Are humans driving Earth to extinction?
Deccan ChronicleFrogs and toads were so much a part of my growing up. A recent assessment on biodiversity has revealed that the average pace of extinction in recent times has risen several hundred times over the last 10 million years. The earth has experienced five major mass extinctions in its history, beginning with the Ordovician extinction 445 million years ago, the Devonian extinction 376-360 million years ago, the Permian extinction 252 million years ago, the Triassic extinction about 200 million years ago and ending with the Cretaceous extinction about 66 million years ago. The report says crop production has surged 300 per cent since 1970 and today one-third of all land as well as 75 per cent of all fresh water is used to make food. One finding points out that in Europe and North America, humans now consume several times the recommended intake of meat, sugar and fat for optimal health, while 11 per cent of the world population is undernourished with more than 820 million people facing food insecurity in Africa and Asia alone.