The statistics capturing the effects that pets have on wildlife are mind-boggling. Cats in the United States alone kill at least 1.3 billion birds and up to 22.3 billion small mammals a year, according to a 2013 study in the journal Nature Communications. Cats and dogs “are now the most abundant carnivores on the planet,” […]
Tag: mass extinction
Why you should care about the current wave of mass extinctions
The scientific imprimatur fell on us just six months ago: Yes, the extinction crisis we are witnessing is only the beginning of a wave of mass ecocide of non-human life on Earth, a process that could wipe out a million species of plants and animals from our planet in the short term (read: decades). About […]
‘Insect apocalypse’ poses risk to all life on Earth, conservationists warn
The “unnoticed insect apocalypse” should set alarm bells ringing, according to conservationists, who said that without a halt there will be profound consequences for humans and all life on Earth. A new report suggested half of all insects may have been lost since 1970 as a result of the destruction of nature and heavy use […]
Petition: Find Wildlife Traffickers Who Tossed Exotic Animals Into the Sea to Their Death
Recently, a study found that one-fifth of vertebrates on land are bought and sold in the wildlife trade. The wildlife trade, both legal and illegal, is a cruel, global multi billion dollar business in which animals are captured, killed, and sold for their meat, skin, and bones. Animals like pangolins are so highly trafficked, they […]
Petition: Ask Australia to Act Now to Stop Their Extinction Crisis
Animal and plant species around the world are in danger of extinction. We’ve entered the Earth’s sixth mass extinction and according to the UN, one million plant and animal species are endangered. In Australia alone, 511 animal species, 1,356 plant species and 82 distinct “ecological communities” are nationally threatened. Ecological communities are defined as “naturally […]
Petition: Protect Frogs Around the World From Extinction!
Frogs play an important role in many ecosystems. They are bio-indicators, which means they indicate the health of their ecosystems with their permeable, porous skin that reacts to biological hazards such as contamination. They also help with insect control as a food source for carnivorous predators and eating smaller creatures. Sadly, frogs around the world […]
Energy development vs. endangered species: winner takes all
Widespread species decline at the hands of humans is a powerful tale. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, more than 27 per cent of 100,000 assessed species are threatened with extinction. This disappearance is a warning that something is amiss on Earth. The Anthropocene is the newly recognized geological epoch defined as […]
The Great Insect Dying: Vanishing act in Europe and North America
In recent months a debate over whether a global insect apocalypse is underway has raged in the mainstream media and among researchers. To assess the range of scientific opinion, Mongabay interviewed 24 entomologists and other scientists working on six continents, in more than a dozen countries, to better determine what we know, what we don’t, […]