Will there be a sixth mass extinction?

The planet has experienced five previous mass extinction events, the last one occurring 65.5 million years ago which wiped out the dinosaurs from existence. Experts now believe we’re in the midst of a sixth mass extinction.

When would the next mass extinction be?

A study from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) found that hundreds of land animals could go extinct in the next 20 years.

Is Earth at the brink of extinction?

In it’s four-and-a-half billion year history, life on Earth has endured five mass extinctions due to cataclysmic events. Today, it is experiencing its sixth mass extinction due to the dominance of a single species of life: Homo sapiens. This map explores humans’ role in the sixth mass extinction.

Are mass extinction events happening today?

About 66 million years ago, a terrible extinction event wiped out the dinosaurs. But it wasn’t the only event of this kind — extinctions of various severity have occurred throughout the Earth’s history — and are still happening all around us today. Borths, D’Emic, and Pritchard give a quick history of mass extinctions.

Are We in the middle of a global extinction event?

Today we are in the midst of a rapid extinction event that started as humans spread over the globe, bringing plants and animals from one area to another. To learn more about extinction and efforts to understand the human-driven sixth extinction there are plenty of great resources.

What is the Permo–Triassic mass extinction?

A key theme is the Permo–Triassic mass extinction, the largest mass extinction of all time, which took place over 250 million years ago, where he investigates how life was able to recover from such a devastating event.

What evidence is there that dinosaurs really went extinct?

But along with incredible new living organisms like Malagasy fossas and Australian platypuses, there was increasing evidence that some of the bones that were being discovered around the world – like the American Mastodon and the giant ground sloth – were no longer walking the Earth. These fossils were evidence that extinction must have occurred.