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The Forum > General Discussion > Extinction of Species

Extinction of Species

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The Greens and other organizations have set up a goal of no extinctions. This is unreasonable. We humans are here because of a mass extinction. With the elimination of the dinosaurs the vacancy was filled by the rise of the mammals. That included the primates to which our species belongs. Evolution proceeds by extinction and the rise of new species to fill the niches left by the elimination of species. Sometimes a species becomes extinct because a competing species drives it to extinction.

In the present world there is too high a rate of extinction as habitat disappears and introduced species such as cats drive indigenous Australian species to extinction. Apparently there is evidence that ancestors of the Aborigines caused Australian megafauna to become extinct.

https://www.nature.com/articles/news.2010.30

“Evidence for a human cause has been mounting over the past decade. One study dated the extinction of the 2-metre-tall, 200-kilogram flightless bird Genyornis to about 50,000 years ago, soon after human colonization, and at a time when the climate was benign. That work, on the bird's eggshell, was later backed up by a coast-to-coast project dating the extinction of giant marsupials, reptiles and birds across the continent to about 46,000 years ago.”

Instead of a goal of no extinctions let us recognise that extinction is an evolutionary mechanism and reduce the level of extinction rather than maintain the unreasonable goal of eliminating it
Posted by david f, Thursday, 6 October 2022 2:54:52 PM
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david f,

A sensible attitude. The disappearance of some birds, animals and plants is inevitable. Much of the alarmism is about activists getting money from governments in lieu of getting jobs. Some of the extinction or near extinction claims are just plain false, as with koalas in SA.

I'm a bird and native plant lover myself, and I regret threats to them. But many of the claims made by activists are dishonest.
Posted by ttbn, Thursday, 6 October 2022 6:19:46 PM
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Dear David F.,

Extinction may well be a natural phenomenon but surely
humans have made it worse. Accelerating natural extinction
rates due to our role in our activities - we've pushed
nature to the brink. Nothing other than knowledge is
going to save the planet and the humans and other animals
that live in it. The renewable technologies we get
excited about, the carbon-neutral lifestyles we aim for
are the inventions of humans, and their success depends on
an understanding of them, and a wish to implement them.

We have the intelligence, the tools, and the natural
resources for a good sustainable life provided that there
are not too many humans to exceed the world's carrying capacity.

Addressing the extinction crisis is important. Without
environmentally conscious individuals, as well as policy
changes by governments world wide we may lose even more
than we have so far. We need leadership alongside far
reaching initiatives that will attack the problems at their
roots.

Our world leaders need to take notice of the vast army of
experts who are willing and able to guide us through the
difficult times ahead. The time is well past - where we can
just ignore the issues - and pretend they're not happening.
Action is needed to be taken. Or things will only get worse.
Posted by Foxy, Thursday, 6 October 2022 6:31:53 PM
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There are forms of life which I would eliminate if I could. The small pox virus still exists in some laboratories. Should it exist at all? Plains death adder (an endangered poisonous snake), the tubercle bacillus, the Aids virus, foul brood and tracheal mites are all candidates for elimination in my opinion.
Posted by david f, Thursday, 6 October 2022 6:33:14 PM
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If we keep on accelerating natural extinction rates
due to our role in habitat loss, pollution, de-forestation,
spreading disease, population growth,, et cetera. Things
will only get worse.
Posted by Foxy, Thursday, 6 October 2022 6:36:25 PM
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Here's an interesting link from the New York Times:

http://nytimes.com/2022/09/16/opinions/conservation-ethics.html
Posted by Foxy, Thursday, 6 October 2022 7:08:53 PM
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