Throughout the history of Earth there have been a
number of mass extinctions caused by various
catastrophic events, including meteorite collisions and
volcanic eruptions. It is recognized that there have
been five great extinctions. Earth is now experiencing
the Sixth Great Extinction, and it is being caused by
one species: Humans. From the depths of the oceans to
the tops of the mountains, among the smallest living
things to the largest, life is rapidly dying. The chief
cause of modern extinction is the massive use of fossil
fuels. Humans are digging deeper into and mining vast
areas of the planet to extract petroleum, coal, and
natural gas. The burning of fossil fuels is causing
rapid climate change, desertification, the melting of
polar ice, and the warming and acidification of the
seas. The number one use of fossil fuels relates to
food. The chief components of pollution and
environmental destruction relating to food are the
breeding of billions of farmed animals, using most of
the farmland on every continent to grow food for those
animals, and destroying topsoil, meadows, wetlands,
plains, streams, aquifers, and forests to expand the
livestock industry, and the grain industry that feeds
it. The seas are being rapidly depleted of fish,
crustaceans, and marine mammals, and this is because of
overfishing and the taking of billions of creatures from
the oceans to use as fertilizer to grow food for and to
include as protein in the feed given to billions of
farmed animals, including farmed fish. Every year, a
variety of life forms, including sea creatures, land
animals, birds, amphibians, and plants become closer to
extinction, or do become extinct. The chief cause
relates to human choices for food and fuel. What role
are you playing in the Sixth Great Extinction? |
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