Human-driven biodiversity loss faster than mass extinction when dinosaurs were wiped out, study finds
The pace and extent of humanity’s destruction of life on our planet is ‘unprecedented’ even in comparison to previous mass extinctions, reports Harry Cockburn
The damage humans are doing to the world is now so great that in some ecosystems the biodiversity loss exceeds the rate of extinction at the time the dinosaurs died out, and the destruction could require millions of years to undo, scientists have said.
A new study shows that the current rate of biodiversity decline in freshwater ecosystems, which are among the world’s most threatened, is up to three times higher than the period during which the dinosaurs went extinct, and over the next century a third of all living freshwater species may have vanished.
This high level of biodiversity collapse is “unprecedented” even within previous mass extinctions, the team from Justus Liebig University in Germany said.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies