5 ms·

The rate of ecological collapse far outpaces most organisms ability to evolve.

• Mikeb85 7y ago
  Does it? Normally I hate to be the guy to ask for some sort of citation but on this subject, all I hear is doom and gloom yet none of the dire predictions ever come to fruition.
  • srmatto 7y ago
    Aren't we currently living through a mass extinction? That seems like a reasonable proxy for "outpaces most organisms ability to evolve." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction
    • Mikeb85 7y ago
      That article defines a "mass extinction event" as 75% of species dying off within a specific timeframe, but then goes on to say that 50% of species might be extinct by the end of the century. Later it says 7% of species have gone extinct. Far cry from 75%.
      • gizmo686 7y ago
        The end of the centuary is only 80 years away, or ~4 human gereations. There are humans alive today that will experience it. In geological time, that is practically nothing. The artivle you are refring to also says that the current rate of extinction is 10-100x that if previus mass extinctions. Unless you have some reason to believe we will manage to stop the ongoing ectinction event, then it will be a mass extinction by the time it is done; hence saying that we are in it.
      • abathur 7y ago
        What kind of timeframe do you imagine they mean?