Mass Extinction
‘The Earth is experiencing a sixth mass extinction, brought on by the proliferation of humanity and its activities of production and consumption. ... The was in which the capital system operates makes a mockery of the necessity of economising. Indeed, it pursues everywhere with utmost irresponsibility the opposite of economy: total wastefulness. It is this profit-seeking wastefulness that directly endangers the very survival of humanity (and other creatures that share the planet with us)’ (Jone, 2009:313). In the following essay I will be discussing the concept of the sixth extinction. My essay will be considering why humans are to blame for this extinction event and i will be discussing the historical and socio-economical developments that have led to this state of affairs.
Mass extinction is considered to be a large number of species within a relatively short period of geological time, thought to be due to factors such as a disastrous global event or widespread environmental change that occurs too rapidly for most species to adapt. The sixth mass extinction is different from the others because, At first glance, the physically caused extinction events of the past might seem to have little or nothing to tell us about the current Sixth Extinction, which is a patently human-caused event. For there is little doubt that humans are the direct cause of ecosystem stress and species destruction in the modern world through such activities as much as transformation of the landscape overexploitation of species pollution the introduction of alien species. The Sixth Extinction would seem to be the first recorded global extinction event that has a biotic, rather than a physical, cause.
What makes this extinction of our civilisation different from those before it, ‘is the effect one species is having on evolutionary process’ (Jones, 2009:313). Humans are, without their intention, changing the process of evolution of new species. ‘The development of new species and their
Mass extinction is considered to be a large number of species within a relatively short period of geological time, thought to be due to factors such as a disastrous global event or widespread environmental change that occurs too rapidly for most species to adapt. The sixth mass extinction is different from the others because, At first glance, the physically caused extinction events of the past might seem to have little or nothing to tell us about the current Sixth Extinction, which is a patently human-caused event. For there is little doubt that humans are the direct cause of ecosystem stress and species destruction in the modern world through such activities as much as transformation of the landscape overexploitation of species pollution the introduction of alien species. The Sixth Extinction would seem to be the first recorded global extinction event that has a biotic, rather than a physical, cause.
What makes this extinction of our civilisation different from those before it, ‘is the effect one species is having on evolutionary process’ (Jones, 2009:313). Humans are, without their intention, changing the process of evolution of new species. ‘The development of new species and their