Extinction Rate Rivals That of Dinosaurs, 2014 Likely Hottest Year Ever

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Extinction Rate Rivals That of Dinosaurs, 2014 Likely Hottest Year Ever

Monday, 08 December 2014 12:14
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report


Recent studies show that current animal extinction rates from anthropogenic climate disruption (ACD) now rival the extinction that annihilated the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

"If that rate continues unchanged, the earth's sixth mass extinction is a certainty," said Anthony Barnosky, a biology professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Certainly there are no signs of our planetary ACD trajectory changing, aside from continuing to ramp up further into abrupt runaway change.

In fact, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature recently updated its authoritative Red List to include more than 22,000 species on the list of the world's most threatened animals. Species like the Pacific bluefin tuna and the American eel are now on the Red List. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/27869-extinction-rate-rivals-that-of-dinosaurs-2014-likely-hottest-year-ever