Animal species are dying out much faster than expected. The sixth wave of mass extinction in world history has begun and it is thanks to humans. As a result of our activities, other animal species are now dying out at a rate 35 times higher than the average in Earth's history, writes The Guardian . Because many related species are dying at the same time, researchers speak of “mutilating the tree of life”.

For example, just as many species have become extinct in the past 500 years as they normally disappear in 18,000 years.

This is what scientists write in a research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Professor Gerardo Ceballos, who is involved in the research, is sounding the alarm. “We are alarmists because we are very concerned.” The news is getting even worse, because the climate crisis, illegal hunting and habitat destruction will only accelerate extinction in the coming years, it is expected. In the worst case scenario, extinction will be as fast as 354 times as in the past million years. Professors Ceballos and Paul Ehrlich previously noted that the extinction of animal species is now much faster than in the previous five massive extinction waves.

In 2019, a United Nations inventory showed that one million species are at risk.


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