6th Mass Extinction

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/

Where do I begin with news this troubling? 

Our planet is headed towards our next mass extinction and the only ones we have to blame for this is ourselves. Every day, humans consume meat products, sit idly in their cars with them running, and litter / pollute the environment while knowing that these things are ontributing to the earths decline.

It is being reported that we are headed towards our sixth mass extinction. What does this mean exactly? This means that animals and plants are becoming extinct at almost 1000 times the natural rate. Unlike past mass extinctions that were attributed to climate shifts, asteroids, and volcanic eruptions, this extinction is nearly 99% human influenced. This is to say that the root cause of what could essentially be wiping a third of all animals off the planet is us. Our actions are directly responsible for the loss of animals / plantlife. How disturbing is this?

I think what bothers me most about hearing this sort of news is the lax approach our leaders are taking to reducing carbon emmissions. Every nation is making a pledge to reduce x amount of emmissions by x date but frankly, with a mass extinction potentially taking place by the middle of the century we need to be taking far more drastic measures.

Knowing what we know about how our actions are affecting the planet, why are we making a pledge to reduce 10% by 2025 for example? That's hardly enough to help our current situation. We need to be taking drastic measures to reduce our emmissions a lot faster than this. Our planets animals are counting on us to make big changes immediately and pledging to do ANYTHING needs to be done much faster if we intend to make any kind of a difference before it's too late. 

It sickens me to know that this potential extinction is almost 100% our fault. For every day I spend trying to help animals, roughly 12 species go extinct. How alarming is that? 

I honestly fear for our planet. I fear that animals like Giraffes or Dolphins are going to be things our children / nephews & nieces can only read about. I fear that our air quality will suffer more and more with the amount of trees, plants, and rainforests we are demolishing rapidly. I fear that all of our "pleding to help" is going to be in vain as it was addressed FAR TOO LATE.

As for me, I'll continue advocating for animals. I'll continue stressing the importance of recycling and never littering. I'll continue to fight for this planet's animals and for the planet period while I still can. I just fear that we have pushed the planet to the brink and we might be too late to make a difference and that's a seriously scary thought.


HAPPY VEG