The 6th Mass Extinction is under way

international | environment | other press Wednesday October 11, 2006 15:19 by Terence

Audio of talk by David Ulanseys

In this audio of a talk given by David Ulaneys outlines the current 6th mass extinction which is now well under way. This was the consensus reached by 400 of the worlds leading biologists and ecologists as surveyed by the New York's American Museum of Natural History back in 1998.

He outlines how at least 50% of all species will be extinct in 100 years, but this is without Global Warming, but including it, brings it up to two-thirds. And if Global Warming turns to Global Heating due to runaway feedbacks as suggested by Stephen Hawking and James Lovelock then all bets are off.

In his talk he gives various facts and figures covering the current precarious state of many of the large mammals like lions, apes, bears etc. He says the basic fabric of life is unravelling. And points to how the issue of denial and this is a massive problem. We are currently living in a deluded fantasy world at the moment as we go about our business.

He also points out how so little money is given to conservation yet 100s of billions has already been spent on destroying Iraq to achieve nothing.

He goes on to point out that people like David Suzuki and E.O.Wilson (probably considered the world's greatest naturalist) says they don't know what to do -when he asked them. He says it is not individuals that have the answer, but all of us together.......

.....but then that is the nub of the problem getting people to agree there is a severe problem...

To listen to the audio / talk click on this link:
http://www.well.com/user/davidu/ulansey11-6-04.m3u

And to visit David Ulanseys website covering the mass extinction which has a wealth of backup information, studies and links, see the URL below. On his website he actually doesn't write anything about himself so as to focus instead on the issue at hand and therefore quotes others.

Some extracts from the site:

The rapid disappearance of species was ranked as one of the planet's gravest environmental worries, surpassing pollution, global warming and the thinning of the ozone layer, according to the survey of 400 scientists commissioned by New York's American Museum of Natural History.


AND a note about dissenters


Among non-scientists, meanwhile, the subject appears to have made relatively little impression. Sixty percent of the laymen polled professed little or no familiarity with the concept of biological diversity, and barely half ranked species loss as a "major threat."


And here's a sample from his website, of the titles which give an indication of the scale of what is actually happening right now:


Earth Faces Sixth Mass Extinction (New Scientist-- 2004)
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION by Richard Leakey
The Sixth Extinction (National Geographic Magazine)
The Sixth Extinction (American Museum of Natural History)
Wake-Up Call on Extinction Wave (British Royal Society-- 2003)
GLOBAL EXTINCTION CRISIS CONFIRMED-- 2000 IUCN Red List Released
Mass Extinction Pace Quickening: Red List 2000 Released (N.Y. Times)
Headlong Drive to Mass Extinction-- 2002 Red List Released (Toronto Globe and Mail)
12,000 Threatened Species: "Only Scratching the Surface"-- 2003 Red List Released (U.K. Guardian)
15,589 Threatened Species: "Greatly Underestimates True Number"-- 2004 Red List Released (MSNBC)
16,119 Threatened Species-- 40% of Evaluated Species Are Threatened-- 2006 Red List (IUCN-- 2006)
Global Warming Threatens Extinction of One Million Species (Nature-- 2004)
Huge Extinction Risks of Global Warming Confirmed (Reuters-- 2006)
By 2050 Global Warming Will Doom A Million Species (National Geographic-- 2004)
BRITISH STUDY CONFIRMS WORLDWIDE MASS EXTINCTION (Science-- 2004)
Two Thirds of World's Species May Be Threatened (EurekAlert/AAAS-- 2005)
1998 Comprehensive Data on Plant Extinction Rate (N.Y. Times)
1996 Comprehensive Data on Animal Extinction Rate (IUCN)
World's Biodiversity Becoming Extinct (International Botanical Congress)
Scientists Warn of Mass Extinction (Environmental News Network)
CNN Special Report on Mass Extinction
Human Impact Triggers Massive Extinctions (Environment News Service)
Unprecedented Extinction Rate (World Conservation Union)
The Current Mass Extinction (Scientific American)
Wave of Extinctions Sweeping the Planet (United Nations)
Biodiversity Under Siege (Environmental News Network)
World Facing Greatest Extinction Risk Since Dinosaurs Disappeared (IUCN)
The Current Mass Extinction (PBS)
Mammals, Fish, Birds, Amphibians, Reptiles Suffering Major Declines (Worldwatch)
ONE QUARTER OF MAMMALS FACE EXTINCTION WITHIN 30 YEARS (United Nations-- BBC-- 2002)
Global Picture of Death, Damage and Destruction (United Nations)
Grim Picture of Extinction (2003 World Parks Conference)
One Quarter Of All Mammal Species Face Extinction Soon (IUCN-- 2000)
One Quarter of Primates Will Be Extinct in 20 Years (London Times-- 2005)
One Third of Primates Face Extinction (BBC-- 2002)
Many Primates Face Extinction (CNN-- 2000)
Gorillas, Bonobos, and Chimpanzees 10 Years From Extinction (U.K. Observer)
Monkeys, Apes Are Being Eaten to Extinction (Associated Press)
Primate Extinction Surge (ABC)
Primates in Peril (CNN)
Mass Extinction of Freshwater Creatures Forecast (WWF Report)
World's Freshwater Systems in Peril (World Resources Institute)
90% OF ALL LARGE FISH GONE FROM WORLD'S OCEANS (Nature-- 2003)
PLANKTON DISAPPEARING FROM WORLD'S OCEANS (S.F. Chronicle-- 2003)
Sea Life in Peril: Plankton Vanishing (S.F. Chronicle-- 2005)
Rising Acidity of World's Oceans May Cause Marine Mass Extinction (London Times-- 2006)
Acidic Oceans Decimating Plankton and Coral (Washington Post-- 2006)
1,600 Marine Scientists Warn That The Sea Is In Peril (MCBI)
Entire North Atlantic Ocean on Verge of Collapse (New Scientist)
North Sea Undergoing Ecological Meltdown (U.K. Independent)
Last Chance For Southern Ocean (BBC)
Saltwater Species May Vanish (American Fisheries Society)
Ocean Dead Zones Pose Extinction Threat (American Chemical Society-- 2006)
Many Fish on Verge of Extinction (BBC)
WORLD'S AMPHIBIANS FACE EXTINCTION (Chicago Tribune-- 2006)
One Third of Amphibian Species Face Extinction (Washington Post-- 2004)
World Amphibian Populations Plummet Toward Extinction (AAAS)
Amphibians Declining Worldwide (Boston Globe)
40% of Amphibians in Americas Threatened (MSNBC-- 2005)
......

HALF OF EARTH'S PLANT SPECIES FACE EXTINCTION (Science)
50% of Europe's Plants Threatened by Warming (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences-- 2005)
Forests Face Global Extinction (United Nations)
Trees on the Verge of Mass Extinction (World Conservation Monitoring Centre)
Worldwide Plant Crisis Accelerating (E/Environmental Magazine)
Plants: Heading for Extinction (ABC News)
Threatened Wild Food Crops: "Terrifying" (U.K. Guardian-- 2006)
Plant Species Losses Threaten World's Food Supplies (BBC)
29% of Plant Species in U.S. Threatened (Chicago Botanic Garden)
20% of British Wild Plants Threatened With Extinction (British Government-- 2005)
Europe's Plant Species Threatened (IUCN)
1000's Of Medicinal Plants Being Harvested to Extinction (Australian Broadcasting Co.)
25% Of World's Conifers Threatened With Extinction (IUCN)
Half of Cycad Species (World's Oldest Seed Plants) Threatened (IUCN)
Many Palm Tree Species Threatened With Extinction (Smithsonian)
........

EVERY SPECIES OF GREAT APE ON VERGE OF EXTINCTION (United Nations-- 2003)
Gorillas and Chimpanzees on Edge of Extinction (Nature-- 2003)
World's Great Apes Hurtling Toward Extinction (Associated Press)
Last Chance to Save Great Apes From Extinction (United Nations)
90 Percent of Great Ape Habitats Will Be Destroyed by 2030 (United Nations)
Apes on the Edge (Population Action International)
Humans Causing Collapse of Orangutans-- Outlook for Survival Bleak (BBC-- 2006)
Population of Indonesian Orangutans Down 43% in 10 Years (Wildlife Conservation Society-- 2006)
Orangutans On Brink of Extinction (National Geographic)
Orangutan Numbers Plummeting Worldwide (Wildlife Conservation Society)
Gorillas Face Extinction by 2050 (U.K. Independent-- 2006)
Gorillas Face Doom at Gunpoint (U.K. Guardian)
Lowland Gorillas In Drastic Decline (BBC)
Only 650 Mountain Gorillas Left in World (U.K. Telegraph)
Chimpanzees Will Soon Be Extinct (U.K. Guardian)
Western Chimpanzees in Danger of Extinction (BBC)
Uganda's Apes Face Extinction (The East African)
Congo's Great Apes on Brink of Extinction (South African Sunday Times)
Asia's Primates Face Extinction (MSNBC)
Gibbons Imperiled (N.Y. Times)
Madagascar's Lemurs Cling to Survival (Reuters)
Madagascar's "Flying Angels" Threatened by Hunting and Deforestation (Seattle Post-Intelligencer-- 2006)
Two-Thirds of World's Turtle Species Threatened (BBC)
Sea Turtle Hurtles Towards Extinction (U.K. Guardian)
Tide of Extinction Threatening Sea Turtles (The East African-- 2006)
Seahorses on Path to Extinction (ABC News)
Sharks Face Extinction (ABC News)
Sharks Suffer Population Crash (Nature--2004)
Poachers Push Tigers Near Extinction (Enviroment News Service-- 2006)
Only 3,000 Wild Tigers Left on Earth (U.K. Independent-- 2006)
...........

Human Alteration of Environment has Triggered Sixth Major Extinction (Nature)
Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems (Science)
Humans Now Using 40% Of All Resources Available For Life On Earth (U.K. Guardian)
Ecological Overshoot: Humans Exceeding Earth's Capacity (U.S. National Academy of Sciences)
Smaller Households Lead to Vanishing Biodiversity (Nature)
World's Ecosystems on Verge of Sudden Collapse (Nature)
The Current Biodiversity Extinction Event (U.S. National Academy of Sciences)
The Biotic Crisis and the Future of Evolution (U.S. National Academy of Sciences)
Biodiversity: Vanishing Before Our Eyes (Time Magazine)
Time Nearly Up For Human Race (U.K. Guardian)
Humans Moving Closer To Extinction, Study Says (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Time Running Out For the Environment (Johns Hopkins Population InformationProgram)
British Environment Minister: Humans Killing Planet (U.K. Guardian)
Needed-- Two More Planets (WWF)
Nature's Crown Jewels Face Ruin (U.K. Guardian)
Extinction Crisis Even Worse Than Previously Thought (Science)
Governments Sound Biodiversity Alarm (Convention on Biological Diversity)
UN Paints Grim Global Picture (United Nations Environment Program--Outlook 2000)
Earth on Edge of a Precipice: United Nations 2001 Population Report
Earth Will Expire By 2050 (World Wildlife Fund)
2002 Biodiversity Summit a Complete Failure (U.K. Guardian)
Condition Critical: U.N. Assessment of Earth's Ecosystems (Time)
The Fraying Web of Life (United Nations)
A History of Awareness of the Current Mass Extinction (Wild Earth Magazine)
Why Are We Not Astonished? Ed Ayres (Worldwatch)


There are lots more links on the site at: