Overview

Throughout the history of Earth there have been a number of mass extinctions caused by various catastrophic events, including meteorite collisions and volcanic eruptions. It is recognized that there have been five great extinctions. Earth is now experiencing the Sixth Great Extinction, and it is being caused by one species: Humans. From the depths of the oceans to the tops of the mountains, among the smallest living things to the largest, life is rapidly dying. The chief cause of modern extinction is the massive use of fossil fuels. Humans are digging deeper into and mining vast areas of the planet to extract petroleum, coal, and natural gas. The burning of fossil fuels is causing rapid climate change, desertification, the melting of polar ice, and the warming and acidification of the seas. The number one use of fossil fuels relates to food. The chief components of pollution and environmental destruction relating to food are the breeding of billions of farmed animals, using most of the farmland on every continent to grow food for those animals, and destroying topsoil, meadows, wetlands, plains, streams, aquifers, and forests to expand the livestock industry, and the grain industry that feeds it. The seas are being rapidly depleted of fish, crustaceans, and marine mammals, and this is because of overfishing and the taking of billions of creatures from the oceans to use as fertilizer to grow food for and to include as protein in the feed given to billions of farmed animals, including farmed fish. Every year, a variety of life forms, including sea creatures, land animals, birds, amphibians, and plants become closer to extinction, or do become extinct. The chief cause relates to human choices for food and fuel. What role are you playing in the Sixth Great Extinction?

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