While our human ignorance and encroachment has contributed vastly to the extinction and endangerment to millions of species, the problems are further exacerbated by global warming. Plant and animal species most threatened by climate change are polar bears, coral reefs, and frogs. But, really that is just the tip of the iceberg. Rising temperatures and sea levels are forcing many animals and birds to change and adjust their feeding and breeding habits. Will they be able to adapt quickly enough, before they are made extinct?
The weeds and insects that are quick to adjust are not necessarily the ones we like to encourage. Species that are very specialized in their requirements, such as koalas and host plant specific butterflies, stand a far greater risk of extinction. While no one knows for sure how many species coexist with human beings on this planet – and new species are continually being discovered – there are over a million that are currently threatened with extinction. The passenger pigeon is merely one example of around 1,000 species that have been lost in the past 500 years.
Scientists tell us that we are heading for the sixth mass extinction. This is the first since the extinction of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago. Previous extinctions were caused by natural events such as earthquakes and volcanoes and the earth simply doing what it has always done. Our current rate of species loss is almost entirely our own fault. If we do not begin immediately to restore biodiversity and correct our course on this downward spiral of impending disaster, we take not only millions of other species along with us; we leave a barren landscape and little hope for our children or our children’s children, or our children’s children’s children.
