Several warnings have been issued by various scientists all over the globe involving mass extinction of species. It has been presented beyond reasonable doubts that human actions are the major contributing factor to this fourth-coming mass extinction. A scientist in his article points out that, we are currently in the middle of the sixth major extinction event which has been caused by the actions of humans. I agree with the statement as there are several shreds of evidence and research findings that prove and support this fact.
Studies suggest that extinction of different species occur almost every day. These extinctions are happening fast even in the current scene. The current extinction that is spearheaded by the actions of humans on the planet has been referred to as the sixth major extinction. The other five major extinctions that have taken place before were recognized as the worst in the history of the Earth. The losses in the past century only account for 1% of roughly fifty thousand known vertebrate species. It has also been noted with a lot of concern that the current rate of extinction is faster than the original standards of; one to five species per year. Scientists have compared it to the one that occurred 65 million years ago; that wiped out the dinosaur species.
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Over the centuries, different categories of species (vertebrates for instance) have increased in number, decreased in number while some have clearly diminished out of the earth. For example, the mammalian kingdom remained to be a minor group up to about fifty million years after the origin. The mammalian population later increased drastically up to current date. This is justified as during the earliest periods; the earth was highly populated by giant creatures such as the dinosaurs which devoured the mammals and the decline gave rise to the increase and spread of other mammals. This pattern of increase is referred to radiation ( Payne and Clapham, 2012) .
There are several theories that support radiation. The competition theory suggests that a later group or species comes along, out-smarts the first group and eventually drives it away to extinction. An example is a grey squirrel in Britain which is out-competing the native red squirrel. The independent replacement theory suggests that the first group declined and became extinct as a result of reasons such as environmental changes. The second group came to be, only after the first group had seized to exist. Therefore, major evolution replacements of one higher taxon by the other may be as a result of competitive ecological displacement or a decline of an early group for another reason followed by the radiation of the second group.
The sixth era of extinction has also seen radiations of different species and groups; including humans as examples. Over the current millennium, humans have radiated all over the globe, and their population is increasing each day. Radiation of human to occupy a larger ecological niche is mainly due to civilization and knowledge. The two aspects have been key to exploration, population increase and expansion of human potentials. Other groups such as those protected or kept by human e.g. the domesticated animals have also grown in population while others such the rhino family has been noted to be diminishing slowly in number, in different parts of the world. On the other hand, radiation of humans has also led to various causes of mass extinction of many other species and groups as asserted by Chen and Benton (2012) .
One form of extinction in an ecosystem or habitat is quite critical in that, an absence of a particular species present another species with conditions such as starvation. This, therefore, leads to an escalating or an alternating pattern of extinction whereby the loss of a species causes the dramatic loss of another. Humans in this era, also contribute to this form of species extinction in several ways.
The sixth major mass extinction has been brought on by humankind in many different ways. These may consist of direct and indirect influence. People contribute to the mass destruction of species through the destruction of vegetation e.g. forests; through pollution of the general environment; the increasing human population and several other ways. Humans have contributed to mass destruction indirectly by contributing to changes in sea levels and melting of ice and also through climate change.
Pollution is a general term in that it covers a broad range of perspectives on the environment. The primary forms of pollution include air pollution, soil, and water. In all cases, many species are affected and depending on the particular causative of contamination; their extinction may as well be guaranteed ( Antonelli and SANMARTin, 2011) .
The main causes of soil and water pollution are industrial wastes, domestic wastes, and sewages. When these are released into water sources such lakes, a large group of species may be affected. These may cause the death of dependent water organism including fish which is highly valued and required by the same humans who cause their destruction at the same time. Soil pollution destroys the environment in a lot of ways. Several plant species get destroyed through soil pollution. Animals whose habitats are in the ground may also perish in the process of pollution. Nevertheless, pollution may cause the extinction humanity in the coming centuries as we are also victims of the resultant effects of pollution.
The human population has grown drastically in the recent times acquiring a larger space on the globe's surface than any other vertebrates. The ever increasing population is a significant threat to the existence of other mammals especially the ones that are involved in the form of competition for resources with humans. Some areas that were formerly inhabited or set aside for wild animals, for instance, are now occupied by people. As more people look to expand and create more habitats, more other species are displaced to unbearable habitats which may lead to their extinction. Since humans are omnivores, we depend on vegetables, fruits, and meat. This is to say, as human population increases drastically, there may arise a situation whereby, the plants (vegetables) and animals (those eaten by humankind) start to decline.
Destruction of the vegetation by humans is another contributing factor. People destroy the vegetation for several reasons such as clearing the vegetation for settlement and also for energy sources. Destroying plants may lead to the extinction of the endangered tree species. Destruction of the vegetation also relates to the lack of food sources for especially for the herbivores.
Climate change and the melting of the ice at the south and north poles have topics of concern over the decades. Human actions have significantly contributed to these mainly through air pollution where dangerous chemicals including carbon dioxide, are released into the atmosphere mostly by factories. High concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes the depletion of the ozone layer hence leading to global warming, which is a major contributing factor for the melting of ice. Depletion of the ozone layer also causes unbearable climate changes over periods of time. Moreover, dangerous gasses released mainly by factories have a lot of other effects on different species. One of these effects is the acid rain that may ruin plant and animal life both in the soil and water volumes.
Humans have been and are still involved in practices that may lead to large species extinction in the near centuries. This sixth mass extinction of species can be avoided if the whole human population acknowledges the situation and new proper practices applied to reduce mass destruction.
References
Antonelli, A., & SANMARTin, I. S. A. B. E. L. (2011). Mass extinction, gradual cooling, or rapid radiation? Reconstructing the spatiotemporal evolution of the ancient angiosperm genus Hedyosmum (Chloranthaceae) using empirical and simulated approaches. Systematic Biology , 60 (5), 596-615.
Chen, Z. Q., & Benton, M. J. (2012). The timing and pattern of biotic recovery following the end-Permian mass extinction. Nature Geoscience , 5 (6), 375-383.
Payne, J. L., & Clapham, M. E. (2012). End-Permian mass extinction in the oceans: an ancient analog for the twenty-first century?. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences , 40 , 89-111.
