Journal ArticleDOI
Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived?
Anthony D. Barnosky,Nicholas J. Matzke,Susumu Tomiya,Susumu Tomiya,Guinevere O. U. Wogan,Guinevere O. U. Wogan,Brian Swartz,Tiago B. Quental,Tiago B. Quental,Charles R. Marshall,Jenny L. McGuire,Emily L. Lindsey,Kaitlin C. Maguire,Ben Mersey,Elizabeth A Ferrer +14 more
TLDR
Differences between fossil and modern data and the addition of recently available palaeontological information influence understanding of the current extinction crisis, and results confirm that current extinction rates are higher than would be expected from the fossil record.Abstract:
Palaeontologists characterize mass extinctions as times when the Earth loses more than three-quarters of its species in a geologically short interval, as has happened only five times in the past 540 million years or so. Biologists now suggest that a sixth mass extinction may be under way, given the known species losses over the past few centuries and millennia. Here we review how differences between fossil and modern data and the addition of recently available palaeontological information influence our understanding of the current extinction crisis. Our results confirm that current extinction rates are higher than would be expected from the fossil record, highlighting the need for effective conservation measures.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet
Will Steffen,Will Steffen,Katherine Richardson,Johan Rockström,Sarah Cornell,Ingo Fetzer,Elena M. Bennett,Reinette Biggs,Reinette Biggs,Stephen R. Carpenter,Wim de Vries,Cynthia A. de Wit,Carl Folke,Carl Folke,Dieter Gerten,Jens Heinke,Jens Heinke,Jens Heinke,Georgina M. Mace,Linn Persson,Veerabhadran Ramanathan,Veerabhadran Ramanathan,Belinda Reyers,Belinda Reyers,Sverker Sörlin +24 more
TL;DR: An updated and extended analysis of the planetary boundary (PB) framework and identifies levels of anthropogenic perturbations below which the risk of destabilization of the Earth system (ES) is likely to remain low—a “safe operating space” for global societal development.
Journal ArticleDOI
Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems
Walter C. Willett,Johan Rockström,Johan Rockström,Brent Loken,Marco Springmann,Tim Lang,Sonja J. Vermeulen,Sonja J. Vermeulen,Tara Garnett,David Tilman,David Tilman,Fabrice DeClerck,Fabrice DeClerck,Amanda Wood,Malin Jonell,Michael Clark,Line Gordon,Jessica Fanzo,Corinna Hawkes,Rami Zurayk,Juan A Rivera,Wim de Vries,Lindiwe Majele Sibanda,Ashkan Afshin,Abhishek Chaudhary,Abhishek Chaudhary,Mario Herrero,Rina Agustina,Francesco Branca,Anna Lartey,Shenggen Fan,Beatrice Crona,Elizabeth L. Fox,Victoria Bignet,Max Troell,Max Troell,Therese Lindahl,Therese Lindahl,Sudhvir Singh,Sarah Cornell,K. Srinath Reddy,Sunita Narain,Sania Nishtar,Christopher J L Murray +43 more
TL;DR: Food in the Anthropocene : the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems focuses on meat, fish, vegetables and fruit as sources of protein.
Journal ArticleDOI
Impacts of climate change on the future of biodiversity.
TL;DR: Overall, this review shows that current estimates of future biodiversity are very variable, depending on the method, taxonomic group, biodiversity loss metrics, spatial scales and time periods considered.
Journal ArticleDOI
Defaunation in the Anthropocene
TL;DR: Defaunation is both a pervasive component of the planet’s sixth mass extinction and also a major driver of global ecological change.
Journal ArticleDOI
Accelerated modern human-induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction
Gerardo Ceballos,Paul R. Ehrlich,Anthony D. Barnosky,Andrés García,Robert M. Pringle,Todd M. Palmer +5 more
TL;DR: Estimates of extinction rates reveal an exceptionally rapid loss of biodiversity over the last few centuries, indicating that a sixth mass extinction is already under way and a window of opportunity is rapidly closing.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Extinction risk from climate change
Chris D. Thomas,Alison Cameron,Rhys E. Green,Rhys E. Green,Michel Bakkenes,Linda J. Beaumont,Yvonne C. Collingham,Barend F.N. Erasmus,Marinez Ferreira de Siqueira,Alan Grainger,Lee Hannah,Lesley Hughes,Brian Huntley,Albert S. van Jaarsveld,Guy F. Midgley,Lera Miles,Lera Miles,Miguel A. Ortega-Huerta,A. Townsend Peterson,Oliver L. Phillips,Stephen E. Williams +20 more
TL;DR: Estimates of extinction risks for sample regions that cover some 20% of the Earth's terrestrial surface show the importance of rapid implementation of technologies to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and strategies for carbon sequestration.
Journal ArticleDOI
Extraterrestrial Cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction
TL;DR: A hypothesis is suggested which accounts for the extinctions and the iridium observations, and the chemical composition of the boundary clay, which is thought to come from the stratospheric dust, is markedly different from that of clay mixed with the Cretaceous and Tertiary limestones, which are chemically similar to each other.
Journal Article
The future of biodiversity
TL;DR: Estimates of future extinctions are hampered by the authors' limited knowledge of which areas are rich in endemics, and regions rich in species found only within them (endemics) dominate the global patterns of extinction.
Journal ArticleDOI
The future of biodiversity.
TL;DR: For example, the authors showed that if all species currently deemed "threatened" become extinct in the next century, then future extinction rates will be 10 times higher than recent rates in well-known, but taxonomically diverse groups from widely different environments.
Journal ArticleDOI
Scenarios for global biodiversity in the 21st Century
Henrique M. Pereira,Paul Leadley,Vania Proenca,Rob Alkemade,Joern P. W. Scharlemann,Juan F. Fernández-Manjarrés,Miguel B. Araújo,Miguel B. Araújo,Patricia Balvanera,Reinette Biggs,William W. L. Cheung,Louise Chini,H. David Cooper,Eric Gilman,Sylvie Guénette,George C. Hurtt,George C. Hurtt,Henry P. Huntington,Georgina M. Mace,Thierry Oberdorff,Carmen Revenga,Patrícia Rodrigues,Robert J. Scholes,Ussif Rashid Sumaila,Matt Walpole +24 more
TL;DR: Scenarios consistently indicate that biodiversity will continue to decline over the 21st century, however, the range of projected changes is much broader than most studies suggest, partly because there are major opportunities to intervene through better policies, but also because of large uncertainties in projections.
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