A Mass Extinction Is Underway

There is a mass extinction currently underway. As the human population expands it destroys the habitats of plant life and other animals. As we grow exponentially non-human living matter decreases at the same rate. 

"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." - Isaac Newton.

The estimates vary when it comes to exactly how many species are being lost per day. The UN conservatively suggests 75. Other scientists estimate it to be around 200 species per day. The normal rate of extinction is one species every 2 days. 

It is estmimated that the rate of extinction is 200 species per day.

There have been only 5 mass extinctions in the past. The last one took place when the dinosaurs died out. What is unique about this current mass extinction is that it is being caused by a living species. 

When many people hear the statistics about this, they are not alarmed. It doesn't bother them that plant life and animals are dying out. "It's not us dying," they say, "so it doesn't matter."

Mankind Is Not Seperate From Nature

However my concern for the magnitude of species loss isn't because what we are losing is aesthetically pleasing. It isn't because I am a tree hugger or a great lover of animals. The reason is because the health of the ecosystem depends on biodiversity and our survival depends on the health of the ecosystem. 

We need to stop thinking of man and nature as separate things. We are nature. We operate within the community of life. A mass species loss will affect the community of which we are resident. The more species that die out the weaker the ecosystem as a whole becomes. If we keep up this rate there will inevitably be a major shift. We will throw nature's entire balance off kilter - if we haven't done so already. 

Humankind, at the top of the food chain, is supported and fed by the diverse species below us. Their structural integrity is what keeps us sitting pretty at the top. 

It's not just the potential extinction of charismatic megafauna like tigers and pandas that are concerning. It is the growing number of more obscure plant and animal species disappearing that is most disturbing. 

The mass extinction is inevitably intertwined with human overpopulation. As humans expand non-humans contract. We must keep a check on our population or eventually disaster will befall us.

We think we have a large starving population now but it won't be anything compared to the starving population we will have if the mass extinction continues at its present rate.

It's like a game of Jenga. You build the tower upwards by removing blocks from below. The more blocks that are removed, the higher the tower grows and the more unstable it becomes. 

The only way our civilization has been able to grow at such a quick rate is because we have been kicking out other species from beneath us. Things look pretty good from the top of the tower; but eventually it always collapses. 

Related Articles From Deep Ecology Hub:

• When Do We Call This An Environmental Apocalypse
• The Ecophilosophy Of Deep Ecology
• The Eight Tenets Of Deep Ecology
• Putting Humans First
• The Problem With Environmentalism

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