3 ms·
Most of the comments here are talking about previous predictions that failed to come true. the current species extinction rate is estimated to be orders of mag
by shoo 9y ago
Most of the comments here are talking about previous predictions that failed to come true.
the current species extinction rate is estimated to be orders of magnitude higher than the baseline rate. I.e. this is not a prediction of the future, this is an estimate of what has been happening in recent history, based on observations of reality.
- kbutler 9y agoBut it's biased toward large animals we can see, especially charismatic animals. We don't see a collapse of the network of life that is a characteristic of the mass extinctions in the paleo record. “People who claim we’re in the sixth mass extinction don’t understand enough about mass extinctions to understand the logical flaw in their argument,” he said. “To a certain extent they’re claiming it as a way of frightening people into action, when in fact, if it’s actually true we’re in a sixth mass extinction, then there’s no point in conservation biology.” https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/the-ends-of-the-world/529545/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/the-ends...