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The article itself and the referenced sources go into more detail about the species that have gone extinct and the probable causes for that, human behaviour bei
by KronisLV 6y ago
The article itself and the referenced sources go into more detail about the species that have gone extinct and the probable causes for that, human behaviour being suspect (habitat destruction, overexploitation, agriculture, climate change; though things such as disease are also mentioned). As for the estimated numbers, at least one such study[0][1] is mentioned:
> A 2018 study published in PNAS found that since the dawn of human civilization, 83% of wild mammals, 80% of marine mammals, 50% of plants and 15% of fish have vanished.
As for the biomass distribution percentages, you might as well be right! Fig. 1. in the linked study really puts things into perspective, though, animal life being pretty miniscule in the grand scale of things, when compared to plants, bacteria and other types of biomass, which is quite interesting! Growing up, i never saw estimates such as these, which really make me conscious of just how big of an impact humans (and their lifestyle choices, such as the demand for meat) could have on other species and the ecosystems as a whole, hence me mentioning it as something interesting.
[0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6016768/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6016768/
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/21/human-race-just-001-of-all-life-but-has-destroyed-over-80-of-wild-mammals-study https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/21/human-ra...