trending-now/more-animals-getting-legal-protection-now-for-the-bad-news/452792007
Over the past several weeks, officials worldwide have signed new protections for dozens of animal species. That sounds like good news, and it is. But it also indicates a bigger, and badder, trend.
In late September, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added dozens of new animals to the endangered list , which gives federal protection to threatened species.
The addition included several types of bees , the only venomous snake in the state of Michigan and 49 species in Hawaii.
That same week, more than 100 countries agreed on a worldwide ban on the trade of pangolins, which are facing the threat of extinction due to the fact that they're the most trafficke d mammal in the world.
Shortly before that, an unrelated study found most of the world's largest animals — think rhinos, gorillas and tigers — could go extinct in the next 80 years , largely as a result of ecosystem destruction.
The reason these animals need protection isn't because their names were drawn out of a hat; it's because the world is seeing the most severe biodiversity crisis in a very, very long time .
So many animal populations have decreased at such a rate that the only way to prevent more damage is to increase protection efforts across the globe.
Of course, animal extinction is a natural occurrence. The Center for Biological Diversity says it's normal to lose one to five species per year.
But right now, the center estimates species are disappearing between 1,000 and 10,000 times that rate, which means dozens of species are disappearing every single day.
That rate is so staggering that experts say Earth is experiencing a sixth mass extinction. Officials are working hard to curb it, but that's so far proved difficult. Unlike the previous five extinctions, this one has been caused almost entirely by humans.
Important issue.
I have been following this issue for over 30 years and it only gets worse. When I did a teachers education program at the Bronx Zoo, I was horrified to find out how many animals were on the endangered list, and near endangered list.. now that list has more than doubled. What most people don't get (and often because they don't see) is that ecosystems have a balance and every animal is part of that balance. Removed one and it affects another. Some can adapt, but most can't and so they die off.
Also the deforestation of the rainforest, is devastating to the earth as a whole. When people talk about CO2 increases, a lot of that can be attributed to the destruction of the rainforest. Also the plants that live there, provide many cures for disease. We are only just beginning to understand how they contribute to medicine.
This is a worldwide problem and we really need to address in that way, to prevent anymore devastation. But the sad truth is that if there is a profit to be made, it will continue.
If we had a well functioning United Nations that would be the place to start addressing this.
If we stop paying welfare queens to spit out kids we can begin to address this. The root of the problem is the human population explosion. We need to return the responsibility for children to the parents so they will reduce the number of newborns.
I believe Panda Bears have been taken OFF the endangered list, due to a huge effort on the part of the Chinese to care for them.
Unlike the previous five extinctions, this one has been caused almost entirely by humans.
How sad is that...