Zeno's Bar & Grill
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Why Am I Always the Last to Know?
First of all, I always thought that there was only one mass extinction on earth, that of the infamous dinosaurs. After an eye-opening trip to the natural history museum yesterday I’ve learned that there actually have been six mass extinctions. And there is one going on right now.
The baseline rate for species going extinct is about 10 to 100 species per year (this includes all organisms like fungi, bacteria, and insects, as well as vertebrates). The current rate is 27,000 per year – and that’s just from deforestation of the rainforest! Okay, you might think, who cares about bugs and mushrooms anyway?
Well, the average rate of extinction for mammals is one every 200 years. So how many have the past 400 years brought us? Not two, as we should expect. Try 89 with another 169 on the critically endangered list. It is estimated that 30% of the world’s plants and animals could face extinction within the next hundred years or so.
The good news is that the planet has always recovered, the bad news it takes about 5 million years.
Happy Tuesday!
--Kelly
