Holocene extinction#Historic extinction

{{annotated image/Extinction|float=right|caption=The percentage of marine animal extinction at the genus level through the six mass extinctions}}

Mass extinctions are characterized by the loss of at least 75% of species within a geologically short period of time (i.e., less than 2 million years).{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Edward O. |title=The Future of life |publisher=Vintage Books |year=2003 |isbn=9780679768111 |edition=1st Vintage Books |location=New York |author-link=Edward O. Wilson}} The Holocene extinction is also known as the "sixth extinction", as it is possibly the sixth mass extinction event, after the Ordovician–Silurian extinction events, the Late Devonian extinction, the Permian–Triassic extinction event, the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, and the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.{{cite journal |last1=Dirzo |first1=Rodolfo |author-link1=Rodolfo Dirzo |last2=Young |first2=Hillary S. |last3=Galetti |first3=Mauro |last4=Ceballos |first4=Gerardo |last5=Isaac |first5=Nick J. B. |last6=Collen |first6=Ben |date=2014 |title=Defaunation in the Anthropocene |url=http://www.uv.mx/personal/tcarmona/files/2010/08/Science-2014-Dirzo-401-6-2.pdf |journal=Science |volume=345 |issue=6195 |pages=401–406 |bibcode=2014Sci...345..401D |doi=10.1126/science.1251817 |pmid=25061202 |quote=In the past 500 years, humans have triggered a wave of extinction, threat, and local population declines that may be comparable in both rate and magnitude with the five previous mass extinctions of Earth’s history |s2cid=206555761 |access-date=2016-12-16 |archive-date=2017-05-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511160501/https://www.uv.mx/personal/tcarmona/files/2010/08/Science-2014-Dirzo-401-6-2.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Mark |last2=Zalasiewicz |first2=Jan |last3=Haff |first3=P. K. |last4=Schwägerl |first4=Christian |last5=Barnosky |first5=Anthony D. |last6=Ellis |first6=Erle C. |year=2015 |title=The Anthropocene Biosphere |journal=The Anthropocene Review |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=196–219 |doi=10.1177/2053019615591020 |bibcode=2015AntRv...2..196W |s2cid=7771527}} If the Capitanian extinction event is included among the first-order mass extinctions, the Holocene extinction would correspondingly be known as the "seventh extinction". The Holocene is the current geological epoch.

File:Moa mock hunt.jpg in New Zealand went extinct in the mid 15th century due to overhunting and habitat destruction by the Māori people. Prior to the arrival of the Māori a century earlier, New Zealand was uninhabited by humans.]]

The precise timing of the Holocene extinction event remains debated, with no clear consensus on when it began or whether it should be considered distinct from the Quaternary extinction event.{{cite journal |last1=Doughty |first1=C. E. |last2=Wolf |first2=A. |last3=Field |first3=C. B. |year=2010 |title=Biophysical feedbacks between the Pleistocene megafauna extinction and climate: The first human-induced global warming? |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=37 |issue=15 |pages=n/a |bibcode=2010GeoRL..3715703D |doi=10.1029/2010GL043985 |s2cid=54849882 |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|last1=Grayson|first1 =Donald K.|last2=Meltzer|first2=David J.|title=Clovis Hunting and Large Mammal Extinction: A Critical Review of the Evidence|journal=Journal of World Prehistory|date=December 2012|volume=16|issue=4|pages=313–359|doi=10.1023/A:1022912030020|s2cid =162794300}} However, most scientists agree that human activities are the primary driver of the Holocene extinction.{{Cite journal |last=Vignieri |first=S. |date=25 July 2014 |title=Vanishing fauna (Special issue) |journal=Science |volume=345 |issue=6195 |pages=392–412 |bibcode=2014Sci...345..392V |doi=10.1126/science.345.6195.392 |pmid=25061199 |doi-access=free}} A 1998 survey conducted by the American Museum of Natural History found that 70% of biologists acknowledged an ongoing anthropogenic extinction event.{{cite web |year=1998 |title=National Survey Reveals Biodiversity Crisis – Scientific Experts Believe We are in Midst of Fastest Mass Extinction in Earth's History |url=http://www.mysterium.com/amnh.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629002116/http://www.mysterium.com/amnh.html |archive-date=29 June 2019 |access-date=10 February 2018 |publisher=American Museum of Natural History Press Release}} Some researchers suggested that the activities of earlier archaic humans may have contributed to earlier extinctions,{{Cite journal |last1=Faith |first1=J. Tyler |last2=Rowan |first2=John |last3=Du |first3=Andrew |last4=Barr |first4=W. Andrew |date=July 2020 |title=The uncertain case for human-driven extinctions prior to Homo sapiens |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0033589420000514/type/journal_article |journal=Quaternary Research |language=en |volume=96 |pages=88–104 |doi=10.1017/qua.2020.51 |bibcode=2020QuRes..96...88F |issn=0033-5894}} especially in Australia, New Zealand, and Madagascar.{{Cite book|last=Kolbert|first=Elizabeth|author-link=Elizabeth Kolbert|title=The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History|title-link=The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History|year=2014|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|location=New York City|isbn=978-0805092998}} Even modest hunting pressure, combined with the vulnerability of large animals on isolated islands, is thought to have been enough to wipe out entire species.{{Cite journal |last1=Perry |first1=George L. W. |last2=Wheeler |first2=Andrew B. |last3=Wood |first3=Jamie R. |last4=Wilmshurst |first4=Janet M. |date=2014-12-01 |title=A high-precision chronology for the rapid extinction of New Zealand moa (Aves, Dinornithiformes) |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=105 |pages=126–135 |bibcode=2014QSRv..105..126P |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.09.025}}{{Cite journal |last=Crowley |first=Brooke E. |date=2010-09-01 |title=A refined chronology of prehistoric Madagascar and the demise of the megafauna |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |series=Special Theme: Case Studies of Neodymium Isotopes in Paleoceanography |volume=29 |issue=19–20 |pages=2591–2603 |bibcode=2010QSRv...29.2591C |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.06.030}} Only in the more recent stages of the Holocene have plants suffered extensive losses, which are also linked to human activities such as deforestation and land conversion.{{Cite web |last=Li |first=Sophia |date=2012-09-20 |title=Has Plant Life Reached Its Limits? |url=http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/has-plant-life-reached-its-limits/?_r=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620002309/https://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/has-plant-life-reached-its-limits/?_r=0 |archive-date=2018-06-20 |access-date=2016-01-22 |website=Green Blog}}

The contemporary rate of extinction is estimated at 100 to 1,000 times higher than the natural background extinction rate—the typical rate of species loss through natural evolutionary processes.{{cite journal |last1=Pimm |first1=Stuart L. |last2=Russell |first2=Gareth J. |last3=Gittleman |first3=John L. |last4=Brooks |first4=Thomas M. |year=1995 |title=The Future of Biodiversity |journal=Science |volume=269 |issue=5222 |pages=347–350 |bibcode=1995Sci...269..347P |doi=10.1126/science.269.5222.347 |pmid=17841251 |s2cid=35154695}}{{cite journal |author1=Lawton, J. H. |author2=May, R. M. |year=1995 |title=Extinction Rates |journal=Journal of Evolutionary Biology |volume=9 |pages=124–126 |doi=10.1046/j.1420-9101.1996.t01-1-9010124.x |doi-access=free}} One estimation suggested the rate could be as high as 10,000 times the background extinction rate, though this figure remains controversial.{{cite journal |last1=Lawton |first1=J. H. |last2=May |first2=R. M. |year=1995 |title=Extinction Rates |journal=Journal of Evolutionary Biology |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=124–126 |doi=10.1046/j.1420-9101.1996.t01-1-9010124.x |doi-access=free}} Theoretical ecologist Stuart Pimm has noted that the extinction rate for plants alone is 100 times higher than normal.{{cite news |last=Li |first=S. |year=2012 |title=Has Plant Life Reached Its Limits? |newspaper=New York Times |url=http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/has-plant-life-reached-its-limits/ |access-date=10 February 2018 |archive-date=1 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001025602/https://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/has-plant-life-reached-its-limits/ |url-status=live }}

While some argue that the current extinction rates have not yet reached the catastrophic levels of past mass extinctions,{{cite news |last=Woodward |first=Aylin |date=April 8, 2019 |title=So many animals are going extinct that it could take Earth 10 million years to recover |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/mass-extinction-earth-take-10-million-years-recover-2019-4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008072528/https://www.businessinsider.com/mass-extinction-earth-take-10-million-years-recover-2019-4 |archive-date=October 8, 2019 |access-date=April 9, 2019 |work=Business Insider |quote="Lowery doesn't think we've strayed into Sixth Extinction territory yet. But he and Fraass agree that squabbling over what constitutes that distinction is beside the point. "We have to work to save biodiversity before it's gone. That's the important takeaway here," Lowery said. There is consensus on one aspect of the extinction trend, however: Homo sapiens are to blame. According to a 2014 study, current extinction rates are 1,000 times higher than they would be if humans weren't around."}}{{cite web |last=Brannen |first=Peter |date=13 June 2017 |title=Earth Is Not in the Midst of a Sixth Mass Extinction |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/the-ends-of-the-world/529545/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209100725/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/the-ends-of-the-world/529545/ |archive-date=9 December 2020 |access-date=28 November 2020 |website=The Atlantic |quote=Many of those making facile comparisons between the current situation and past mass extinctions don’t have a clue about the difference in the nature of the data, much less how truly awful the mass extinctions recorded in the marine fossil record actually were.}} Barnosky et al. (2011) and Hull et al. (2015) point out that extinction rates during past mass extinctions cannot be fully determined due to gaps in the fossil record.{{cite journal |last1=Hull |first1=Pincelli M. |last2=Darroch |first2=Simon A. F. |last3=Erwin |first3=Douglas H. |date=17 December 2015 |title=Rarity in mass extinctions and the future of ecosystems |journal=Nature |volume=528 |issue=7582 |pages=345–351 |bibcode=2015Natur.528..345H |doi=10.1038/nature16160 |pmid=26672552 |s2cid=4464936}} However, they agree that the ongoing biodiversity loss is nonetheless unprecedented. Estimates of species lost per year vary widely—from 1.5 to 40,000 species—but all indicate that human activity is driving this crisis.{{cite journal |last1=Briggs |first1=John C. |date=12 May 2017 |title=Emergence of a sixth mass extinction? |url=https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article/122/2/243/3869095 |url-status=live |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=122 |issue=2 |pages=243–248 |doi=10.1093/biolinnean/blx063 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822182609/https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article/122/2/243/3869095 |archive-date=22 August 2021 |access-date=22 August 2021 |doi-access=free}}

In The Future of Life (2002), biologist Edward Osborne Wilson predicted that, if current trend continues, half of Earth's higher lifeforms could be extinct by 2100. More recent studies further support this view. A 2015 study on Hawaiian snails suggested that up to 7% of Earth's species may already be extinct.{{cite web |year=2015 |title=Research shows catastrophic invertebrate extinction in Hawai'i and globally |url=http://phys.org/news/2015-08-catastrophic-invertebrate-extinction-hawaii-globally.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230202726/http://phys.org/news/2015-08-catastrophic-invertebrate-extinction-hawaii-globally.html |archive-date=30 December 2019 |access-date=10 February 2018 |publisher=Phys.org}}{{cite journal |last1=Régnier |first1=Claire |last2=Achaz |first2=Guillaume |last3=Lambert |first3=Amaury |last4=Cowie |first4=Robert H. |last5=Bouchet |first5=Philippe |last6=Fontaine |first6=Benoît |date=23 June 2015 |title=Mass extinction in poorly known taxa |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=112 |issue=25 |pages=7761–7766 |bibcode=2015PNAS..112.7761R |doi=10.1073/pnas.1502350112 |pmc=4485135 |pmid=26056308 |doi-access=free}} A 2021 study also found that only around 3% of the planet's terrestrial surface remains ecologically and faunally intact—areas still with healthy populations of native species and minimal human footprint.{{cite news|last=Carrington|first=Damian|date=April 15, 2021|title=Just 3% of world's ecosystems remain intact, study suggests|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/15/just-3-of-worlds-ecosystems-remain-intact-study-suggests|work=The Guardian|location=|access-date=April 16, 2021|archive-date=November 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124133706/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/15/just-3-of-worlds-ecosystems-remain-intact-study-suggests|url-status=live}}{{cite journal |last1=Plumptre|first1=Andrew J.|last2=Baisero|first2=Daniele|display-authors=etal.|date=2021|title=Where Might We Find Ecologically Intact Communities?|journal=Frontiers in Forests and Global Change|volume=4|issue= |pages= |doi=10.3389/ffgc.2021.626635|bibcode=2021FrFGC...4.6635P |doi-access=free|hdl=10261/242175|hdl-access=free}} A 2022 study suggests that if global warming continues, between 13% and 27% of terrestrial vertebrate species could be driven to extinction by 2100, with habitat destructions and co-extinctions accounting for the rest.{{cite news |last=Newcomb |first=Tim |date=January 18, 2023 |title=Supercomputer Says 27% of Life on Earth Will Be Dead by the End of This Century |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a42556557/supercomputer-mass-extinction-predictions/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118225320/https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a42556557/supercomputer-mass-extinction-predictions/ |archive-date=January 18, 2023 |access-date=January 19, 2023 |work=Popular Mechanics |location=}}{{Cite journal |last1=Murali |first1=Gopal |last2=Iwamura |first2=Takuya Iwamura |last3=Meiri |first3=Shai |last4=Roll |first4=Uri |date=January 18, 2023 |title=Future temperature extremes threaten land vertebrates |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05606-z |url-status=live |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=615 |issue=7952 |pages=461–467 |bibcode=2023Natur.615..461M |doi=10.1038/s41586-022-05606-z |pmid=36653454 |s2cid=255974196 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512155513/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05606-z |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |access-date=June 21, 2023}}

The 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, published by the United Nations IPBES, estimated that about one million species are currently at risk of extinction within decades due to human activities.{{cite news |last=Plumer |first=Brad |date=May 6, 2019 |title=Humans Are Speeding Extinction and Altering the Natural World at an 'Unprecedented' Pace |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/climate/biodiversity-extinction-united-nations.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/climate/biodiversity-extinction-united-nations.html |archive-date=2022-01-03 |quote=“Human actions threaten more species with global extinction now than ever before,” the report concludes, estimating that “around 1 million species already face extinction, many within decades, unless action is taken.”}}{{cbignore}}{{cite press release |date=May 6, 2019 |title=Media Release: Nature's Dangerous Decline 'Unprecedented'; Species Extinction Rates 'Accelerating' |work=Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services |url=https://www.ipbes.net/media-release-nature%e2%80%99s-dangerous-decline-%e2%80%98unprecedented%e2%80%99-species-extinction-rates-%e2%80%98accelerating%e2%80%99 |access-date=May 6, 2019 |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621205520/https://www.ipbes.net/media-release-nature%E2%80%99s-dangerous-decline-%E2%80%98unprecedented%E2%80%99-species-extinction-rates-%E2%80%98accelerating%E2%80%99 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |date=May 6, 2019 |title=World is 'on notice' as major UN report shows one million species face extinction |work=UN News |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1037941 |access-date=January 8, 2020 |archive-date=March 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302155207/https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1037941 |url-status=live }} Organized human existence is jeopardised by increasingly rapid destruction of the systems that support life on Earth, according to the report, the result of one of the most comprehensive studies of the health of the planet ever conducted. Moreover, the 2021 Economics of Biodiversity review, published by the UK government, asserts that "biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history."{{cite web |last=Dasgupta |first=Partha |author-link=Partha Dasgupta |date=2021 |title=The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review Headline Messages |publisher=UK government |page=1 |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/957629/Dasgupta_Review_-_Headline_Messages.pdf |access-date=December 15, 2021 |quote=Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history. Current extinction rates, for example, are around 100 to 1,000 times higher than the baseline rate, and they are increasing. |archive-date=May 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520070152/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/957629/Dasgupta_Review_-_Headline_Messages.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Carrington |first=Damian |date=February 2, 2021 |title=Economics of biodiversity review: what are the recommendations? |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/02/economics-of-biodiversity-review-what-are-the-recommendations |access-date=15 December 2021 |archive-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524182314/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/02/economics-of-biodiversity-review-what-are-the-recommendations |url-status=live }} According to a 2022 study published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, a survey of more than 3,000 experts says that the extent of the mass extinction might be greater than previously thought, and estimates that roughly 30% of species "have been globally threatened or driven extinct since the year 1500."{{cite news|last=Melillo|first=Gianna|date=July 19, 2022|title=Threat of global extinction may be greater than previously thought, study finds|work=The Hill|url=https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/environment/3565945-threat-of-global-extinction-may-be-greater-than-previously-thought-study-finds/|access-date=July 20, 2022|archive-date=July 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719180734/https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/environment/3565945-threat-of-global-extinction-may-be-greater-than-previously-thought-study-finds/|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|last1=Isbell |first1=Forest |last2=Balvanera|first2=Patricia|display-authors=etal.|date=2022 |title=Expert perspectives on global biodiversity loss and its drivers and impacts on people|journal=Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment |volume=21|issue=2|pages=94–103|doi=10.1002/fee.2536|s2cid=250659953|doi-access=free|hdl=10852/101242|hdl-access=free}} In a 2022 report, IPBES listed unsustainable fishing, hunting, and logging as some of the primary drivers of the global extinction crisis.{{cite news|last=Briggs|first=Helen|date=July 8, 2022|title=Unsustainable logging, fishing and hunting 'driving extinction'|work=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62094405|access-date=August 8, 2022|archive-date=August 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801105751/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62094405|url-status=live}}

A 2023 study published in PLOS One shows that around two million species are threatened with extinction, double the estimate put forward in the 2019 IPBES report.{{cite news |last=Weston|first=Phoebe |date=November 8, 2023 |title=Number of species at risk of extinction doubles to 2 million, says study|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/08/species-at-risk-extinction-doubles-to-2-million-aoe|work=The Guardian |location= |access-date=November 9, 2023}} According to a 2023 study published in PNAS, at least 73 genera of animals have gone extinct since 1500. If humans had never existed, the study estimates it would have taken 18,000 years for the same genera to have disappeared naturally, leading the authors to conclude that "the current generic extinction rates are 35 times higher than expected background rates prevailing in the last million years under the absence of human impacts" and that human civilization is causing the "rapid mutilation of the tree of life."{{cite news|last=Rozsa|first=Matthew|date=September 19, 2023|title=Experts warn of a "biological holocaust" as human-caused extinction "mutilates" the tree of life|url=https://www.salon.com/2023/09/19/experts-warn-of-a-biological-holocaust-as-human-caused-extinction-mutilates-the-tree-of-life/|work=Salon.com|location=|access-date=September 19, 2023|archive-date=September 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919114125/https://www.salon.com/2023/09/19/experts-warn-of-a-biological-holocaust-as-human-caused-extinction-mutilates-the-tree-of-life/|url-status=live}}{{cite journal |last1= Ceballos|first1=Gerardo|last2=Ehrlich|first2=Paul R.|date=2023 |title=Mutilation of the tree of life via mass extinction of animal genera|url= |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=120 |issue=39 |pages=e2306987120|doi=10.1073/pnas.2306987120|doi-access=free |pmid=37722053 |pmc=10523489 |bibcode=2023PNAS..12006987C |access-date=}}{{cite news|last=Greenfield|first=Patrick|date=September 19, 2023|title='Mutilating the tree of life': Wildlife loss accelerating, scientists warn|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/19/mutilating-the-tree-of-life-wildlife-loss-accelerating-scientists-warn|work=The Guardian|location=|access-date=September 19, 2023|archive-date=September 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925213112/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/19/mutilating-the-tree-of-life-wildlife-loss-accelerating-scientists-warn|url-status=live}}

{{quote box|align=right|width=25em|quote=We are currently, in a systematic manner, exterminating all non-human living beings.|source=—Anne Larigauderie, IPBES executive secretary{{cite book |last=Hickel |first=Jason|author-link=Jason Hickel|title=Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World |year=2021|publisher=Windmill Books|page=9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mLbIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT17 |isbn=978-1786091215}}}}

There is widespread consensus among scientists that human activities—especially habitat destruction, resource consumption, and the elimination of species—are the main drivers of the current extinction crisis. Rising extinction rates among mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and other groups have led many scientists to declare a global biodiversity crisis.{{cite journal|last1=Andermann |first1=Tobias|last2=Faurby|first2=Søren|last3=Turvey|first3=Samuel T. |last4=Antonelli|first4=Alexandre |last5=Silvestro|first5=Daniele|title=The past and future human impact on mammalian diversity |journal=Science Advances|date=September 2020|volume=6|issue=36|at=eabb2313 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abb2313 |pmid=32917612|pmc=7473673|bibcode=2020SciA....6.2313A|issn=2375-2548}} 50px Text and images are available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016050101/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |date=2017-10-16 }}.

File:Human population since 1800.png since 1800 in billions. Data from the [https://population.un.org/wpp/ United Nations projections in 2019].]]

The description of recent extinction as a mass extinction has been debated among scientists. Stuart Pimm, for example, asserts that the sixth mass extinction "is something that hasn't happened yet—we are on the edge of it."{{cite news |last=Carrington |first=Damian |date=10 July 2017 |title=Earth's sixth mass extinction event under way, scientists warn |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-scientists-warn |access-date=November 4, 2017 |archive-date=2 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102063436/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-scientists-warn |url-status=live }} Several studies posit that the Earth has entered a sixth mass extinction event, including a 2015 paper by Barnosky et al. and a November 2017 statement titled "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice", led by eight authors and signed by 15,364 scientists from 184 countries which asserted, among other things, that "we have unleashed a mass extinction event, the sixth in roughly 540 million years, wherein many current life forms could be extirpated or at least committed to extinction by the end of this century."{{cite journal|vauthors=Ripple WJ, Wolf C, Newsome TM, Galetti M, Alamgir M, Crist E, Mahmoud MI, Laurance WF|title=World Scientists' Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice|journal=BioScience |volume=67|issue=12|pages=1026–1028|date=13 November 2017|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix125 |url=http://scientistswarning.forestry.oregonstate.edu/sites/sw/files/Warning_article_with_supp_11-13-17.pdf|quote=Moreover, we have unleashed a mass extinction event, the sixth in roughly 540 million years, wherein many current life forms could be annihilated or at least committed to extinction by the end of this century.|access-date=12 July 2018|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215010626/https://scientistswarning.forestry.oregonstate.edu/sites/sw/files/Warning_article_with_supp_11-13-17.pdf}} The World Wide Fund for Nature's 2020 Living Planet Report says that wildlife populations have declined by 68% since 1970 as a result of overconsumption, population growth, and intensive farming, which is further evidence that humans have unleashed a sixth mass extinction event; however, this finding has been disputed by one 2020 study, which posits that this major decline was primarily driven by a few extreme outlier populations, and that when these outliers are removed, the trend shifts to that of a decline between the 1980s and 2000s, but a roughly positive trend after 2000.{{cite news|last=Greenfield|first=Patrick|date=September 9, 2020|title=Humans exploiting and destroying nature on unprecedented scale – report|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/10/humans-exploiting-and-destroying-nature-on-unprecedented-scale-report-aoe|work=The Guardian|access-date=September 10, 2020|archive-date=October 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021225045/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/10/humans-exploiting-and-destroying-nature-on-unprecedented-scale-report-aoe|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Briggs|first=Helen|date=September 10, 2020|title=Wildlife in 'catastrophic decline' due to human destruction, scientists warn|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54091048|work=BBC|access-date=September 10, 2020|archive-date=January 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110233814/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54091048|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Lewis|first=Sophie|date=September 9, 2020|title=Animal populations worldwide have declined by almost 70% in just 50 years, new report says|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biodiversity-endangered-species-animal-population-decline-world-wildlife-fund-report-2020-09-09/|work=CBS News|access-date=October 22, 2020|archive-date=September 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910152119/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biodiversity-endangered-species-animal-population-decline-world-wildlife-fund-report-2020-09-09/|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last1=Leung|first1=Brian|last2=Hargreaves|first2=Anna L.|last3=Greenberg|first3=Dan A.|last4=McGill|first4=Brian|last5=Dornelas|first5=Maria|last6=Freeman|first6=Robin|date=December 2020|title=Clustered versus catastrophic global vertebrate declines|journal=Nature|volume=588|issue=7837|pages=267–271|doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2920-6|pmid=33208939|bibcode=2020Natur.588..267L|hdl=10023/23213|s2cid=227065128|issn=1476-4687|url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10116420/3/Freeman_Leung_et_al_Vertebrate_Declines_final3e.pdf|hdl-access=free|access-date=2024-04-26|archive-date=2023-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203132327/https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10116420/3/Freeman_Leung_et_al_Vertebrate_Declines_final3e.pdf|url-status=live}} A 2021 report in Frontiers in Conservation Science which cites both of the aforementioned studies, says "population sizes of vertebrate species that have been monitored across years have declined by an average of 68% over the last five decades, with certain population clusters in extreme decline, thus presaging the imminent extinction of their species," and asserts "that we are already on the path of a sixth major extinction is now scientifically undeniable."{{cite journal|last1=Bradshaw |first1=Corey J. A.|last2=Ehrlich|first2=Paul R. |last3=Beattie|first3=Andrew |last4=Ceballos |first4=Gerardo|last5=Crist|first5=Eileen|last6=Diamond|first6=Joan|last7=Dirzo|first7=Rodolfo |last8=Ehrlich|first8=Anne H.|last9=Harte|first9=John|last10=Harte|first10=Mary Ellen|last11=Pyke |first11=Graham |last12=Raven|first12=Peter H.|last13=Ripple|first13=William J.|last14=Saltré |first14=Frédérik|last15=Turnbull|first15=Christine|last16=Wackernagel|first16=Mathis|last17=Blumstein |first17=Daniel T.|date=2021 |title=Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future |journal=Frontiers in Conservation Science|volume=1|issue=|pages=|doi=10.3389/fcosc.2020.615419|doi-access=free}} A January 2022 review article published in Biological Reviews builds upon previous studies documenting biodiversity decline to assert that a sixth mass extinction event caused by anthropogenic activity is currently under way.{{cite journal |last1=Cowie |first1=Robert H. |last2=Bouchet |first2=Philippe |last3=Fontaine |first3=Benoît |date=2022 |title=The Sixth Mass Extinction: fact, fiction or speculation? |journal=Biological Reviews |volume=97 |issue=2 |pages=640–663 |doi=10.1111/brv.12816 |pmid=35014169 |pmc=9786292 |quote=Our review lays out arguments clearly demonstrating that there is a biodiversity crisis, quite probably the start of the Sixth Mass Extinction. |s2cid=245889833}}{{cite news|last=Sankaran|first=Vishwam|date=January 17, 2022|title=Study confirms sixth mass extinction is currently underway, caused by humans|work=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/sixth-mass-extinction-global-biodiversity-b1994346.html|access-date=January 17, 2022|archive-date=January 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117205431/https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/sixth-mass-extinction-global-biodiversity-b1994346.html|url-status=live}} A December 2022 study published in Science Advances states that "the planet has entered the sixth mass extinction" and warns that current anthropogenic trends, particularly regarding climate and land-use changes, could result in the loss of more than a tenth of plant and animal species by the end of the century.{{cite journal |last1=Strona |first1= Giovanni |last2=Bradshaw |first2=Corey J. A. |date=16 December 2022 |title=Coextinctions dominate future vertebrate losses from climate and land use change|url= |journal=Science Advances|volume=8 |issue=50 |pages= eabn4345|doi=10.1126/sciadv.abn4345|pmid= 36525487 |pmc= 9757742 |bibcode= 2022SciA....8N4345S |s2cid= 254803380 |access-date=}}{{cite news |last=Greenfield |first=Patrick |date=16 December 2022 |title=More than 1 in 10 species could be lost by end of century, study warns|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/16/more-than-1-in-10-species-could-be-lost-by-end-of-century-study-warns-aoe|work=The Guardian |location= |access-date=18 December 2022}} 12% of all bird species are threatened with extinction.{{Cite journal |last1=Pimm |first1=Stuart |last2=Raven |first2=Peter |last3=Peterson |first3=Alan |last4=Şekercioğlu |first4=Çağan H. |last5=Ehrlich |first5=Paul R. |date=18 July 2006 |title=Human impacts on the rates of recent, present, and future bird extinctions |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |language=en |volume=103 |issue=29 |pages=10941–10946 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0604181103 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=1544153 |pmid=16829570 }} A 2023 study published in Biological Reviews found that, of 70,000 monitored species, some 48% are experiencing population declines from anthropogenic pressures, whereas only 3% have increasing populations.{{cite news |author= |date=May 23, 2023 |title=Biodiversity: Almost half of animals in decline, research shows |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-65681648 |work=BBC |location= |access-date=May 23, 2023 |archive-date=July 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230717222234/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-65681648 |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Finn|first1=Catherine|last2=Grattarola|first2=Florencia |last3=Pincheira-Donoso|first3=Daniel |date=2023 |title=More losers than winners: investigating Anthropocene defaunation through the diversity of population trends|url= |journal=Biological Reviews|volume= 98|issue= 5|pages= 1732–1748|doi=10.1111/brv.12974|pmid=37189305 |s2cid=258717720 |access-date=}}{{cite news|last=Paddison|first=Laura|date=May 22, 2023|title=Global loss of wildlife is 'significantly more alarming' than previously thought, according to a new study|url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/22/world/wildlife-crisis-biodiversity-scn-climate-intl/index.html|work=CNN|location=|access-date=May 23, 2023|archive-date=May 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525012839/https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/22/world/wildlife-crisis-biodiversity-scn-climate-intl/index.html|url-status=live}}

According to the UNDP's 2020 Human Development Report, The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene:

{{blockquote|text=The planet's biodiversity is plunging, with a quarter of species facing extinction, many within decades. Numerous experts believe we are living through, or on the cusp of, a mass species extinction event, the sixth in the history of the planet and the first to be caused by a single organism—us.{{cite web|url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr_2020_overview_english.pdf|title=The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene|date=December 15, 2020|page=3|publisher=UNDP|access-date=December 16, 2020|archive-date=December 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216001954/http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr_2020_overview_english.pdf|url-status=live}}}}

The 2022 Living Planet Report found that vertebrate wildlife populations have plummeted by an average of almost 70% since 1970, with agriculture and fishing being the primary drivers of this decline.{{cite news |last=Greenfield|first=Patrick |date=October 12, 2022 |title=Animal populations experience average decline of almost 70% since 1970, report reveals |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/13/almost-70-of-animal-populations-wiped-out-since-1970-report-reveals-aoe|work=The Guardian |access-date=October 15, 2022}}{{cite news|last=Einhorn|first=Catrin|date=October 12, 2022|title=Researchers Report a Staggering Decline in Wildlife. Here's How to Understand It.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/12/climate/living-planet-index-wildlife-declines.html|work=The New York Times|location=|access-date=October 15, 2022|archive-date=October 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014202709/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/12/climate/living-planet-index-wildlife-declines.html|url-status=live}}

Some scientists, including Rodolfo Dirzo and Paul R. Ehrlich, contend that the sixth mass extinction is largely unknown to most people globally and is also misunderstood by many in the scientific community. They say it is not the disappearance of species, which gets the most attention, that is at the heart of the crisis, but "the existential threat of myriad population extinctions."{{cite journal |last1=Dirzo |first1=Rodolfo|last2=Ceballos|first2=Gerardo|last3=Ehrlich |first3=Paul R. |date=2022 |title=Circling the drain: the extinction crisis and the future of humanity |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B |volume=377|issue=1857 |pages= |doi=10.1098/rstb.2021.0378|pmid=35757873 |pmc=9237743}}

{{Main|Anthropocene}}

File:Ecological Processes Coral Reefs.jpgs before and during the Anthropocene]]

The abundance of species extinctions considered anthropogenic, or due to human activity, has sometimes (especially when referring to hypothesized future events) been collectively called the "Anthropocene extinction".{{cite journal|doi=10.5194/bgd-5-2401-2008|last=Wooldridge|first=S. A.|date=9 June 2008|title=Mass extinctions past and present: a unifying hypothesis|journal=Biogeosciences Discussions|volume=5|pages=2401–2423|issue=3|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00298014/file/bgd-5-2401-2008.pdf|bibcode=2008BGD.....5.2401W|s2cid=2346412|doi-access=free|access-date=2 September 2019|archive-date=2 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902164730/https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00298014/file/bgd-5-2401-2008.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|issn=0027-8424 |pmid=18695220|pmc=2556419|doi=10.1073/pnas.0802812105|date=Aug 2008 |title=Colloquium paper: ecological extinction and evolution in the brave new ocean |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=105|issue=Suppl 1|pages=11458–11465|last1=Jackson|first1=J. B. C. |bibcode=2008PNAS..10511458J|doi-access=free}} Anthropocene is a term introduced in 2000.{{cite journal|last1=Crutzen|first1=Paul J.|last2=Stoermer|first2=Eugene F.|title=The 'Anthropocene'|journal=Global Change NewsLetter|issue=41|date=May 2000|publisher=IGBP|url=http://www.igbp.net/download/18.316f18321323470177580001401/1376383088452/NL41.pdf|issn=0284-5865|page=17|access-date=2021-11-23|archive-date=2015-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418122558/http://www.igbp.net/download/18.316f18321323470177580001401/1376383088452/NL41.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite web|author=National Geographic Society|title=Anthropocene|url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/anthropocene/|date=June 7, 2019|website=National Geographic|access-date=23 November 2021|quote=coined and made popular by biologist Eugene Stormer and chemist Paul Crutzen in 2000.|archive-date=31 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531233810/https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/anthropocene/|url-status=live}} Some now postulate that a new geological epoch has begun, with the most abrupt and widespread extinction of species since the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago.

The term "anthropocene" is being used more frequently by scientists, and some commentators may refer to the current and projected future extinctions as part of a longer Holocene extinction.{{cite book|last=Elewa|first=Ashraf M. T.|chapter=Current mass extinction |title=Mass Extinction|pages=191–194 |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-75916-4_14|year=2008|isbn=978-3-540-75915-7}} The Holocene–Anthropocene boundary is contested, with some commentators asserting significant human influence on climate for much of what is normally regarded as the Holocene Epoch. Some experts mark the transition from the Holocene to the Anthropocene at the onset of the industrial revolution. They also note that the official use of this term in the near future will heavily rely on its usefulness, especially for Earth scientists studying late Holocene periods.

It has been suggested that human activity has made the period starting from the mid-20th century different enough from the rest of the Holocene to consider it a new geological epoch, known as the Anthropocene,{{cite journal|last1=Syvitski|first1=Jaia|last2=Waters|first2=Colin N.|last3=Day |first3=John |last4=Milliman |first4=John D. |last5=Summerhayes |first5=Colin |last6=Steffen |first6=Will |last7=Zalasiewicz |first7=Jan |last8=Cearreta |first8=Alejandro |last9=Gałuszka |first9=Agnieszka |last10=Hajdas |first10=Irka |last11=Head |first11=Martin J. |last12=Leinfelder |first12=Reinhold |last13=McNeill |first13=J. R. |last14=Poirier |first14=Clément |last15=Rose |first15=Neil L. |last16=Shotyk |first16=William |last17=Wagreich |first17=Michael |last18=Williams |first18=Mark |date=2020|title=Extraordinary human energy consumption and resultant geological impacts beginning around 1950 CE initiated the proposed Anthropocene Epoch |journal=Communications Earth & Environment|volume=1|issue=1 |at=32|doi=10.1038/s43247-020-00029-y |bibcode=2020ComEE...1...32S|s2cid=222415797 |doi-access=free|hdl=20.500.11850/462514 |hdl-access=free }}{{Cite journal|title=The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene|journal=Science|date=2016-01-08|issn=0036-8075|pmid=26744408|at=aad2622 |volume=351|issue=6269 |doi=10.1126/science.aad2622|first1=Colin N.|last1=Waters|first2=Jan |last2=Zalasiewicz|first3=Colin|last3=Summerhayes|first4=Anthony D. |last4=Barnosky|first5=Clément |last5=Poirier|first6=Agnieszka|last6=Gałuszka |first7=Alejandro|last7=Cearreta|first8=Matt |last8=Edgeworth|first9=Erle C.|last9=Ellis|bibcode=2016Sci...351.2622W |s2cid=206642594}} a term which was considered for inclusion in the timeline of Earth's history by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in 2016, but the proposal was rejected in 2024.{{Cite web|title=Working Group on the 'Anthropocene'|publisher=Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy|url=http://quaternary.stratigraphy.org/workinggroups/anthropocene/|access-date=21 January 2016|archive-date=17 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217014924/http://quaternary.stratigraphy.org/workinggroups/anthropocene/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/29/declare-anthropocene-epoch-experts-urge-geological-congress-human-impact-earth|title=The Anthropocene epoch: scientists declare dawn of human-influenced age|first=Damian|last=Carrington|date=August 29, 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=August 30, 2016|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611230701/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/29/declare-anthropocene-epoch-experts-urge-geological-congress-human-impact-earth|url-status=live}}"[https://www.iugs.org/_files/ugd/f1fc07_ebe2e2b94c35491c8efe570cd2c5a1bf.pdf The Anthropocene]": IUGS-ICS Statement. March 20, 2024. To constitute the Holocene as an extinction event, scientists must determine exactly when anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions began to measurably alter natural atmospheric levels on a global scale, and when these alterations caused changes to global climate. Using chemical proxies from Antarctic ice cores, researchers have estimated the fluctuations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) gases in the Earth's atmosphere during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene epochs.{{Cite journal|last=Ruddiman|first=W. F.|date=2003|title=The anthropogenic greenhouse gas era began thousands of years ago|url=http://www.arp.harvard.edu/sci/climate/journalclub/Ruddiman2003.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903232016/http://www.arp.harvard.edu/sci/climate/journalclub/Ruddiman2003.pdf|archive-date=2006-09-03|url-status=dead|journal=Climatic Change|volume=61|issue=3|pages=261–293 |doi=10.1023/b:clim.0000004577.17928.fa|bibcode=2003ClCh...61..261R |citeseerx=10.1.1.651.2119|s2cid=2501894}} Estimates of the fluctuations of these two gases in the atmosphere, using chemical proxies from Antarctic ice cores, generally indicate that the peak of the Anthropocene occurred within the previous two centuries: typically beginning with the Industrial Revolution, when the highest greenhouse gas levels were recorded.{{Cite journal |last=Cruzten|first=P. J.|date=2002|title=Geology of mankind: The Anthropocene|journal=Nature|volume=415|issue=6867|page=23|doi=10.1038/415023a|pmid=11780095 |bibcode=2002Natur.415...23C|s2cid=9743349|doi-access=free |s2cid-access=free |bibcode-access=free }}{{cite journal|first1=Will|last1=Steffen |first2=Åsa|last2=Persson|first3=Lisa|last3=Deutsch|first4=Jan|last4=Zalasiewicz|first5=Mark |last5=Williams|first6=Katherine|last6=Richardson|first7=Carole|last7=Crumley|first8=Paul |last8=Crutzen |first9=Carl|last9=Folke|first10=Line|last10=Gordon|first11=Mario|last11=Molina|first12=Veerabhadran |last12=Ramanathan|first13=Johan|last13=Rockström|first14=Marten|last14=Scheffer|first15=Hans Joachim |last15=Schellnhuber|first16=Uno|last16=Svedin|year=2011|title=The Anthropocene: From Global Change to Planetary Stewardship|journal=Ambio|volume=40|issue=7|pages=739–761|doi=10.1007/s13280-011-0185-x |pmc=3357752 |pmid=22338713|bibcode=2011Ambio..40..739S }}

{{Further|Human ecology}}

A 2015 article in Science suggested that humans are unique in ecology as an unprecedented "global superpredator", regularly preying on large numbers of fully grown terrestrial and marine apex predators, and with a great deal of influence over food webs and climatic systems worldwide. Although significant debate exists as to how much human predation and indirect effects contributed to prehistoric extinctions, certain population crashes have been directly correlated with human arrival. Human activity has been the main cause of mammalian extinctions since the Late Pleistocene. A 2018 study published in PNAS found that since the dawn of human civilization, the biomass of wild mammals has decreased by 83%. The biomass decrease is 80% for marine mammals, 50% for plants, and 15% for fish. Currently, livestock make up 60% of the biomass of all mammals on Earth, followed by humans (36%) and wild mammals (4%). As for birds, 70% are domesticated, such as poultry, whereas only 30% are wild.{{cite news|last=Carrington|first=Damian|date=May 21, 2018|title=Humans just 0.01% of all life but have destroyed 83% of wild mammals – study|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/21/human-race-just-001-of-all-life-but-has-destroyed-over-80-of-wild-mammals-study|access-date=May 25, 2018|archive-date=September 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911035201/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/21/human-race-just-001-of-all-life-but-has-destroyed-over-80-of-wild-mammals-study|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|last1=Bar-On |first1=Yinon M.|last2=Phillips|first2=Rob|last3=Milo |first3=Ron|year=2018|title=The biomass distribution on Earth|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=115|issue=25|pages=6506–6511|pmc=6016768 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1711842115 |pmid=29784790|bibcode=2018PNAS..115.6506B |doi-access=free}}

{{See also|Megafauna#Megafaunal_mass_extinctions|label 1=Megafaunal mass extinctions|Quaternary extinction}}

File:Extinctions Africa Austrailia NAmerica Madagascar.gif on different land masses over time, with the arrival of humans indicated.]]

Extinction of animals, plants, and other organisms caused by human actions may go as far back as the late Pleistocene, over 12,000 years ago. There is a correlation between megafaunal extinction and the arrival of humans.{{cite journal|last1=Sandom|first1=Christopher |last2=Faurby|first2=Søren|last3= Sandel|first3=Brody|last4= Svenning|first4=Jens-Christian|date= 4 June 2014|title=Global late Quaternary megafauna extinctions linked to humans, not climate change|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B|volume=281|issue= 1787|page= 20133254|doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.3254 |pmid=24898370|pmc=4071532}}{{cite journal |last1=Smith|first1=Felisa A.|last2=Elliott Smith|first2=Rosemary E. |last3=Lyons |first3=S. Kathleen |last4=Payne |first4=Jonathan L.|date=April 20, 2018|title=Body size downgrading of mammals over the late Quaternary |journal=Science|volume=360 |issue=6386|pages=310–313|doi=10.1126/science.aao5987|pmid=29674591|bibcode=2018Sci...360..310S|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|last1=Dembitzer|first1=Jacob|last2=Barkai|first2=Ran |last3=Ben-Dor|first3=Miki|last4=Meiri|first4=Shai|date=2022|title=Levantine overkill: 1.5 million years of hunting down the body size distribution|journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|volume=276|issue=|page=107316 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107316|bibcode=2022QSRv..27607316D|s2cid=245236379}} Megafauna that are still extant also suffered severe declines that were highly correlated with human expansion and activity.{{Cite journal |last1=Bergman |first1=Juraj |last2=Pedersen |first2=Rasmus Ø |last3=Lundgren |first3=Erick J. |last4=Lemoine |first4=Rhys T. |last5=Monsarrat |first5=Sophie |last6=Pearce |first6=Elena A. |last7=Schierup |first7=Mikkel H. |last8=Svenning |first8=Jens-Christian |date=24 November 2023 |title=Worldwide Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene population declines in extant megafauna are associated with Homo sapiens expansion rather than climate change |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=7679 |doi=10.1038/s41467-023-43426-5 |pmid=37996436 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=10667484 |bibcode=2023NatCo..14.7679B }} Over the past 125,000 years, the average body size of wildlife has fallen by 14% as actions by prehistoric humans eradicated megafauna on all continents with the exception of Africa.{{cite news|last=Carrington|first=Damian|date=May 23, 2019|title=Humans causing shrinking of nature as larger animals die off|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/23/humans-causing-shrinking-of-nature-as-larger-animals-die-off|access-date=May 23, 2019|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224071938/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/23/humans-causing-shrinking-of-nature-as-larger-animals-die-off|url-status=live}} Over the past 130,000 years, avian functional diversity has declined precipitously and disproportionately relative to phylogenetic diversity losses.{{Cite journal |last1=Matthews |first1=Thomas J. |last2=Triantis |first2=Kostas A. |last3=Wayman |first3=Joseph P. |last4=Martin |first4=Thomas E. |last5=Hume |first5=Julian P. |last6=Cardoso |first6=Pedro |last7=Faurby |first7=Søren |last8=Mendenhall |first8=Chase D. |last9=Dufour |first9=Paul |last10=Rigal |first10=François |last11=Cooke |first11=Rob |last12=Whittaker |first12=Robert J. |last13=Pigot |first13=Alex L. |last14=Thébaud |first14=Christophe |last15=Jørgensen |first15=Maria Wagner |date=4 October 2024 |title=The global loss of avian functional and phylogenetic diversity from anthropogenic extinctions |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk7898 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=386 |issue=6717 |pages=55–60 |doi=10.1126/science.adk7898 |pmid=39361743 |bibcode=2024Sci...386...55M |issn=0036-8075 |access-date=11 October 2024}}

Human civilization was founded on and grew from agriculture. The more land used for farming, the greater the population a civilization could sustain,{{Cite journal|last=Ruddiman|first=W.F.|date=2009|title=Effect of per-capita land use changes on Holocene forest clearance and CO₂ emissions|journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=28|issue=27–28|pages=3011–3015|doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.05.022|bibcode=2009QSRv...28.3011R}} and subsequent popularization of farming led to widespread habitat conversion.

Habitat destruction by humans, thus replacing the original local ecosystems, is a major driver of extinction.{{cite journal|last1=Vitousek|first1=P. M.|last2=Mooney |first2=H. A. |last3=Lubchenco|first3=J.|last4=Melillo|first4=J. M.|year=1997|title=Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems|journal=Science|volume=277|issue=5325|pages=494–499|doi=10.1126/science.277.5325.494 |citeseerx=10.1.1.318.6529|s2cid=8610995 }} The sustained conversion of biodiversity rich forests and wetlands into poorer fields and pastures (of lesser carrying capacity for wild species), over the last 10,000 years, has considerably reduced the Earth's carrying capacity for wild birds and mammals, among other organisms, in both population size and species count.{{cite book |last=Teyssèdre|first=A.|year=2004|title= Towards a sixth mass extinction crisis?|chapter=Biodiversity and Global Change|location=Paris|publisher=ADPF|isbn=978-2-914-935289}}{{cite journal |last1=Gaston|first1=K.J.|last2=Blackburn|first2=T.N.G.|last3=Klein Goldewijk|first3=K. |year=2003 |title=Habitat conversion and global avian biodiversity loss|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=270|issue=1521|pages=1293–1300|doi=10.1098/rspb.2002.2303|pmid=12816643|pmc=1691371}}{{cite journal|last1=Teyssèdre|first1=A.|last2=Couvet|first2=D.|year=2007|title=Expected impact of agriculture expansion on the global avifauna|journal=C. R. Biologies|volume=30|issue=3|pages=247–254|doi=10.1016/j.crvi.2007.01.003|pmid=17434119|url=https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/articles/10.1016/j.crvi.2007.01.003/|access-date=2023-10-05|archive-date=2023-10-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030161043/https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/articles/10.1016/j.crvi.2007.01.003/|url-status=live}}

Other, related human causes of the extinction event include deforestation, hunting, pollution,{{cite web|date=2008-11-06|website=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-extinct-idUSTRE4A501920081106|title=Measuring extinction, species by species|access-date=2010-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502002359/http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/11/06/us-extinct-idUSTRE4A501920081106 |archive-date=2013-05-02|url-status=live}} the introduction in various regions of non-native species, and the widespread transmission of infectious diseases spread through livestock and crops.

File:Operação Hymenaea, Julho-2016 (29399454651).jpg in the Maranhão state, Brazil, in July 2016]]

Recent investigations into the practice of landscape burning during the Neolithic Revolution have a major implication for the current debate about the timing of the Anthropocene and the role that humans may have played in the production of greenhouse gases prior to the Industrial Revolution. Studies of early hunter-gatherers raise questions about the current use of population size or density as a proxy for the amount of land clearance and anthropogenic burning that took place in pre-industrial times.{{Cite web|url=https://climate.nasa.gov/news/649/|title=Secrets from the past point to rapid climate change in the future|last=Lynch|first=Patrick|date=15 December 2011|publisher=NASA's Earth Science News Team|access-date=2 April 2016|archive-date=29 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629173812/https://climate.nasa.gov/news/649/|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last=Ruddiman|first=W.F.|date=2013|title=The Anthropocene|journal=Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences|volume=41|pages=45–68|doi=10.1146/annurev-earth-050212-123944|bibcode=2013AREPS..41...45R}} Scientists have questioned the correlation between population size and early territorial alterations. Ruddiman and Ellis' research paper in 2009 makes the case that early farmers involved in systems of agriculture used more land per capita than growers later in the Holocene, who intensified their labor to produce more food per unit of area (thus, per laborer); arguing that agricultural involvement in rice production implemented thousands of years ago by relatively small populations created significant environmental impacts through large-scale means of deforestation.

While a number of human-derived factors are recognized as contributing to rising atmospheric concentrations of CH₄ (methane) and CO₂ (carbon dioxide), deforestation and territorial clearance practices associated with agricultural development may have contributed most to these concentrations globally in earlier millennia. Scientists that are employing a variance of archaeological and paleoecological data argue that the processes contributing to substantial human modification of the environment spanned many thousands of years on a global scale and thus, not originating as late as the Industrial Revolution. Palaeoclimatologist William Ruddiman has argued that in the early Holocene 11,000 years ago, atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane levels fluctuated in a pattern which was different from the Pleistocene epoch before it.{{Cite journal|last=Tollefson|first=Jeff|date=2011-03-25|title=The 8,000-year-old climate puzzle|url=http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110325/full/news.2011.184.html|journal=Nature News|doi=10.1038/news.2011.184|doi-access=free|access-date=2016-04-08|archive-date=2021-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308145040/https://www.nature.com/news/2011/110325/full/news.2011.184.html|url-status=live}} He argued that the patterns of the significant decline of CO₂ levels during the last ice age of the Pleistocene inversely correlate to the Holocene where there have been dramatic increases of CO₂ around 8000 years ago and CH₄ levels 3000 years after that. The correlation between the decrease of CO₂ in the Pleistocene and the increase of it during the Holocene implies that the causation of this spark of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere was the growth of human agriculture during the Holocene.

File:Aridity ice age vs early holocene vs modern.jpg ice age climate{{Clear}}Middle: Atlantic period, warm and wet{{Clear}}Bottom: Potential vegetation in climate now if not for human effects like agriculture.{{Cite web|title=Global land environments since the last interglacial

|last=Adams | first=Jonathan M. | year=1997

|url=https://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/nerc.html|access-date=2023-01-06

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080116122058/http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/nerc.html|archive-date=2008-01-16

|publisher=Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN, USA}}]]

One of the main theories explaining early Holocene extinctions is historic climate change. The climate change theory has suggested that a change in climate near the end of the late Pleistocene stressed the megafauna to the point of extinction.{{cite journal|last=Zalasiewicz|first=Jan|author2=Williams, Mark|author3=Smith, Alan|author4=Barry, Tiffany L. |author5=Coe, Angela L.|author6=Bown, Paul R.|author7=Brenchley, Patrick|author8=Cantrill, David |author9=Gale, Andrew|author10=Gibbard, Philip|author11=Gregory, F. John|author12=Hounslow, Mark W. |author13=Kerr, Andrew C.|author14=Pearson, Paul|author15=Knox, Robert|author16=Powell, John |author17=Waters, Colin|author18=Marshall, John|author19=Oates, Michael|author20=Rawson, Peter |author21=Stone, Philip|title=Are we now living in the Anthropocene|journal=GSA Today|year=2008 |volume=18|issue=2|pages=4|doi=10.1130/GSAT01802A.1|bibcode=2008GSAT...18b...4Z |doi-access=free}}{{cite book|last1=Graham |first1=R. W.|last2=Mead|first2=J. I.|year=1987|chapter=Environmental fluctuations and evolution of mammalian faunas during the last deglaciation in North America|editor1-last=Ruddiman|editor1-first=W. F. |editor2-last=Wright|editor2-first=J. H. E.|title=North America and Adjacent Oceans During the Last Deglaciation |volume=K-3|series=The Geology of North America|publisher=Geological Society of America |isbn=978-0-8137-5203-7}} Some scientists favor abrupt climate change as the catalyst for the extinction of the megafauna at the end of the Pleistocene, most who believe increased hunting from early modern humans also played a part, with others even suggesting that the two interacted.{{cite book|last=Martin |first=P. S. |year=1967 |chapter=Prehistoric overkill |title=Pleistocene extinctions: The search for a cause|editor1-first=P. S. |editor1-last=Martin|editor2-first=H. E.|editor2-last=Wright|location=New Haven|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-00755-8}}{{cite journal|author=Lyons, S.K.|author2=Smith, F.A.|author3=Brown, J.H.|title=Of mice, mastodons and men: human-mediated extinctions on four continents|journal=Evolutionary Ecology Research |volume=6|pages=339–358|url=http://biology.unm.edu/fasmith/Web_Page_PDFs/Lyons_et_al_2004_EER.pdf |year=2004|access-date=18 October 2012|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306013121/http://biology.unm.edu/fasmith/Web_Page_PDFs/Lyons_et_al_2004_EER.pdf}} In the Americas, a controversial explanation for the shift in climate is presented under the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis, which states that the impact of comets cooled global temperatures.{{cite journal |vauthors=Firestone RB, West A, Kennett JP, etal |title=Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact 12,900 years ago that contributed to the megafaunal extinctions and the Younger Dryas cooling|journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.|volume=104|issue=41 |pages=16016–16021|date=October 2007|pmid=17901202 |pmc=1994902|doi=10.1073/pnas.0706977104 |bibcode=2007PNAS..10416016F|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |vauthors=Bunch TE, Hermes RE, Moore AM, Kennettd DJ, Weaver JC, Wittke JH, DeCarli PS, Bischoff JL, Hillman GC, Howard GA, Kimbel DR, Kletetschka G, Lipo CP, Sakai S, Revay Z, West A, Firestone RB, Kennett JP |title=Very high-temperature impact melt products as evidence for cosmic airbursts and impacts 12,900 years ago |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=109 |issue=28|pages=E1903–12|date=June 2012|pmid=22711809|pmc=3396500 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1204453109 |bibcode=2012PNAS..109E1903B|doi-access=free}} Despite its popularity among nonscientists, this hypothesis has never been accepted by relevant experts, who dismiss it as a fringe theory.{{cite journal |last1=Boslough |first1=Mark |date=March 2023 |title=Apocalypse! |url=https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/graham-hancocks-ancient-apocalypse-hypothesis-put-to-test/ |journal=Skeptic Magazine |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=51–59 |access-date=2023-06-19 |archive-date=2023-11-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127180234/https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/graham-hancocks-ancient-apocalypse-hypothesis-put-to-test/ |url-status=live }}

{{Further|Biodiversity loss|Human impact on the environment}}

File:Susa group, mountain gorilla.jpg remaining. 60% of primate species face an anthropogenically driven extinction crisis and 75% have declining populations.]]

Contemporary human overpopulation{{cite book|editor1-last=Crist|editor1-first=Eileen|editor2-last=Cafaro |editor2-first=Philip |date=2012|title=Life on the Brink: Environmentalists Confront Overpopulation|publisher=University of Georgia Press|page=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=heOrAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 |isbn=978-0820343853}} and continued population growth, along with economic growth and per-capita consumption growth, prominently in the past two centuries, are regarded as the underlying causes of extinction.{{cite journal|last1=Ceballos|first1=Gerardo|last2=Ehrlich|first2=Paul R.|last3=Dirzo |first3=Rodolfo|date=23 May 2017|title=Biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines|journal=PNAS |volume=114|issue=30|pages=E6089–E6096 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1704949114|quote=Much less frequently mentioned are, however, the ultimate drivers of those immediate causes of biotic destruction, namely, human overpopulation and continued population growth, and overconsumption, especially by the rich. These drivers, all of which trace to the fiction that perpetual growth can occur on a finite planet, are themselves increasing rapidly|pmc=5544311 |pmid=28696295|bibcode=2017PNAS..114E6089C |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |last1= Cafaro|first1=Philip|date=2022 |title=Reducing Human Numbers and the Size of our Economies is Necessary to Avoid a Mass Extinction and Share Earth Justly with Other Species|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359182950|journal=Philosophia|volume=50 |issue= 5|pages=2263–2282 |doi=10.1007/s11406-022-00497-w|s2cid=247433264 |access-date=|quote=Conservation biologists agree that humanity is on the verge of causing a mass extinction and that its primary driver is our immense and rapidly expanding global economy.}} Inger Andersen, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, stated that "we need to understand that the more people there are, the more we put the Earth under heavy pressure. As far as biodiversity is concerned, we are at war with nature."{{cite news |last=Greenfield|first=Patrick |date=December 6, 2022|title='We are at war with nature': UN environment chief warns of biodiversity apocalypse|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/06/cop-15-un-chief-biodiversity-apocalypse|work=The Guardian|location= |access-date=January 14, 2023|quote='We’ve just welcomed the 8 billionth member of the human race on this planet. That’s a wonderful birth of a baby, of course. But we need to understand that the more people there are, the more we put the Earth under heavy pressure. As far as biodiversity is concerned, we are at war with nature. We need to make peace with nature. Because nature is what sustains everything on Earth … the science is unequivocal.' – Inger Andersen}}

Some scholars assert that the emergence of capitalism as the dominant economic system has accelerated ecological exploitation and destruction,{{cite book|last=Hickel |first=Jason|author-link=Jason Hickel|title=Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World|year=2021 |publisher=Windmill Books|pages=39–40|isbn=978-1786091215|quote=It was only with the rise of capitalism over the past few hundred years, and the breathtaking acceleration of industrialization from the 1950s, that on a planetary scale things began to tip out of balance.}}{{cite book |last=Foster |first=John Bellamy |author-link=John Bellamy Foster |date=2022 |title=Capitalism in the Anthropocene: Ecological Ruin or Ecological Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wY5IEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT7 |publisher=Monthly Review Press |page=1 |isbn=978-1583679746 |quote=The advent of the Anthropocene coincided with a planetary rift, as the human economy under capitalism heedlessly crossed, or began to cross, Earth System boundaries, fouling its own nest and threatening the destruction of the planet as a safe home for humanity. |access-date=2022-11-07 |archive-date=2022-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109191015/https://books.google.com/books?id=wY5IEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT7 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Derber|first1=Charles |author-link1=Charles Derber|last2=Moodliar |first2=Suren |date=2023 |title=Dying for Capitalism: How Big Money Fuels Extinction and What We Can Do About It|url= |location= |publisher=Routledge |page= |isbn=978-1032512587}} and has also exacerbated mass species extinction.{{cite book|last=Dawson|first=Ashley|url=http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/extinction-by-ashley-dawson/|title=Extinction: A Radical History|date=2016|publisher=OR Books|isbn=978-1-944869-01-4|pages=41, 100–101|author-link=Ashley Dawson|access-date=2016-08-20|archive-date=2016-09-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917203814/http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/extinction-by-ashley-dawson/|url-status=dead}} CUNY professor David Harvey, for example, posits that the neoliberal era "happens to be the era of the fastest mass extinction of species in the Earth's recent history".{{Cite book|last=Harvey|first=David|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-brief-history-of-neoliberalism-9780199283279?cc=us&lang=en&|title=A Brief History of Neoliberalism|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0199283279|page=173|author-link=David Harvey (geographer)|access-date=2018-08-06|archive-date=2021-11-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128055913/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-brief-history-of-neoliberalism-9780199283279?cc=us&lang=en&|url-status=live}} Ecologist William E. Rees concludes that the "neoliberal paradigm contributes significantly to planetary unraveling" by treating the economy and the ecosphere as totally separate systems, and by neglecting the latter.{{cite journal|last1=Rees|first1=William E.|author-link=William E. Rees|date=2020|title=Ecological economics for humanity's plague phase|url=http://www.fraw.org.uk/data/limits/rees_2020.pdf|journal=Ecological Economics|volume=169|issue=|pages=106519|doi=10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106519|bibcode=2020EcoEc.16906519R|s2cid=209502532|access-date=|archive-date=2023-05-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525163729/http://www.fraw.org.uk/data/limits/rees_2020.pdf|url-status=live}} Major lobbying organizations representing corporations in the agriculture, fisheries, forestry and paper, mining, and oil and gas industries, including the United States Chamber of Commerce, have been pushing back against legislation that could address the extinction crisis. A 2022 report by the climate think tank InfluenceMap stated that "although industry associations, especially in the US, appear reluctant to discuss the biodiversity crisis, they are clearly engaged on a wide range of policies with significant impacts on biodiversity loss."{{cite news |last=Weston|first=Phoebe |date=October 24, 2022 |title=Business groups block action that could help tackle biodiversity crisis, report finds|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/24/business-groups-block-action-that-could-help-tackle-biodiversity-crisis-aoe|work=The Guardian |access-date=October 25, 2022}}

File:Giraffe koure niger 2006.jpg |location= |access-date=July 7, 2023}}]]

The loss of animal species from ecological communities, defaunation, is primarily driven by human activity. This has resulted in empty forests, ecological communities depleted of large vertebrates.{{Cite book|title=Essentials of Conservation Biology|last=Primack|first=Richard|publisher=Sinauer Associates, Inc. Publishers|year=2014 |isbn=978-1-605-35289-3 |location=Sunderland, MA|pages=217–245}} This is not to be confused with extinction, as it includes both the disappearance of species and declines in abundance.{{Cite web|title=Tracking and combatting our current mass extinction|website=Ars Technica|date=2014-07-25|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2014/07/tracking-and-combatting-our-current-mass-extinction/|access-date=2015-11-30|archive-date=2019-04-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412033742/https://arstechnica.com/science/2014/07/tracking-and-combatting-our-current-mass-extinction/|url-status=live}} Defaunation effects were first implied at the Symposium of Plant-Animal Interactions at the University of Campinas, Brazil in 1988 in the context of Neotropical forests. Since then, the term has gained broader usage in conservation biology as a global phenomenon.{{cite journal |last1=Dirzo|first1=R.|last2=Galetti|first2=M.|year=2013|title=Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Living in a Defaunated World|doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2013.04.020|journal=Biological Conservation|volume=163|pages=1–6|bibcode=2013BCons.163....1G }}

Big cat populations have severely declined over the last half-century and could face extinction in the following decades. According to 2011 IUCN estimates: lions are down to 25,000, from 450,000; leopards are down to 50,000, from 750,000; cheetahs are down to 12,000, from 45,000; tigers are down to 3,000 in the wild, from 50,000.{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/story/2011-10-28/lions-tigers-extinction/50958540/1 |title=Lions, tigers, big cats may face extinction in 20 years |first=Dan |last=Vergano |website=USA Today |date=October 28, 2011 |access-date=2017-08-29 |archive-date=2016-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414184112/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/story/2011-10-28/lions-tigers-extinction/50958540/1 |url-status=live }} A December 2016 study by the Zoological Society of London, Panthera Corporation and Wildlife Conservation Society showed that cheetahs are far closer to extinction than previously thought, with only 7,100 remaining in the wild, existing within only 9% of their historic range.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cheetahs-endangered-panthera-report_us_585c47d2e4b0eb586485d3e0|title=Cheetahs Are Far Closer To Extinction Than We Realized|first=Nick|last=Visser|date=December 27, 2016|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=December 27, 2016|archive-date=December 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228013707/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cheetahs-endangered-panthera-report_us_585c47d2e4b0eb586485d3e0|url-status=live}} Human pressures are to blame for the cheetah population crash, including prey loss due to overhunting by people, retaliatory killing from farmers, habitat loss and the illegal wildlife trade.{{cite journal|display-authors=20|first1=Sarah M. |last1=Duranta |first2=Nicholas |last2=Mitchell |first3=Rosemary |last3=Groom |first4=Nathalie |last4=Pettorelli |first5=Audrey |last5=Ipavec |first6=Andrew P. |last6=Jacobson |first7=Rosie |last7=Woodroffe |first8=Monika |last8=Böhm |first9=Luke T. B. |last9=Hunter |first10=Matthew S. |last10=Becker |first11=Femke |last11=Broekhuis |first12=Sultana |last12=Bashir |first13=Leah |last13=Andresen |first14=Ortwin |last14=Aschenborn |first15=Mohammed |last15=Beddiaf |first16=Farid |last16=Belbachir |first17=Amel |last17=Belbachir-Bazi |first18=Ali |last18=Berbash |first19=Iracelma |last19=Brandao de Matos Machado |first20=Christine |last20=Breitenmoser |first21=Monica |last21=Chege |first22=Deon |last22=Cilliers |first23=Harriet |last23=Davies-Mostert |first24=Amy J. |last24=Dickman |first25=Fabiano |last25=Ezekiel |first26=Mohammad S. |last26=Farhadinia |first27=Paul |last27=Funston |first28=Philipp |last28=Henschel |first29=Jane |last29=Horgan |first30=Hans H.|last30=de Iongh |first31=Houman |last31=Jowkar |first32=Rebecca |last32=Klein |first33=Peter Andrew |last33=Lindsey |first34=Laurie |last34=Marker |first35=Kelly |last35=Marnewick |first36=Joerg |last36=Melzheimera |first37=Johnathan |last37=Merkle |first38=Jassiel |last38=M'sokab |first39=Maurus |last39=Msuhac |first40=Helen |last40=O'Neill |first41=Megan |last41=Parker |first42=Gianetta |last42=Purchase |first43=Samaila |last43=Sahailou |first44=Yohanna |last44=Saidu |first45=Abdoulkarim |last45=Samna |first46=Anne |last46=Schmidt-Küntze |first47=Eda |last47=Selebatso |first48=Etotépé A. |last48=Sogbohossou |first49=Alaaeldin |last49=Soultan |first50=Emma |last50=Stone |first51=Esther |last51=van der Meer |first52=Rudie |last52=van Vuuren |first53=Mary |last53=Wykstra |first54=Kim |last54=Young-Overto |year=2016 |title=The global decline of cheetah Acinonyx jubatus and what it means for conservation|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=114|issue=3|pages=1–6 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1611122114|pmid=28028225|pmc=5255576|doi-access=free}} Populations of brown bears have experienced similar population decline.{{Cite journal |last1=Albrecht |first1=Jörg |last2=Bartoń |first2=Kamil A. |last3=Selva |first3=Nuria |last4=Sommer |first4=Robert S. |last5=Swenson |first5=Jon E. |last6=Bischof |first6=Richard |date=4 September 2017 |title=Humans and climate change drove the Holocene decline of the brown bear |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=10399 |doi=10.1038/s41598-017-10772-6 |pmid=28871202 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=5583342 |bibcode=2017NatSR...710399A }}

The term pollinator decline refers to the reduction in abundance of insect and other animal pollinators in many ecosystems worldwide beginning at the end of the twentieth century, and continuing into the present day.{{cite web |last1=Kluser |first1=S. |last2=Peduzzi |first2=P. |year=2007 |url=http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:32258/ATTACHMENT01 |title=Global pollinator decline: a literature review}} Pollinators, which are necessary for 75% of food crops, are declining globally in both abundance and diversity.{{cite journal|last=Dirzo|first=Rodolfo|author2=Young, Hillary S.|author3=Galetti, Mauro|author4=Ceballos, Gerardo|author5=Isaac, Nick J. B.|author6=Collen, Ben|title=Defaunation in the Anthropocene|journal=Science|date=2014|volume=345|issue=6195|pages=401–406|doi=10.1126/science.1251817|pmid=25061202|bibcode=2014Sci...345..401D|s2cid=206555761|url=http://www.uv.mx/personal/tcarmona/files/2010/08/Science-2014-Dirzo-401-6-2.pdf|access-date=December 16, 2016|archive-date=May 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511160501/https://www.uv.mx/personal/tcarmona/files/2010/08/Science-2014-Dirzo-401-6-2.pdf|url-status=live}} A 2017 study led by Radboud University's Hans de Kroon indicated that the biomass of insect life in Germany had declined by three-quarters in the previous 25 years. Participating researcher Dave Goulson of Sussex University stated that their study suggested that humans are making large parts of the planet uninhabitable for wildlife. Goulson characterized the situation as an approaching "ecological Armageddon", adding that "if we lose the insects then everything is going to collapse."{{cite news |last=Carrington |first=Damian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers |title=Warning of 'ecological Armageddon' after dramatic plunge in insect numbers |newspaper=The Guardian |date=18 October 2017 |access-date=18 October 2017 |archive-date=11 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711061707/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers |url-status=live }} A 2019 study found that over 40% of insect species are threatened with extinction.{{cite journal |last1=Sánchez-Bayo |first1=Francisco |last2=Wyckhuys |first2=Kris A.G. |date=April 2019 |title=Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=232 |issue= |pages=8–27 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.020 |bibcode=2019BCons.232....8S |s2cid=91685233}} The most significant drivers in the decline of insect populations are associated with intensive farming practices, along with pesticide use and climate change.{{cite news|last=Briggs|first=Helen|date=October 30, 2019|title='Alarming' loss of insects and spiders recorded|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50226367|work=BBC|access-date=November 2, 2019|archive-date=November 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103000750/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50226367|url-status=live}} The world's insect population decreases by around 1 to 2% per year.{{cite news|last=Lewis|first=Sophie|date=January 12, 2021|title=Scientists warn the world's insects are undergoing "death by a thousand cuts"|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/insects-death-by-a-thousand-cuts/|work=CBS News|access-date=January 12, 2021|archive-date=February 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209142025/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/insects-death-by-a-thousand-cuts/|url-status=live}}

File:Ringtailed Lemurs in Berenty.jpg, one of the more than 120 unique species of mammals only found on Madagascar threatened with extinction.{{cite news |last= Weston|first=Phoebe|date=January 10, 2023 |title=Madagascar's unique wildlife faces imminent wave of extinction, say scientists|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/10/madagascar-unique-wildlife-extinction-aoe|work=The Guardian |location= |access-date=January 12, 2023}}]]

{{blockquote|text=We have driven the rate of biological extinction, the permanent loss of species, up several hundred times beyond its historical levels, and are threatened with the loss of a majority of all species by the end of the 21st century.|source=Peter Raven, former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), in the foreword to their publication AAAS Atlas of Population and Environment{{cite web|url=http://atlas.aaas.org/|title=Atlas of Population and Environment|publisher=AAAS |year=2000|access-date=2008-02-12|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110309092803/http://atlas.aaas.org/|archive-date=2011-03-09}}}}

File:Northern White Rhinoceros Angalifu.jpg, a male northern white rhinoceros at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (died December 2014).{{cite news|title=A northern white rhino has died. There are now five left in the entire world |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2014/12/15/a-northern-white-rhino-has-died-there-are-now-five-left-in-the-entire-world/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=15 December 2014}} Sudan, the last male of the subspecies died on March 19, 2018.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43468066|title=Northern white rhino: Last male Sudan dies in Kenya|date=March 20, 2018|work=British Broadcasting Corporation}}]]

Various species are predicted to become extinct in the near future,{{Cite web|author1=Douglas Main|date=2013-11-22|title=7 Iconic Animals Humans Are Driving to Extinction|url=https://www.livescience.com/41421-animals-threatened-with-extinction.html|access-date=2023-01-06|website=livescience.com|language=en|archive-date=2023-01-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106233208/https://www.livescience.com/41421-animals-threatened-with-extinction.html|url-status=live}} among them some species of rhinoceros,{{cite web|date=October 25, 2011|url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2011/10/25/poachers-drive-javan-rhino-to-extinction-in-vietnam/|title=Poachers Drive Javan Rhino to Extinction in Vietnam [Updated]|first=John R.|last=Platt|work=Scientific American|access-date=February 13, 2012|archive-date=November 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117035006/http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2011/10/25/poachers-drive-javan-rhino-to-extinction-in-vietnam/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Inus|first=Kristy|date=April 18, 2019|title=Sumatran rhinos extinct in the wild|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/04/18/sumatran-rhinos-extinct-in-the-wild/|work=The Star Online|access-date=April 26, 2019|archive-date=April 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426225059/https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/04/18/sumatran-rhinos-extinct-in-the-wild/|url-status=live}} primates,{{cite journal |display-authors=20 |last1=Estrada |first1=Alejandro |last2=Garber |first2=Paul A. |last3=Rylands |first3=Anthony B. |last4=Roos |first4=Christian |last5=Fernandez-Duque |first5=Eduardo |last6=Di Fiore |first6=Anthony |last7=Anne-Isola Nekaris |first7=K. |last8=Nijman |first8=Vincent |last9=Heymann |first9=Eckhard W. |last10=Lambert |first10=Joanna E. |last11=Rovero |first11=Francesco |last12=Barelli |first12=Claudia |last13=Setchell |first13=Joanna M. |last14=Gillespie |first14=Thomas R. |last15=Mittermeier |first15=Russell A. |last16=Arregoitia |first16=Luis Verde |last17=de Guinea |first17=Miguel |last18=Gouveia |first18=Sidney |last19=Dobrovolski |first19=Ricardo |last20=Shanee |first20=Sam |last21=Shanee |first21=Noga |last22=Boyle |first22=Sarah A. |last23=Fuentes |first23=Agustin |last24=MacKinnon |first24=Katherine C. |last25=Amato |first25=Katherine R. |last26=Meyer |first26=Andreas L. S. |last27=Wich |first27=Serge |last28=Sussman |first28=Robert W. |last29=Pan |first29=Ruliang |last30=Kone |first30=Inza |last31=Li |first31=Baoguo |date=January 18, 2017|title=Impending extinction crisis of the world's primates: Why primates matter |journal=Science Advances|volume=3|issue=1|pages= e1600946|doi= 10.1126/sciadv.1600946|pmc=5242557 |pmid=28116351 |bibcode=2017SciA....3E0946E}} and pangolins.{{cite news|website=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11370277/Pangolins-why-this-cute-prehistoric-mammal-is-facing-extinction.html|url-access=subscription|access-date=December 14, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11370277/Pangolins-why-this-cute-prehistoric-mammal-is-facing-extinction.html|archive-date=2022-01-11 |title=Pangolins: why this cute prehistoric mammal is facing extinction|first=Martin|last=Fletcher |date=January 31, 2015}}{{cbignore}} Others, including several species of giraffe, are considered "vulnerable" and are experiencing significant population declines from anthropogenic impacts including hunting, deforestation and conflict.{{cite news|date=December 8, 2016|title=Giraffes facing extinction after devastating decline, experts warn|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/08/giraffe-red-list-vulnerable-species-extinction|first=Damian|last=Carrington|access-date=December 8, 2016|archive-date=August 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813122004/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/08/giraffe-red-list-vulnerable-species-extinction|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Sutter|first=John D.|date=December 12, 2016|title=Imagine a world without giraffes|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/08/world/sutter-giraffe-extinction/|access-date=2022-11-10|archive-date=2020-03-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301173025/https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/08/world/sutter-giraffe-extinction/|url-status=live}} Hunting alone threatens bird and mammalian populations around the world.{{cite web|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/people-are-hunting-primates-bats-and-other-mammals-extinction|title=People are hunting primates, bats, and other mammals to extinction|first=Elizabeth|last=Pennisi|author-link=Elizabeth Pennisi|date=October 18, 2016|website=Science|access-date=November 21, 2016|archive-date=October 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020025827/https://www.science.org/content/article/people-are-hunting-primates-bats-and-other-mammals-extinction|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|first1=William J.|last1=Ripple|first2=Katharine |last2=Abernethy|first3=Matthew G. |last3=Betts |first4=Guillaume |last4=Chapron |first5=Rodolfo |last5=Dirzo |first6=Mauro |last6=Galetti |first7=Taal |last7=Levi |first8=Peter A. |last8=Lindsey |first9=David W. |last9=Macdonald |first10=Brian |last10=Machovina |first11=Thomas M. |last11=Newsome |first12=Carlos A. |last12=Peres |first13=Arian D. |last13=Wallach |first14=Christopher |last14=Wolf |first15=Hillary |last15=Young |year=2016 |title=Bushmeat hunting and extinction risk to the world's mammals |journal=Royal Society Open Science|volume=3|issue=10|pages=1–16 |doi=10.1098/rsos.160498 |pmid=27853564 |pmc=5098989 |bibcode=2016RSOS....360498R}}{{cite journal |last1=Benítez-López |first1=A.|last2=Alkemade |first2=R.|last3=Schipper|first3=A. M.|last4=Ingram|first4=D. J.|last5=Verweij |first5=P. A.|last6=Eikelboom |first6=J. A. J.|last7= Huijbregts|first7=M. A. J. |date=April 14, 2017 |title=The impact of hunting on tropical mammal and bird populations|journal=Science|volume=356 |issue=6334|pages=180–183 |doi=10.1126/science.aaj1891 |pmid=28408600|bibcode=2017Sci...356..180B |hdl=1874/349694 |s2cid=19603093 |url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10058583/|hdl-access=free}} The direct killing of megafauna for meat and body parts is the primary driver of their destruction, with 70% of the 362 megafauna species in decline as of 2019.{{cite news|last=Milman|first=Oliver|date=February 6, 2019|title=The killing of large species is pushing them towards extinction, study finds|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/06/the-killing-of-large-species-is-pushing-them-towards-extinction-study-finds|work=The Guardian|access-date=February 8, 2019|archive-date=February 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207231757/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/06/the-killing-of-large-species-is-pushing-them-towards-extinction-study-finds|url-status=live}}{{cite journal |last1=Ripple |first1=William J. |last2=Wolf |first2=Christopher |last3=Newsome |first3=Thomas M. |last4=Betts |first4=Matthew G. |last5=Ceballos |first5=Gerardo |last6=Courchamp |first6=Franck |last7=Hayward |first7=Matt W. |last8=Van Valkenburgh |first8=Blaire |last9=Wallach |first9=Arian D. |last10=Worm |first10=Boris |year=2019|title=Are we eating the world's megafauna to extinction?|journal=Conservation Letters|volume=12|issue=3|at=e12627 |doi=10.1111/conl.12627|doi-access=free|bibcode=2019ConL...12E2627R }} Mammals in particular have suffered such severe losses as the result of human activity (mainly during the Quaternary extinction event, but partly during the Holocene) that it could take several million years for them to recover.{{cite news|last=Wilcox |first=Christie |date=October 17, 2018|title=Human-caused extinctions have set mammals back millions of years |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/millions-of-years-mammal-evolution-lost-news?user.testname=none|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507003831/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/millions-of-years-mammal-evolution-lost-news?user.testname=none|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 7, 2021|work=National Geographic|access-date=March 14, 2022}}{{cite news |last=Yong |first=Ed |date=October 15, 2018 |title=It Will Take Millions of Years for Mammals to Recover From Us |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/10/mammals-will-need-millions-years-recover-us/573031/ |work=The Atlantic |access-date=November 1, 2018 |archive-date=November 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103060503/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/10/mammals-will-need-millions-years-recover-us/573031/ |url-status=live }} Contemporary assessments have discovered that roughly 41% of amphibians, 25% of mammals, 21% of reptiles and 14% of birds are threatened with extinction, which could disrupt ecosystems on a global scale and eliminate billions of years of phylogenetic diversity.{{cite news |last=Green |first=Graeme |date=April 27, 2022 |title=One in five reptiles faces extinction in what would be a 'devastating' blow |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/27/one-in-five-reptiles-face-extinction-in-devastating-blow-to-biodiversity-aoe |access-date=May 2, 2022}}{{cite journal |last1=Cox |first1=Neil |last2=Young |first2=Bruce E. |display-authors=etal. |date=2022 |title=A global reptile assessment highlights shared conservation needs of tetrapods |journal=Nature |volume=605 |issue=7909 |pages=285–290 |doi=10.1038/s41586-022-04664-7 |doi-access=free|pmid=35477765|pmc=9095493|bibcode=2022Natur.605..285C }} 189 countries, which are signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio Accord),{{cite web|url=https://www.cbd.int/history/|title=History of the Convention|publisher=Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity|access-date=9 January 2017|archive-date=4 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204141616/https://www.cbd.int/history/|url-status=live}} have committed to preparing a Biodiversity Action Plan, a first step at identifying specific endangered species and habitats, country by country{{Update inline|date=March 2022}}.{{cite book|last1=Glowka|first1=Lyle |first2=Françoise|last2=Burhenne-Guilmin|first3=Hugh |last3=Synge|first4=Jeffrey A.|last4=McNeely |first5=Lothar|last5=Gündling|title=IUCN environmental policy and law paper |series=Guide to the Convention on Biodiversity|year=1994|publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature |isbn=978-2-8317-0222-3}}

{{blockquote|text=For the first time since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, we face a global mass extinction of wildlife. We ignore the decline of other species at our peril—for they are the barometer that reveals our impact on the world that sustains us.|source=Mike Barrett, director of science and policy at WWF's UK branch{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/60-percent-global-wildlife-species-wiped-161027151043413.html|title=60 percent of global wildlife species wiped out|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=28 October 2016|access-date=9 January 2017|archive-date=5 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805105147/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/60-percent-global-wildlife-species-wiped-161027151043413.html|url-status=live}}}}

A 2023 study published in Current Biology concluded that current biodiversity loss rates could reach a tipping point and inevitably trigger a total ecosystem collapse.{{cite news|last=Carrington|first=Damian|date=February 24, 2023|title=Ecosystem collapse 'inevitable' unless wildlife losses reversed|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/24/ecosystem-collapse-wildlife-losses-permian-triassic-mass-extinction-study|work=The Guardian|location=|access-date=February 25, 2023|quote=The researchers concluded: 'A biodiversity crash may be the harbinger of a more devastating ecosystem collapse.'|archive-date=February 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225022431/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/24/ecosystem-collapse-wildlife-losses-permian-triassic-mass-extinction-study|url-status=live}}

{{See also|IUCN Red List extinct in the wild species|List of endangered species|List of critically endangered species}}

File:Share of species threatened with extinction, OWID.svg

Recent extinctions are more directly attributable to human influences, whereas prehistoric extinctions can be attributed to other factors. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) characterizes 'recent' extinction as those that have occurred past the cut-off point of 1500,{{cite journal|first1=Diana O.|last1=Fisher |first2=Simon P. |last2=Blomberg|year=2011|title=Correlates of rediscovery and the detectability of extinction in mammals|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=278 |issue=1708|pages=1090–1097 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2010.1579|pmc=3049027|pmid=20880890}} and at least 875 plant and animal species have gone extinct since that time and 2009.{{cite web|title=Extinction continues apace|url=http://www.iucn.org/?4143/Extinction-crisis-continues-apace|publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature|date=3 November 2009|access-date=18 October 2012|archive-date=29 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729102308/http://iucn.org/?4143%2FExtinction-crisis-continues-apace|url-status=live}} Some species, such as the Père David's deer{{cite iucn |author=Jiang, Z. |author2=Harris, R.B.|date=2016|title=Elaphurus davidianus|volume=2016|page=e.T7121A22159785 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T7121A22159785.en|access-date=12 November 2021}} and the Hawaiian crow,{{cite iucn|author=BirdLife International|date=2016|title=Corvus hawaiiensis|volume=2016|page=e.T22706052A94048187|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22706052A94048187.en}} are extinct in the wild, and survive solely in captive populations. Other populations are only locally extinct (extirpated), still existent elsewhere, but reduced in distribution,{{cite book|chapter-url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=hBntufCOxAsC|page=318}}|first1=Michael L.|last1=McKinney |first2=Robert|last2=Schoch|first3=Logan|last3=Yonavjak|year=2013|title=Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions|edition=5th |chapter=Conserving Biological Resources|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning |isbn=978-1-4496-6139-7|url=https://archive.org/details/environmentalsci0000mcki_y4n3|url-access=registration}}{{rp|75–77}} as with the extinction of gray whales in the Atlantic,{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of marine mammals|page=404|year=2009 |publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-373553-9 |author1=Perrin, William F. |author2=Würsig, Bernd G. |author3-link=JGM "Hans" Thewissen|author3=JGM "Hans" Thewissen}} and of the leatherback sea turtle in Malaysia.{{cite book|first1=James R.|last1=Spotila |first2=Pilar S.|last2=Tomillo |year=2015|title=The Leatherback Turtle: Biology and Conservation|publisher=Johns Hopkins University |page=210|isbn=978-1-4214-1708-0|url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=3Vu8CgAAQBAJ|page=210}}}}

Since the Late Pleistocene, humans (together with other factors) have been rapidly driving the largest vertebrate animals towards extinction, and in the process interrupting a 66-million-year-old feature of ecosystems, the relationship between diet and body mass, which researchers suggest could have unpredictable consequences.{{cite news |last=Druker |first=Simon |date=April 21, 2022 |title=Study: Humans interrupting 66-million-year-old relationship among animals |work=UPI |url=https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2022/04/21/humans-interupting-66-million-year-relationship-eliminating-large-animals/7651650562988/ |access-date=April 24, 2022 |archive-date=April 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424032434/https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2022/04/21/humans-interupting-66-million-year-relationship-eliminating-large-animals/7651650562988/ |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Cooke |first1=Rob |last2=Gearty |first2=William |display-authors=etal. |date=2022 |title=Anthropogenic disruptions to longstanding patterns of trophic-size structure in vertebrates |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=684–692 |doi=10.1038/s41559-022-01726-x |pmid=35449460 |bibcode=2022NatEE...6..684C |s2cid=248323833 |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10148482/ |access-date=2022-11-23 |archive-date=2022-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026100706/https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10148482/ |url-status=live }} A 2019 study published in Nature Communications found that rapid biodiversity loss is impacting larger mammals and birds to a much greater extent than smaller ones, with the body mass of such animals expected to shrink by 25% over the next century. Another 2019 study published in Biology Letters found that extinction rates are perhaps much higher than previously estimated, in particular for bird species.{{cite web|last=Mooers|first=Arne|date=January 16, 2020|url=https://theconversation.com/bird-species-are-facing-extinction-hundreds-of-times-faster-than-previously-thought-129134|title=Bird species are facing extinction hundreds of times faster than previously thought|website=The Conversation|access-date=January 18, 2020|archive-date=March 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304194047/https://theconversation.com/bird-species-are-facing-extinction-hundreds-of-times-faster-than-previously-thought-129134|url-status=live}}

The 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services lists the primary causes of contemporary extinctions in descending order: (1) changes in land and sea use (primarily agriculture and overfishing respectively); (2) direct exploitation of organisms such as hunting; (3) anthropogenic climate change; (4) pollution and (5) invasive alien species spread by human trade. This report, along with the 2020 Living Planet Report by the WWF, both project that climate change will be the leading cause in the next several decades.

A June 2020 study published in PNAS posits that the contemporary extinction crisis "may be the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilization, because it is irreversible" and that its acceleration "is certain because of the still fast growth in human numbers and consumption rates." The study found that more than 500 vertebrate species are poised to be lost in the next two decades.{{cite journal|last1=Ceballos|first1=Gerardo|last2=Ehrlich|first2=Paul R.|last3= Raven|first3=Peter H.|date=June 1, 2020|title=Vertebrates on the brink as indicators of biological annihilation and the sixth mass extinction|journal=PNAS|volume=117|issue=24|pages=13596–13602|doi=10.1073/pnas.1922686117|doi-access=free|pmid=32482862|pmc=7306750|bibcode=2020PNAS..11713596C}}

{{See also|Habitat destruction|Deforestation|Environmental impact of agriculture|}}

{{Pie chart

|caption=Biomass of mammals on Earth as of 2018

|label1 =Livestock, mostly cattle and pigs

|value1 =60|color1=blue

|label2 =Humans

|value2 =36|color2=red

|label3 =Wild mammals

|value3 =4|color3=green

}}Humans both create and destroy crop cultivar and domesticated animal varieties. Advances in transportation and industrial farming has led to monoculture and the extinction of many cultivars. The use of certain plants and animals for food has also resulted in their extinction, including silphium and the passenger pigeon.{{cite news|last=Torres|first=Luisa|date=September 23, 2019|title=When We Love Our Food So Much That It Goes Extinct|work=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/09/23/763404243/when-we-love-our-food-so-much-that-it-goes-extinct|access-date=October 10, 2019|archive-date=December 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203225303/https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/09/23/763404243/when-we-love-our-food-so-much-that-it-goes-extinct|url-status=live}} It was estimated in 2012 that 13% of Earth's ice-free land surface is used as row-crop agricultural sites, 26% used as pastures, and 4% urban-industrial areas.{{cite journal|last1=Hooke|first1=R. LeB.|last2=Martin-Duque|first2=J. F.|last3=Pedraza|first3=J.|year=2012|title=Land transformation by humans: A review|journal=GSA Today|volume=22|issue=12|pages=4–10|doi=10.1130/GSAT151A.1|bibcode=2012GSAT...12l...4H|s2cid=120172847|url=https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/20528/1/Hooke_et_al_2012_GSAToday.pdf|access-date=2024-02-14|archive-date=2023-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111130455/https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/20528/1/Hooke_et_al_2012_GSAToday.pdf|url-status=live}}

In March 2019, Nature Climate Change published a study by ecologists from Yale University, who found that over the next half century, human land use will reduce the habitats of 1,700 species by up to 50%, pushing them closer to extinction.{{cite news|last=Reints|first=Renae|date=March 6, 2019|title=1,700 Species Will Likely Go Extinct Due to Human Land Use, Study Says|work=Fortune|url=http://fortune.com/2019/03/06/human-land-use-study|access-date=March 11, 2019|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224211954/http://fortune.com/2019/03/06/human-land-use-study|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|last1=Walter Jetz|last2=Powers|first2=Ryan P.|date=4 March 2019|title=Global habitat loss and extinction risk of terrestrial vertebrates under future land-use-change scenarios |journal=Nature Climate Change|volume=9|issue=4|pages=323–329|bibcode=2019NatCC...9..323P |doi=10.1038/s41558-019-0406-z|s2cid=92315899}} That same month PLOS Biology published a similar study drawing on work at the University of Queensland, which found that "more than 1,200 species globally face threats to their survival in more than 90% of their habitat and will almost certainly face extinction without conservation intervention".{{cite web|last=Cox|first=Lisa|date=12 March 2019|title='Almost certain extinction': 1,200 species under severe threat across world |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/13/almost-certain-extinction-1200-species-under-severe-threat-across-world|access-date=13 March 2019|website=The Guardian}}{{cite journal |last1=Venter |first1=Oscar|last2=Atkinson|first2=Scott C.|last3=Possingham|first3=Hugh P. |last4=O’Bryan|first4=Christopher J.|last5=Marco|first5=Moreno Di|last6=Watson|first6=James E. M. |last7=Allan|first7=James R.|date=12 March 2019 |title=Hotspots of human impact on threatened terrestrial vertebrates|journal=PLOS Biology|volume=17|issue=3|pages=e3000158|pmc=6413901|pmid=30860989 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000158 |doi-access=free }}

Since 1970, the populations of migratory freshwater fish have declined by 76%, according to research published by the Zoological Society of London in July 2020. Overall, around one in three freshwater fish species are threatened with extinction due to human-driven habitat degradation and overfishing.{{cite news|author=|date=July 28, 2020|title=Migratory river fish populations down 76% since 1970: study|work=Agence France-Presse|url=https://news.yahoo.com/migratory-river-fish-populations-down-76-since-1970-163127702.html|access-date=July 28, 2020|archive-date=October 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006200828/https://news.yahoo.com/migratory-river-fish-populations-down-76-since-1970-163127702.html|url-status=live}}

File:Malayasia iko 2002169.jpg plantations.{{cite web|url= http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=40139 |title=Deforestation in Malaysian Borneo|year= 2009|publisher= NASA|access-date=7 April 2010}}]]

Some scientists and academics assert that industrial agriculture and the growing demand for meat is contributing to significant global biodiversity loss as this is a significant driver of deforestation and habitat destruction; species-rich habitats, such as the Amazon region and Indonesia{{cite news|title=A Grim Portrait of Palm Oil Emissions|last1=Foster|first1=Joanna M.|url=http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/a-grim-portrait-of-palm-oil-emissions/|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1 May 2012|access-date=10 January 2017|archive-date=16 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116051501/http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/a-grim-portrait-of-palm-oil-emissions/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Once a Dream Fuel, Palm Oil May Be an Eco-Nightmare|last1=Rosenthal|first1=Elisabeth|date=31 January 2007|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/business/worldbusiness/31biofuel.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=e653a375e67e8e49&ex=1327899600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0|access-date=10 January 2017|archive-date=9 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909052053/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/business/worldbusiness/31biofuel.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=e653a375e67e8e49&ex=1327899600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0|url-status=live}} being converted to agriculture.{{cite web|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/meat-eaters-may-speed-worldwide-species-extinction-study-warns|title=Meat-eaters may speed worldwide species extinction, study warns|first=Virginia|last=Morell|date=August 11, 2015|website=Science|access-date=December 14, 2016|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220105327/http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/08/meat-eaters-may-speed-worldwide-species-extinction-study-warns|url-status=live}}{{cite journal |first1=B.|last1=Machovina|first2=K. J. |last2=Feeley|first3=W. J.|last3=Ripple|year=2015|title=Biodiversity conservation: The key is reducing meat consumption|journal=Science of the Total Environment|volume=536|pages=419–431|doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.022 |pmid=26231772|bibcode=2015ScTEn.536..419M}}{{cite news|last=Johnston|first=Ian|date=August 26, 2017|title=Industrial farming is driving the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth, says leading academic|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/mass-extinction-life-on-earth-farming-industrial-agriculture-professor-raj-patel-a7914616.html|work=The Independent|access-date=September 4, 2017|archive-date=June 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605200144/https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/mass-extinction-life-on-earth-farming-industrial-agriculture-professor-raj-patel-a7914616.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Devlin|first=Hannah|date=July 19, 2018|title=Rising global meat consumption 'will devastate environment'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/19/rising-global-meat-consumption-will-devastate-environment|work=The Guardian|access-date=July 22, 2018|archive-date=October 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009022501/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/19/rising-global-meat-consumption-will-devastate-environment|url-status=live}} A 2017 study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found that 60% of biodiversity loss can be attributed to the vast scale of feed crop cultivation required to rear tens of billions of farm animals.{{cite news|last=Smithers|first=Rebecca|date=5 October 2017|title=Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/05/vast-animal-feed-crops-meat-needs-destroying-planet|work=The Guardian|access-date=5 October 2017|archive-date=3 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303143952/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/05/vast-animal-feed-crops-meat-needs-destroying-planet|url-status=live}} Moreover, a 2006 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Livestock's Long Shadow, also found that the livestock sector is a "leading player" in biodiversity loss.{{cite book|last1=Steinfeld|first1=Henning|last2=Gerber|first2=Pierre|last3=Wassenaar|first3=Tom|last4=Castel|first4=Vincent|last5=Rosales|first5=Mauricio|last6=de Haan|first6=Cees|date=2006|title=Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/climatechange/doc/FAO%20report%20executive%20summary.pdf|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization|isbn=978-92-5-105571-7|page=xxiii|access-date=2017-05-14|archive-date=2019-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210012108/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/climatechange/doc/FAO%20report%20executive%20summary.pdf|url-status=live}} More recently, in 2019, the IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services attributed much of this ecological destruction to agriculture and fishing, with the meat and dairy industries having a very significant impact.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48169783|title=Humans 'threaten 1m species with extinction'|last=McGrath|first=Matt|work=BBC|date=6 May 2019|access-date=3 August 2021|quote=Pushing all this forward, though, are increased demands for food from a growing global population and specifically our growing appetite for meat and fish.|archive-date=30 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630044916/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48169783|url-status=live}} Since the 1970s food production has soared to feed a growing human population and bolster economic growth, but at a huge price to the environment and other species. The report says some 25% of the Earth's ice-free land is used for cattle grazing.{{cite news|last=Watts|first=Jonathan|date=May 6, 2019|title=Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth's natural life|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/06/human-society-under-urgent-threat-loss-earth-natural-life-un-report|work=The Guardian|access-date=May 16, 2019|archive-date=October 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023205125/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/06/human-society-under-urgent-threat-loss-earth-natural-life-un-report|url-status=live}} A 2020 study published in Nature Communications warned that human impacts from housing, industrial agriculture and in particular meat consumption are wiping out a combined 50 billion years of Earth's evolutionary history (defined as phylogenetic diversity{{efn|Phylogenetic diversity (PD) is the sum of the phylogenetic branch lengths in years connecting a set of species to each other across their phylogenetic tree, and measures their collective contribution to the tree of life.}}) and driving to extinction some of the "most unique animals on the planet," among them the Aye-aye lemur, the Chinese crocodile lizard and the pangolin.{{cite news|last=Briggs|first=Helen|date=May 26, 2020|title='Billions of years of evolutionary history' under threat|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52808103|work=BBC|access-date=October 5, 2020|quote=The researchers calculated the amount of evolutionary history—branches on the tree of life—that are currently threatened with extinction, using extinction risk data for more than 25,000 species. They found a combined 50 billion years of evolutionary heritage, at least, were under threat from human impacts such as urban development, deforestation and road building.|archive-date=January 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130162357/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52808103|url-status=live}} Said lead author Rikki Gumbs:

{{blockquote|text=We know from all the data we have for threatened species, that the biggest threats are agriculture expansion and the global demand for meat. Pasture land, and the clearing of rainforests for production of soy, for me, are the largest drivers—and the direct consumption of animals.{{cite news|last=Woodyatt|first=Amy|date=May 26, 2020|title=Human activity threatens billions of years of evolutionary history, researchers warn|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/26/world/species-loss-evolution-climate-scn-intl-scli/index.html|work=CNN|access-date=May 27, 2020|archive-date=May 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526114959/https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/26/world/species-loss-evolution-climate-scn-intl-scli/index.html|url-status=live}}|author=|title=|source=}}

Urbanization has also been cited as a significant driver of biodiversity loss, particularly of plant life. A 1999 study of local plant extirpations in Great Britain found that urbanization contributed at least as much to local plant extinction as did agriculture.{{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Ken |last2=Jones |first2=Allan |date=February 1999 |title=Human Population Density and Prediction of Local Plant Extinction in Britain |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2641578 |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=185–189 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1999.97353.x |jstor=2641578 |bibcode=1999ConBi..13..185T |s2cid=84308784 |access-date=6 January 2023 |archive-date=6 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106003641/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2641578 |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Extinction risk from climate change|Ocean acidification}}

File:Bramble-cay-melomys.jpg were declared extinct in June 2016. This is the first recorded mammalian extinction due to anthropogenic climate change.{{cite news|last=Slezak|first=Michael|date=14 June 2016|title=Revealed: first mammal species wiped out by human-induced climate change|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/14/first-case-emerges-of-mammal-species-wiped-out-by-human-induced-climate-change|access-date=16 November 2016}} ]]

Climate change is expected to be a major driver of extinctions from the 21st century. Rising levels of carbon dioxide are resulting in influx of this gas into the ocean, increasing its acidity. Marine organisms which possess calcium carbonate shells or exoskeletons experience physiological pressure as the carbonate reacts with acid. For example, this is already resulting in coral bleaching on various coral reefs worldwide, which provide valuable habitat and maintain a high biodiversity.{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Xuefei |last2=D'Olivo |first2=Juan Pablo |last3=Wei |first3=Gangjian |last4=McCulloch |first4=Malcolm |date=15 August 2019 |title=Anthropogenic ocean warming and acidification recorded by Sr/Ca, Li/Mg, δ11B and B/Ca in Porites coral from the Kimberley region of northwestern Australia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018219301816 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=528 |pages=50–59 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.04.033 |bibcode=2019PPP...528...50C |s2cid=155148474 |access-date=26 December 2022 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206125754/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018219301816 |url-status=live }} Marine gastropods, bivalves, and other invertebrates are also affected, as are the organisms that feed on them.{{Cite web|date=2017-03-07|title=Plastics in the Ocean|website=Ocean Conservancy|url=https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/plastics-in-the-ocean/|access-date=2021-02-06|archive-date=2021-02-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220103735/https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/plastics-in-the-ocean/|url-status=live}}{{Better source needed|reason=oceanconservancy.org is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=May 2022}} Some studies have suggested that it is not climate change that is driving the current extinction crisis, but the demands of contemporary human civilization on nature.{{cite news|last=Ketcham|first=Christopher|date=December 3, 2022|title=Addressing Climate Change Will Not "Save the Planet"|url=https://theintercept.com/2022/12/03/climate-biodiversity-green-energy/|work=The Intercept|location=|access-date=December 6, 2022|quote=When it comes to effects on wildlife, climate change is more like a mule, slow and plodding. Yes, a warmed atmosphere is projected to be a significant factor in the extinction crisis in future decades, but what’s destroying species today is habitat fragmentation and loss, overhunting and overexploitation, agricultural expansion, pollution, and industrial development. It isn’t climate change that caused a 69 percent loss in total wildlife populations between 1970 and 2018, according to a World Wildlife Fund study published this year. The cause is too many people demanding too much from ecosystems, or human overshoot of the biophysical carrying capacity of the Earth.|archive-date=February 18, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240218153423/https://theintercept.com/2022/12/03/climate-biodiversity-green-energy/|url-status=live}}{{cite journal |last1=Caro|first1=Tim |last2=Rowe|first2=Zeke |display-authors=etal.|date=2022 |title=An inconvenient misconception: Climate change is not the principal driver of biodiversity loss|journal=Conservation Letters|volume= 15|issue=3|pages=e12868|doi=10.1111/conl.12868|s2cid=246172852 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2022ConL...15E2868C }} However, a rise in average global temperatures greater than 5.2 °C is projected to cause a mass extinction similar to the "Big Five" mass extinction events of the Phanerozoic, even without other anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity.{{cite journal |last1=Song |first1=Haijun |last2=Kemp |first2=David B. |last3=Tian |first3=Li |last4=Chu |first4=Daoliang |last5=Song |first5=Huyue |last6=Dai |first6=Xu |date=4 August 2021 |title=Thresholds of temperature change for mass extinctions |journal=Nature Communications |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=4694 |doi=10.1038/s41467-021-25019-2 |pmid=34349121 |pmc=8338942 |bibcode=2021NatCo..12.4694S }}

{{See also|Species affected by poaching|Overfishing}}

File:Vaquita4 Olson NOAA.jpg, the world's most endangered marine mammal, was reduced to 30 individuals as of February 2017. They are often killed by commercial fishing nets.{{cite news|first=Virginia|last=Morell|title=World's most endangered marine mammal down to 30 individuals|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/world-s-most-endangered-marine-mammal-down-30-individuals|work=Science|date=February 1, 2017|access-date=February 3, 2017}} As of March 2019, only 10 remain, according to The International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita.{{cite news|date= March 15, 2019|title=World's most endangered marine mammal is now down to 10 animals|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2196694-worlds-most-endangered-marine-mammal-is-now-down-to-10-animals/|work=New Scientist|access-date=March 16, 2019}}]]

File:Northwest Atlantic cod biomass.svg as a result of overfishing, and subsequent recovery.]]

Overhunting can reduce the local population of game animals by more than half, as well as reducing population density, and may lead to extinction for some species.{{cite journal|last=Redford|first=K. H.|year=1992|title=The empty forest|journal=BioScience|volume=42|issue=6|pages=412–422|url=http://www.dse.ufpb.br/alexandre/Redford%201992%20-The%20empty%20forest.pdf|doi=10.2307/1311860|jstor=1311860|access-date=2017-01-10|archive-date=2021-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228092214/http://www.dse.ufpb.br/alexandre/Redford%201992%20-The%20empty%20forest.pdf|url-status=live}} Populations located nearer to villages are significantly more at risk of depletion.{{cite book|last1=Peres|first1=Carlos A.|first2=Hilton S.|last2=Nascimento|title=Human Exploitation and Biodiversity Conservation |chapter=Impact of Game Hunting by the Kayapo´ of South-eastern Amazonia: Implications for Wildlife Conservation in Tropical Forest Indigenous Reserves|series=Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation|volume=3|issue=8|year=2006 |pages=287–313|isbn=978-1-4020-5283-5}}{{cite journal|last1=Altrichter|first1=M. |last2=Boaglio|first2=G.|title=Distribution and Relative Abundance of Peccaries in the Argentine Chaco: Associations with Human Factors|journal=Biological Conservation|volume=116|issue=2|year=2004|pages=217–225|doi=10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00192-7|bibcode=2004BCons.116..217A }} Several conservationist organizations, among them IFAW and HSUS, assert that trophy hunters, particularly from the United States, are playing a significant role in the decline of giraffes, which they refer to as a "silent extinction".{{cite news|last=Milman|first=Oliver|date=April 19, 2017|title=Giraffes must be listed as endangered, conservationists formally tell US|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/19/giraffes-endangered-species-conservation-hunting|work=The Guardian|access-date=April 29, 2018|archive-date=April 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430050100/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/19/giraffes-endangered-species-conservation-hunting|url-status=live}}

The surge in the mass killings by poachers involved in the illegal ivory trade along with habitat loss is threatening African elephant populations.{{cite report |author1=UNEP |author2=CITES |author3=IUCN |author4=TRAFFIC |year=2013 |url=http://www.unep.org/pdf/RRAivory_draft7.pdf |title=Elephants in the Dust – The African Elephant Crisis |type=A Rapid Response Assessment |isbn=978-82-7701-111-0 |publisher=United Nations Environment Programme. Printed by Birkeland Trykkeri AS, Norway |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810061656/http://www.unep.org/pdf/RRAivory_draft7.pdf |archive-date=2016-08-10|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |title=African Elephant Population Dropped 30 Percent in 7 Years |work=The New York Times |date=September 1, 2016 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/02/world/africa/african-elephant-population-dropped-30-percent-in-7-years.html?_r=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 22, 2017 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308134535/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/02/world/africa/african-elephant-population-dropped-30-percent-in-7-years.html?_r=1 |url-status=live }} In 1979, their populations stood at 1.7 million; at present there are fewer than 400,000 remaining.{{cite web |last=Marche |first=Stephen |url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a50431/the-ivory-game-review-netflix/ |title=This Is the Most Important Issue That's Not Being Talked About in This Election |work=Esquire |date=November 7, 2016 |access-date=March 14, 2022 |archive-date=March 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314145407/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a50431/the-ivory-game-review-netflix/ |url-status=live }} Prior to European colonization, scientists believe Africa was home to roughly 20 million elephants.{{cite web |last1=McKenzie |first1=David |last2=Formanek |first2=Ingrid |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/31/africa/great-elephant-census/ |title=Our living dinosaurs |publisher=CNN |date=September 1, 2016 |access-date=2022-11-10 |archive-date=2021-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213183959/http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/31/africa/great-elephant-census/ |url-status=live }} According to the Great Elephant Census, 30% of African elephants (or 144,000 individuals) disappeared over a seven-year period, 2007 to 2014.{{cite news |last=McKenzie |first=David |date=December 31, 2016 |title=We are failing the elephants |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/11/world/vanishing-mckenzie-botswana-elephants/index.html |access-date=2022-11-10 |archive-date=2021-02-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206012402/http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/11/world/vanishing-mckenzie-botswana-elephants/index.html |url-status=live }} African elephants could become extinct by 2035 if poaching rates continue.

File:Number of African elephants.svg

Fishing has had a devastating effect on marine organism populations for several centuries even before the explosion of destructive and highly effective fishing practices like trawling.{{Cite book|title=The Unnatural History of the Sea|last=Roberts|first=Callum|year=2007}} Humans are unique among predators in that they regularly prey on other adult apex predators, particularly in marine environments; bluefin tuna, blue whales, North Atlantic right whales,{{cite news|author=Claudia Geib|date=July 16, 2020|title=North Atlantic right whales now officially 'one step from extinction'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/16/north-atlantic-right-whales-critically-endangered-one-step-from-extinction|work=The Guardian|access-date=July 17, 2020|archive-date=April 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210408110539/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/16/north-atlantic-right-whales-critically-endangered-one-step-from-extinction|url-status=live}} and over fifty species of sharks and rays are vulnerable to predation pressure from human fishing, in particular commercial fishing.{{cite news|last=Briggs|first=Helen|date=December 4, 2018|title=World's strangest sharks and rays 'on brink of extinction'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46420736|work=BBC|access-date=December 10, 2018|archive-date=February 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207124715/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46420736|url-status=live}} A 2016 study published in Science concludes that humans tend to hunt larger species, and this could disrupt ocean ecosystems for millions of years.{{cite journal|last1=Payne|first1=Jonathan L. |last2=Bush|first2=Andrew M.|last3= Heim|first3= Noel A.|last4=Knope| first4=Matthew L.|last5=McCauley |first5=Douglas J. |year=2016|title =Ecological selectivity of the emerging mass extinction in the oceans|journal=Science|volume=353|issue=6305|pages =1284–1286|doi =10.1126/science.aaf2416|pmid= 27629258|bibcode=2016Sci...353.1284P|doi-access=free}} A 2020 study published in Science Advances found that around 18% of marine megafauna, including iconic species such as the Great white shark, are at risk of extinction from human pressures over the next century. In a worst-case scenario, 40% could go extinct over the same time period.{{cite news|last=Osborne|first=Hannah|date=April 17, 2020|title=Great White Sharks Among Marine Megafauna That Could Go Extinct in Next 100 Years, Study Warns|url=https://www.newsweek.com/great-white-shark-extinction-megafauna-1498592|work=Newsweek|access-date=April 28, 2020|archive-date=February 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222113455/https://www.newsweek.com/great-white-shark-extinction-megafauna-1498592|url-status=live}} According to a 2021 study published in Nature, 71% of oceanic shark and ray populations have been destroyed by overfishing (the primary driver of ocean defaunation) from 1970 to 2018, and are nearing the "point of no return" as 24 of the 31 species are now threatened with extinction, with several being classified as critically endangered.{{cite news|last=Yeung|first=Jessie|date=January 28, 2021|title=Shark and ray populations have dropped 70% and are nearing 'point of no return,' study warns|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/28/world/sharks-rays-decline-study-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html|work=CNN|location=|access-date=January 28, 2021|archive-date=March 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307120210/https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/28/world/sharks-rays-decline-study-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|last1= Pacoureau|first1=Nathan|last2= Rigby |first2=Cassandra L.|display-authors=etal.|date=2021|title=Half a century of global decline in oceanic sharks and rays|url=|journal=Nature|volume=589|issue= 7843|pages=567–571|doi=10.1038/s41586-020-03173-9|pmid=33505035|bibcode=2021Natur.589..567P|hdl=10871/124531|s2cid=231723355|hdl-access=free}}{{cite news|last=Einhorn|first=Catrin|date=January 27, 2021|title=Shark Populations Are Crashing, With a 'Very Small Window' to Avert Disaster|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/climate/sharks-population-study.html|work=The New York Times|location=|access-date=February 2, 2021|archive-date=January 31, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131005226/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/climate/sharks-population-study.html|url-status=live}} Almost two-thirds of sharks and rays around coral reefs are threatened with extinction from overfishing, with 14 of 134 species being critically endangered.{{cite journal |last1= Sherman|first1=C. Samantha|last2= Simpfendorfer|first2=Colin A.|display-authors=et al|date=2023 |title=Half a century of rising extinction risk of coral reef sharks and rays|url= |journal=Nature Communications |volume=14 |issue=15 |page=15 |doi=10.1038/s41467-022-35091-x|pmid=36650137 |pmc=9845228 |bibcode=2023NatCo..14...15S |access-date=}}

{{blockquote|text=If this pattern goes unchecked, the future oceans would lack many of the largest species in today's oceans. Many large species play critical roles in ecosystems and so their extinctions could lead to ecological cascades that would influence the structure and function of future ecosystems beyond the simple fact of losing those species.|source=Jonathan Payne, associate professor and chair of geological sciences at Stanford University{{cite news |last=Vaughan |first=Adam |date=September 14, 2016 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/14/humanity-driving-unprecedented-marine-extinction |title=Humanity driving 'unprecedented' marine extinction |work=The Guardian |access-date=September 20, 2016 |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506001024/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/14/humanity-driving-unprecedented-marine-extinction |url-status=live }}}}

{{clear}}

{{See also|Decline in amphibian populations|White nose syndrome|Colony collapse disorder|Pesticide toxicity to bees}}

File:Bufo periglenes2.jpg of Costa Rica, extinct since around 1989. Its disappearance has been attributed to a confluence of several factors, including El Niño warming, fungus, habitat loss and the introduction of invasive species.{{cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259639291|first1=L.|last1= Ochoa-Ochoa|first2=R. J.|last2=Whittaker|first3=R. J.|last3=Ladle|year=2013|title=The demise of the golden toad and the creation of a climate change icon species|journal=Conservation and Society|volume=11|issue=3|pages=291–319|doi=10.4103/0972-4923.121034|doi-access=free}}]]

File:Ecnomiohyla rabborum.jpg, the last Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog, died in September 2016.{{cite news |last=Hance |first=Jeremy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2016/oct/27/rabbs-fringe-limbed-treefrog-frog-amphibians-extinct-extinction-media |title=Frog goes extinct, media yawns |work=The Guardian |date=27 October 2016}} The species was killed off by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis{{Cite iucn|author=Mendelson, J.R.|author2=Angulo, A.|title=Ecnomiohyla rabborum|volume=2009 |page=e.T158613A5241303|date=2009|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T158613A5241303.en|access-date=27 December 2017}}]]

The decline of amphibian populations has also been identified as an indicator of environmental degradation. As well as habitat loss, introduced predators and pollution, Chytridiomycosis, a fungal infection accidentally spread by human travel, globalization, and the wildlife trade, has caused severe population drops of over 500 amphibian species, and perhaps 90 extinctions,{{cite journal|last1=Scheele|first1=Ben C.|display-authors=etal.|date=March 29, 2019|title=Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity|journal=Science|volume=363|issue=6434|pages=1459–1463|doi=10.1126/science.aav0379|pmid=30923224|hdl=1885/160196|s2cid=85565860|url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10069937/1/Garner_Scheele-et_al-Science_2019_Amphibian%20fungal%20panzootic%20causes%20catastrophic%20and%20ongoing%20loss%20of%20biodiversity.pdf|bibcode=2019Sci...363.1459S|access-date=June 27, 2019|archive-date=April 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427121913/http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10069937/1/Garner_Scheele-et_al-Science_2019_Amphibian%20fungal%20panzootic%20causes%20catastrophic%20and%20ongoing%20loss%20of%20biodiversity.pdf|url-status=live}} including (among many others) the extinction of the golden toad in Costa Rica, the Gastric-brooding frog in Australia, the Rabb's Fringe-limbed Treefrog and the extinction of the Panamanian golden frog in the wild. Chytrid fungus has spread across Australia, New Zealand, Central America and Africa, including countries with high amphibian diversity such as cloud forests in Honduras and Madagascar. Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans is a similar infection currently threatening salamanders. Amphibians are now the most endangered vertebrate group, having existed for more than 300 million years through three other mass extinctions.{{rp|17}}

Millions of bats in the US have been dying off since 2012 due to a fungal infection known as white-nose syndrome that spread from European bats, who appear to be immune. Population drops have been as great as 90% within five years, and extinction of at least one bat species is predicted. There is currently no form of treatment, and such declines have been described as "unprecedented" in bat evolutionary history by Alan Hicks of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.{{cite journal|last1=Blehert |first1=D. S.|last2=Hicks |first2=A. C.|last3=Behr |first3=M. |last4=Meteyer |first4=C. U.|last5=Berlowski-Zier |first5=B. M. |last6=Buckles |first6=E. L. |last7=Coleman |first7=J. T. H. |last8=Darling |first8=S. R. |last9=Gargas |first9=A. |last10=Niver |first10=R.|last11=Okoniewski |first11=J. C.|last12=Rudd |first12=R. J. |last13=Stone |first13=W. B. |title=Bat White-Nose Syndrome: An Emerging Fungal Pathogen?|journal=Science|date=9 January 2009 |volume=323|issue=5911|pages=227|doi=10.1126/science.1163874|pmid=18974316|s2cid=23869393}}

Between 2007 and 2013, over ten million beehives were abandoned due to colony collapse disorder, which causes worker bees to abandon the queen.{{cite news |author1=Benjamin, A. |author2=Holpuch, A. |author3=Spencer, R. |newspaper=The Guardian |year=2013 |access-date=21 August 2015 |title=Buzzfeeds: The effects of colony collapse disorder and other bee news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jul/30/buzzfeeds-bees-colony-collapse-disorder |archive-date=5 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905094423/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jul/30/buzzfeeds-bees-colony-collapse-disorder |url-status=live }} Though no single cause has gained widespread acceptance by the scientific community, proposals include infections with Varroa and Acarapis mites; malnutrition; various pathogens; genetic factors; immunodeficiencies; loss of habitat; changing beekeeping practices; or a combination of factors.{{cite news|url= http://www.3news.co.nz/Multiple-causes-for-colony-collapse---report/tabid/1160/articleID/296401/Default.aspx|work= 3 News NZ|title= Multiple causes for colony collapse – report|date= 3 May 2013|access-date= 3 May 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191137/http://www.3news.co.nz/Multiple-causes-for-colony-collapse---report/tabid/1160/articleID/296401/Default.aspx|archive-date= 29 October 2013|url-status= dead}}{{cite journal|last1=Cepero|first1=Almudena|last2=Ravoet|first2=Jorgen|last3=Gómez-Moracho|first3=Tamara|last4=Bernal|first4=José Luis|last5=Del Nozal|first5=Maria J.|last6=Bartolomé |first6=Carolina|last7=Maside|first7=Xulio|last8=Meana|first8=Aránzazu|last9=González-Porto |first9=Amelia V.|last10=de Graaf|first10=Dirk C.|last11=Martín-Hernández|first11=Raquel|last12=Higes |first12=Mariano|title=Holistic screening of collapsing honey bee colonies in Spain: a case study |journal=BMC Research Notes|date=15 September 2014|volume=7|pages=649|doi=10.1186/1756-0500-7-649 |pmid=25223634|pmc=4180541|issn=1756-0500 |doi-access=free }}

Megafauna were once found on every continent of the world, but are now almost exclusively found on the continent of Africa. In some regions, megafauna experienced population crashes and trophic cascades shortly after the earliest human settlers. Worldwide, 178 species of the world's largest mammals died out between 52,000 and 9,000 BC; it has been suggested that a higher proportion of African megafauna survived because they evolved alongside humans.{{Cite journal|last1=Ritchie|first1=Hannah|author1-link=Hannah Ritchie |last2=Roser|first2=Max|author2-link=Max Roser |date=2021-04-15|title=Habitat Loss|url=https://ourworldindata.org/habitat-loss|journal=Our World in Data|access-date=2022-03-10|archive-date=2022-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310150342/https://ourworldindata.org/habitat-loss|url-status=live}} The timing of South American megafaunal extinction appears to precede human arrival, although the possibility that human activity at the time impacted the global climate enough to cause such an extinction has been suggested.

{{See also|List of African animals extinct in the Holocene}}

Africa experienced the smallest decline in megafauna compared to the other continents. This is presumably due to the idea that African megafauna evolved alongside humans, and thus developed a healthy fear of them, unlike the comparatively tame animals of other continents.{{cite book|last1=Elias|first1=S. A.|title=Vertebrate Records|last2=Schreve|first2=D. C.|publisher=Elsevier|year=2013|edition=2nd|series=Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science|location=Amsterdam|pages=700–711|chapter=Late Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinctions|chapter-url=https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/portal/files/17443890/late_pleistocene_megafaunal_extinctions.pdf}}{{dead link|date=July 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

{{See also|List of Asian animals extinct in the Holocene|List of European animals extinct in the Holocene}}

File:Ice age fauna of northern Spain - Mauricio Antón.jpgs, woolly rhinoceroses, and cave lions inhabited the mammoth steppe during the Pleistocene.]]

Unlike other continents, the megafauna of Eurasia went extinct over a relatively long period of time, possibly due to climate fluctuations fragmenting and decreasing populations, leaving them vulnerable to over-exploitation, as with the steppe bison (Bison priscus).{{cite journal|last1=Pushkina|first1=D.|last2=Raia|first2=P.|year=2008|title=Human influence on distribution and extinctions of the late Pleistocene Eurasian megafauna|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=54|issue=6|pages=769–782|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.09.024|pmid=18199470|bibcode=2008JHumE..54..769P }} The warming of the arctic region caused the rapid decline of grasslands, which had a negative effect on the grazing megafauna of Eurasia. Most of what once was mammoth steppe was converted to mire, rendering the environment incapable of supporting them, notably the woolly mammoth.{{cite journal|last1=Mann|first1=Daniel H.|last2=Groves|first2=Pamela|last3=Reanier|first3=Richard E.|last4=Gaglioti|first4=Benjamin V.|last5=Kunz|first5=Michael L.|last6=Shapiro|first6=Beth|year=2015|title=Life and extinction of megafauna in the ice-age Arctic|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=112|issue=46|pages=14301–14306|bibcode=2015PNAS..11214301M|doi=10.1073/pnas.1516573112|pmc=4655518|pmid=26578776|doi-access=free}} However, all these megafauna had survived previous interglacials with the same or more intense warming, suggesting that even during warm periods, refugia may have existed and that human hunting may have been the critical factor for their extinction.

In the western Mediterranean region, anthropogenic forest degradation began around 4,000 BP, during the Chalcolithic, and became especially pronounced during the Roman era. The reasons for the decline of forest ecosystems stem from agriculture, grazing, and mining.{{cite journal |last1=Gil-García |first1=María José |last2=Ruiz-Zapata |first2=Blanca |last3=Ortiz |first3=José E. |last4=Torres |first4=Trinidad |last5=Ros |first5=Milagros |last6=Ramallo |first6=Sebastián |last7=López-Cilla |first7=Ignacio |last8=Galán |first8=Luis A. |last9=Sánchez-Palencia |first9=Yolanda |last10=Manteca |first10=Ignacio |last11=Rodríguez-Estrella |first11=Tomás |last12=Blázquez |first12=Ana |last13=Gómez-Borrego |first13=Ángeles |date=1 March 2022 |title=Paleoenvironmental variability and anthropic influence during the last 7300 years in the western Mediterranean based on the pollen record of Cartagena Bay, SE Spain |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018222000098 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=589 |page=110839 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.110839 |bibcode=2022PPP...58910839G |access-date=15 January 2023 |hdl=20.500.12466/3874 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116090113/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018222000098 |url-status=live }} During the twilight years of the Western Roman Empire, forests in northwestern Europe rebounded from losses incurred throughout the Roman period, though deforestation on a large scale resumed once again around 800 BP, during the High Middle Ages.{{cite journal |last1=Lambert |first1=C. |last2=Penaud |first2=A. |last3=Vidal |first3=M. |last4=Gandini |first4=C. |last5=Labeyrie |first5=L. |last6=Chavaud |first6=L. |last7=Ehrhold |first7=A. |date=15 December 2020 |title=Striking forest revival at the end of the Roman Period in north-western Europe |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=21984 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-77253-1 |pmid=33319781 |pmc=7738505 |bibcode=2020NatSR..1021984L }}

In southern China, human land use is believed to have permanently altered the trend of vegetation dynamics in the region, which was previously governed by temperature. This is evidenced by high fluxes of charcoal from that time interval.{{cite journal |last1=Cheng |first1=Zhongjing |last2=Weng |first2=Chengyu |last3=Steinke |first3=Stephan |last4=Mohtadi |first4=Mahyar |date=29 October 2018 |title=Anthropogenic modification of vegetated landscapes in southern China from 6,000 years ago |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-018-0250-1?error=cookies_not_supported&code=091f40e9-e7f1-452d-b2e7-b9df48a7062a |journal=Nature Geoscience |volume=11 |issue=12 |pages=939–943 |doi=10.1038/s41561-018-0250-1 |bibcode=2018NatGe..11..939C |s2cid=133729236 |access-date=11 April 2023 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412055339/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-018-0250-1?error=cookies_not_supported&code=091f40e9-e7f1-452d-b2e7-b9df48a7062a |url-status=live }}

{{Main|List of North American animals extinct in the Holocene|List of South American animals extinct in the Holocene}}

File:Mammoth House (Replica).JPG bone hut, based on finds in Mezhyrich.]]

File:Ectopistes migratorius (passenger pigeon).jpg was a species of pigeon endemic to North America. It experienced a rapid decline in the late 1800s due to habitat destruction and intense hunting by European settlers. The last wild bird is thought to have been shot in 1901.]]

There has been a debate as to the extent to which the disappearance of megafauna at the end of the last glacial period can be attributed to human activities by hunting, or even by slaughter{{efn|This may refer to groups of animals endangered by climate change. For example, during a catastrophic drought, remaining animals would be gathered around the few remaining watering holes, and thus become extremely vulnerable.}} of prey populations. Discoveries at Monte Verde in South America and at Meadowcroft Rock Shelter in Pennsylvania have caused a controversy{{Cite book |last=Haynes |first=Gary |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/49327000 |title=The early settlement of North America : the Clovis era |date=2002 |isbn=0-521-81900-8 |location=Cambridge |oclc=49327000 |pages=18–19}} regarding the Clovis culture. There likely would have been human settlements prior to the Clovis culture, and the history of humans in the Americas may extend back many thousands of years before the Clovis culture. The amount of correlation between human arrival and megafauna extinction is still being debated: for example, in Wrangel Island in Siberia the extinction of dwarf woolly mammoths (approximately 2000 BC){{cite journal|last1=Martin|first1=P.S.|year=1995|title=Mammoth Extinction: Two Continents and Wrangel Island|journal=Radiocarbon|volume=37|issue=1|pages=7–10|doi=10.1017/s0033822200014739|bibcode=1995Radcb..37....7M |doi-access=free}} did not coincide with the arrival of humans, nor did megafaunal mass extinction on the South American continent, although it has been suggested climate changes induced by anthropogenic effects elsewhere in the world may have contributed.

File:Glyptodon old drawing.jpg hunting a glyptodon]]

Comparisons are sometimes made between recent extinctions (approximately since the Industrial Revolution) and the Pleistocene extinction near the end of the last glacial period. The latter is exemplified by the extinction of large herbivores such as the woolly mammoth and the carnivores that preyed on them. Humans of this era actively hunted the mammoth and the mastodon,{{cite journal |last1=Pitulko |first1=V. V. |last2=Nikolsky |first2=P. A. |last3=Girya |first3=E. Y. |last4=Basilyan |first4=A. E. |last5=Tumskoy |first5=V. E. |last6=Koulakov |first6=S. A. |last7=Astakhov |first7=S. N. |last8=Pavlova |first8=E. Y. |last9=Anisimov |first9=M. A. |year=2004 |title=The Yana RHS site: Humans in the Arctic before the Last Glacial Maximum |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1085219 |journal=Science |volume=303 |issue=5654 |pages=52–56 |bibcode=2004Sci...303...52P |doi=10.1126/science.1085219 |pmid=14704419 |s2cid=206507352 |access-date=21 March 2023 |archive-date=22 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322035102/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1085219 |url-status=live }} but it is not known if this hunting was the cause of the subsequent massive ecological changes, widespread extinctions and climate changes.

The ecosystems encountered by the first Americans had not been exposed to human interaction, and may have been far less resilient to human made changes than the ecosystems encountered by industrial era humans. Therefore, the actions of the Clovis people, despite seeming insignificant by today's standards could indeed have had a profound effect on the ecosystems and wild life which was entirely unused to human influence.

In the Yukon, the mammoth steppe ecosystem collapsed between 13,500 and 10,000 BP, though wild horses and woolly mammoths somehow persisted in the region for millennia after this collapse.{{cite journal |last1=Murchie |first1=Tyler J. |last2=Monteath |first2=Alistair J. |last3=Mahony |first3=Matthew E. |last4=Long |first4=George S. |last5=Cocker |first5=Scott |last6=Sadoway |first6=Tara |last7=Karpinski |first7=Emil |last8=Zazula |first8=Grant |last9=MacPhee |first9=Ross D. E. |last10=Froese |first10=Duane |last11=Poinar |first11=Hendrik N. |date=8 December 2021 |title=Collapse of the mammoth-steppe in central Yukon as revealed by ancient environmental DNA |journal=Nature Communications |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=7120 |doi=10.1038/s41467-021-27439-6 |pmid=34880234 |pmc=8654998 |bibcode=2021NatCo..12.7120M }} In what is now Texas, a drop in local plant and animal biodiversity occurred during the Younger Dryas cooling, though while plant diversity recovered after the Younger Dryas, animal diversity did not.{{cite journal |last1=Seersholm |first1=Frederik V. |last2=Werndly |first2=Daniel J. |last3=Grealy |first3=Alicia |last4=Johnson |first4=Taryn |last5=Keenan Early |first5=Erin M. |last6=Lundelius Jr. |first6=Ernest L. |last7=Winsborough |first7=Barbara |last8=Farr |first8=Grayal Earle |last9=Toomey |first9=Rickard |last10=Hansen |first10=Anders J. |last11=Shapiro |first11=Beth |last12=Waters |first12=Michael R. |last13=McDonald |first13=Gregory |last14=Linderholm |first14=Anna |last15=Stafford Jr. |first15=Thomas W. |last16=Bunce |first16=Michael |date=2 June 2020 |title=Rapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late Pleistocene climate change |journal=Nature Communications |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=2770 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-16502-3 |pmid=32488006 |pmc=7265304 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.2770S }} In the Channel Islands, multiple terrestrial species went extinct around the same time as human arrival, but direct evidence for an anthropogenic cause of their extinction remains lacking.{{cite journal |last1=Louys |first1=Julien |last2=Braje |first2=Todd J. |last3=Chang |first3=Chun-Hsiang |last4=Cosgrove |first4=Richard |last5=Fitzpatrick |first5=Scott M. |last6=Fujita |first6=Masaki |last7=Hawkins |first7=Stuart |last8=Ingicco |first8=Stuart |last9=Kawamura |first9=Ai |last10=MacPhee |first10=Ross D. E. |last11=McDowell |first11=Matthew C. |last12=Meijer |first12=Hanneke J. M. |last13=Piper |first13=Philip J. |last14=Roberts |first14=Patrick |last15=Simmons |first15=Alan H. |last16=Van den Bergh |first16=Gerrit |last17=Van der Geer |first17=Alexandra |last18=Kealy |first18=Shimona |last19=O'Connor |first19=Sue |date=3 May 2021 |title=No evidence for widespread island extinctions after Pleistocene hominin arrival |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=118 |issue=20 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2023005118 |pmid=33941645 |pmc=8157961 |bibcode=2021PNAS..11823005L |doi-access=free }} In the montane forests of the Colombian Andes, spores of coprophilous fungi indicate megafaunal extinction occurred in two waves, the first occurring around 22,900 BP and the second around 10,990 BP.{{cite journal |last1=Pym |first1=Felix C. |last2=Franco-Gaviria |first2=Felipe |last3=Espinoza |first3=Ismael G. |last4=Urrego |first4=Dunia H. |date=26 April 2023 |title=The timing and ecological consequences of Pleistocene megafaunal decline in the eastern Andes of Colombia |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/quaternary-research/article/abs/timing-and-ecological-consequences-of-pleistocene-megafaunal-decline-in-the-eastern-andes-of-colombia/93E12371830647431A5BB3CA25CA6DFB |journal=Quaternary Research |volume=114 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.1017/qua.2022.66 |bibcode=2023QuRes.114....1P |s2cid=258362772 |access-date=29 April 2023|hdl=10871/133219 |hdl-access=free }} A 2023 study of megafaunal extinctions in the Junín Plateau of Peru found that the timing of the disappearance of megafauna was concurrent with a large uptick in fire activity attributed to human actions, implicating humans as the cause of their local extinction on the plateau.{{cite journal |last1=Rozas-Davila |first1=Angela |last2=Rodbell |first2=Donald T. |last3=Bush |first3=Mark B. |date=24 January 2023 |title=Pleistocene megafaunal extinction in the grasslands of Junín-Peru |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.14566 |journal=Journal of Biogeography |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=755–766 |doi=10.1111/jbi.14566 |bibcode=2023JBiog..50..755R |s2cid=256255790 |access-date=21 March 2023 |archive-date=22 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322035100/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.14566 |url-status=live }}

Humans in New Guinea used volcanically fertilised soil following major eruptions and interfered with vegetation succession patterns since the Late Pleistocene, with this process intensifying in the Holocene.{{Cite journal |last=Torrence |first=Robin |date=6 February 2012 |title=Volcanic disasters and agricultural intensification: A case study from the Willaumez Peninsula, Papua New Guinea |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S104061821100187X |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=249 |pages=151–161 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2011.03.041 |bibcode=2012QuInt.249..151T |access-date=4 June 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct |archive-date=17 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817175037/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S104061821100187X |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Australian megafauna|List of extinct animals of Australia|List of extinct flora of Australia}}

{{See also|Invasive species in Australia|Land clearing in Australia|Fire-stick farming}}

File:Diprotodon sculpture.jpg]]

Since European colonisation Australia has lost over 100 plant and animal species, including 10% of its mammal species, the highest of any continent.Woinarski, J., Murphy, B., et al. (2019) Scientists re-counted Australia's extinct species, and the result is devastating, The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/scientists-re-counted-australias-extinct-species-and-the-result-is-devastating-127611 (Accessed: 09 September 2024).

Australia was once home to a large assemblage of megafauna, with many parallels to those found on the African continent today. Australia's fauna is characterized by primarily marsupial mammals, and many reptiles and birds, all existing as giant forms until recently. Humans arrived on the continent very early, about 50,000 years ago. The extent human arrival contributed is controversial; climatic drying of Australia 40,000–60,000 years ago was an unlikely cause, as it was less severe in speed or magnitude than previous regional climate change which failed to kill off megafauna. Extinctions in Australia continued from original settlement until today in both plants and animals, while many more animals and plants have declined or are endangered.{{Cite news|title=Australian endangered species list|work=Australian Geographic|url=http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2014/06/australian-endangered-species-list|access-date=2017-04-04|archive-date=2020-02-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216215816/https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2014/06/australian-endangered-species-list/|url-status=live}}

Due to the older timeframe and the soil chemistry on the continent, very little subfossil preservation evidence exists relative to elsewhere.{{Cite web|title=Ancient extinction of giant Australian bird points to humans|author=University of Colorado at Boulder|date=January 29, 2016|website=ScienceDaily|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160129090057.htm|access-date=2016-02-01|archive-date=2020-02-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218213414/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160129090057.htm|url-status=live}} However, continent-wide extinction of all genera weighing over 100 kilograms, and six of seven genera weighing between 45 and 100 kilograms occurred around 46,400 years ago (4,000 years after human arrival){{Cite web |author1=Richard G. Roberts |author4=Timothy F. Flannery |author5=Linda K. Ayliffe |author6=Hiroyuki Yoshida |author7=Jon M. Olley |author8=Gavin J. Prideaux |author9=Geoff M. Laslett |author10=Alexander Baynes |author11=M. A. Smith |author12=Rhys Jones |author13=Barton L. Smith |title=New Ages for the Last Australian Megafauna: Continent-Wide Extinction About 46,000 Years Ago |date=8 June 2001 |volume=292 |magazine=Science |url=http://www.uow.edu.au/content/groups/public/@web/@sci/@eesc/documents/doc/uow014698.pdf |access-date=1 February 2016 |archive-date=10 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190210051502/https://www.uow.edu.au/content/groups/public/@web/@sci/@eesc/documents/doc/uow014698.pdf |url-status=live }} and the fact that megafauna survived until a later date on the island of Tasmania following the establishment of a land bridge{{Cite journal|last1=Turney|first1=Chris S. M.|last2=Flannery |first2=Timothy F.|last3=Roberts|first3=Richard G.|last4=Reid|first4=Craig|last5=Fifield|first5=L. Keith |last6=Higham|first6=Tom F. G.|last7=Jacobs |first7=Zenobia|last8=Kemp|first8=Noel|last9=Colhoun |first9=Eric A.|date=2008-08-21|title=Late-surviving megafauna in Tasmania, Australia, implicate human involvement in their extinction|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=105 |issue=34|pages=12150–12153|bibcode=2008PNAS..10512150T|doi=10.1073/pnas.0801360105|issn=0027-8424 |pmc=2527880|pmid=18719103|doi-access=free}} suggest direct hunting or anthropogenic ecosystem disruption such as fire-stick farming as likely causes. The first evidence of direct human predation leading to extinction in Australia was published in 2016.{{Cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Gifford |last2=Magee |first2=John |last3=Smith |first3=Mike |last4=Spooner |first4=Nigel |last5=Baynes |first5=Alexander |last6=Lehman |first6=Scott |last7=Fogel |first7=Marilyn |last8=Johnston |first8=Harvey |last9=Williams |first9=Doug |date=2016-01-29 |title=Human predation contributed to the extinction of the Australian megafaunal bird Genyornis newtoni [sim]47 ka |journal=Nature Communications |volume=7 |pages=10496 |bibcode=2016NatCo...710496M |doi=10.1038/ncomms10496 |pmc=4740177 |pmid=26823193}}

A 2021 study found that the rate of extinction of Australia's megafauna is rather unusual, with some generalistic species having gone extinct earlier while highly specialized ones having become extinct later or even still surviving today. A mosaic cause of extinction with different anthropogenic and environmental pressures has been proposed.{{cite journal|last1=Bradshaw|first1=Corey J. A. |last2=Johnson|first2=Christopher N. |last3=Llewelyn|first3=John|last4=Weisbecker|first4=Vera |last5=Strona|first5=Giovanni|last6=Saltré|first6=Frédérik|date=30 March 2021|title=Relative demographic susceptibility does not explain the extinction chronology of Sahul's megafauna |journal=eLife|location=Cambridge, UK|publisher=eLife Sciences Publications|volume=10 |doi=10.7554/eLife.63870|pmc=8043753|pmid=33783356|doi-access=free}}

The arrival of invasive species such as feral cats and cane toads has further devastated Australia's ecosystems.{{Cite journal |last1=Woinarski |first1=John C. Z. |last2=Burbidge |first2=Andrew A. |last3=Harrison |first3=Peter L. |date=14 April 2015 |title=Ongoing unraveling of a continental fauna: Decline and extinction of Australian mammals since European settlement |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |language=en |volume=112 |issue=15 |pages=4531–4540 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1417301112 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=4403217 |pmid=25675493 |bibcode=2015PNAS..112.4531W }}{{Cite journal |last1=Radford |first1=Ian J. |last2=Woolley |first2=Leigh-Ann |last3=Dickman |first3=Chris R. |last4=Corey |first4=Ben |last5=Trembath |first5=Dane |last6=Fairman |first6=Richard |date=23 February 2020 |title=Invasive anuran driven trophic cascade: An alternative hypothesis for recent critical weight range mammal collapses across northern Australia |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10530-020-02226-4 |journal=Biological Invasions |language=en |volume=22 |issue=6 |pages=1967–1982 |doi=10.1007/s10530-020-02226-4 |bibcode=2020BiInv..22.1967R |issn=1387-3547 |access-date=11 October 2024 |via=Springer Link}}

File:Vogeleiland.jpg (left), Mauritius's dodo and the great auk of the Atlantic (bottom right).]]

Human arrival in the Caribbean around 6,000 years ago is correlated with the extinction of many species.{{Cite web|title=North American Extinctions v. World|url=http://www.thegreatstory.org/charts/NA-extinctions.html|access-date=2016-01-31|website=www.thegreatstory.org|archive-date=2019-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927060621/http://www.thegreatstory.org/charts/NA-extinctions.html|url-status=live}} These include many different genera of ground and arboreal sloths across all islands. These sloths were generally smaller than those found on the South American continent. Megalocnus were the largest genus at up to {{convert|90|kg|lbs}}, Acratocnus were medium-sized relatives of modern two-toed sloths endemic to Cuba, Imagocnus also of Cuba, Neocnus and many others.{{cite journal|last1=Steadman|first1=D.W.|author1-link=David Steadman|last2=Martin|first2=P.S.|author2-link=Paul Schultz Martin|author3=MacPhee, R.D.E.|author4=Jull, A.J.T.|author5=McDonald, H.G.|author6=Woods, C.A.|author7=Iturralde-Vinent, M.|author8=Hodgins, G.W.L.|date=2005|title=Asynchronous extinction of late Quaternary sloths on continents and islands|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=102|issue=33|pages=11763–11768|bibcode=2005PNAS..10211763S|doi=10.1073/pnas.0502777102|pmc=1187974|pmid=16085711|doi-access=free}}

The arrival of the first human settlers in the Azores saw the introduction of invasive plants and livestock to the archipelago, resulting in the extinction of at least two plant species on Pico Island.{{cite journal |last1=Connor |first1=Simon E. |last2=Van Leeuwen |first2=Jacqueline F. N. |last3=Rittenour |first3=Tammy M. |last4=Van der Knaap |first4=Willem O. |last5=Ammann |first5=Brigitta |last6=Björck |first6=Svante |date=23 January 2012 |title=The ecological impact of oceanic island colonization – a palaeoecological perspective from the Azores |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02671.x |journal=Journal of Biogeography |volume=39 |issue=6 |pages=1007–1023 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02671.x |bibcode=2012JBiog..39.1007C |hdl=11343/55221 |s2cid=86191735 |access-date=3 December 2022 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=3 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203040117/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02671.x |url-status=live }} On Faial Island, the decline of Prunus lusitanica has been hypothesized by some scholars to have been related to the tree species being endozoochoric, with the extirpation or extinction of various bird species drastically limiting its seed dispersal.{{cite journal |last1=Góis-Marques |first1=C. A. |last2=Rubiales |first2=J. M. |last3=De Nascimento |first3=L. |last4=Menezes de Sequeira |first4=M. |last5=Fernández-Palacios |first5=J. M. |last6=Madeira |first6=J. |date=February 2020 |title=Oceanic Island forests buried by Holocene (Meghalayan) explosive eruptions: palaeobiodiversity in pre-anthropic volcanic charcoal from Faial Island (Azores, Portugal) and its palaeoecological implications |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0034666719302386 |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |volume=273 |page=104116 |doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2019.104116 |bibcode=2020RPaPa.27304116G |hdl=10400.13/4177 |s2cid=210280909 |access-date=31 December 2022 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=1 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101065857/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0034666719302386 |url-status=live }} Lacustrine ecosystems were ravaged by human colonization, as evidenced by hydrogen isotopes from C₃₀ fatty acids recording hypoxic bottom waters caused by eutrophication in Lake Funda on Flores Island beginning between 1500 and 1600 AD.{{cite journal |last1=Richter |first1=Nora |last2=Russell |first2=James M. |last3=Amaral-Zettler |first3=Linda |last4=DeGroff |first4=Wylie |last5=Raposeiro |first5=Pedro M. |last6=Gonçalves |first6=Vítor |last7=De Boer |first7=Erik J. |last8=Pla-Rabes |first8=Sergi |last9=Hernández |first9=Armand |last10=Benavente |first10=Mario |last11=Ritter |first11=Catarina |last12=Sáez |first12=Alberto |last13=Bao |first13=Roberto |last14=Trigo |first14=Ricardo M. |last15=Prego |first15=Ricardo |last16=Giralt |first16=Santiago |date=1 June 2022 |title=Long-term hydroclimate variability in the sub-tropical North Atlantic and anthropogenic impacts on lake ecosystems: A case study from Flores Island, the Azores |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379122001561 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=285 |page=107525 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107525 |bibcode=2022QSRv..28507525R |hdl=10261/269568 |access-date=30 November 2022 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=29 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129204706/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379122001561 |url-status=live }}

The arrival of humans on the archipelago of Madeira caused the extinction of approximately two-thirds of its endemic bird species, with two non-endemic birds also being locally extirpated from the archipelago.{{cite journal |last1=Rando |first1=Juan Carlos |last2=Pieper |first2=Harald |last3=Alcover |first3=Josep Antoni |date=7 April 2014 |title=Radiocarbon evidence for the presence of mice on Madeira Island (North Atlantic) one millennium ago |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=281 |issue=1780 |pages=1–5 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.3126 |pmid=24523273 |pmc=4027395 }} Of thirty-four land snail species collected in a subfossil sample from eastern Madeira Island, nine became extinct following the arrival of humans.{{cite journal |last1=Goodfriend |first1=Glenn A. |last2=Cameron |first2=Robert A. D. |last3=Cook |first3=L. M. |date=May 1994 |title=Fossil Evidence of Recent Human Impact on the Land Snail Fauna of Madeira |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2845532 |journal=Journal of Biogeography |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=309–320 |doi=10.2307/2845532 |jstor=2845532 |bibcode=1994JBiog..21..309G |access-date=30 December 2022 |archive-date=30 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230163406/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2845532 |url-status=live }} On the Desertas Islands, of forty-five land snail species known to exist before human colonization, eighteen are extinct and five are no longer present on the islands.{{cite journal |last1=Teixeira |first1=Dinarte |last2=Groh |first2=Klaus |last3=Yanes |first3=Yurena |last4=Pokryszko |first4=Beata M. |last5=Silva |first5=Isamberto |last6=Cameron |first6=Robert A. D. |date=7 May 2022 |title=Late Quaternary land snail faunas of the Desertas Islands (Madeira): high diversity and endemism followed by recent impoverishment and extinction |url=https://academic.oup.com/mollus/article-abstract/88/2/eyac010/6581786?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false |journal=Journal of Molluscan Studies |volume=88 |issue=2 |pages= |doi=10.1093/mollus/eyac010 |access-date=30 December 2022 |archive-date=30 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230163359/https://academic.oup.com/mollus/article-abstract/88/2/eyac010/6581786?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false |url-status=live }} Eurya stigmosa, whose extinction is typically attributed to climate change following the end of the Pleistocene rather than humans, may have survived until the colonization of the archipelago by the Portuguese and gone extinct as a result of human activity.{{cite journal |last1=Góis-Marques |first1=Carlos A. |last2=Mitchell |first2=Ria L. |last3=de Nascimento |first3=Lea |last4=Fernández-Palacios |first4=José María |last5=Madeira |first5=José |last6=Menezes de Sequeira |first6=Miguel |title=Eurya stigmosa (Theaceae), a new and extinct record for the Calabrian stage of Madeira Island (Portugal): 40Ar/39Ar dating, palaeoecological and oceanic island palaeobiogeographical implications |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379118309284 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |date=February 2019 |volume=206 |pages=129–140 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.01.008 |bibcode=2019QSRv..206..129G |hdl=10400.13/4182 |s2cid=134725615 |access-date=30 December 2022 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=30 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230163406/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379118309284 |url-status=live }} Introduced mice have been implicated as a leading driver of extinction on Madeira following its discovery and settlement by humans.

In the Canary Islands, native thermophilous woodlands were decimated and two tree taxa were driven extinct following the arrival of its first humans, primarily as a result of increased fire clearance and soil erosion and the introduction of invasive pigs, goats, and rats. Invasive species introductions accelerated during the Age of Discovery when Europeans first settled the Macaronesian archipelago. The archipelago's laurel forests, though still negatively impacted, fared better due to being less suitable for human economic use.{{cite journal |last1=Castilla-Beltrán |first1=Alvaro |last2=De Nascimento |first2=Lea |last3=Fernández-Palacios |first3=José-María |last4=Whittaker |first4=Robert J. |last5=Willis |first5=Kathy J. |last6=Edwards |first6=Mary |last7=Nogué |first7=Sandra |date=27 September 2021 |title=Anthropogenic transitions from forested to human-dominated landscapes in southern Macaronesia |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=118 |issue=40 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2022215118 |pmid=34580208 |pmc=8501805 |bibcode=2021PNAS..11822215C |doi-access=free }}

Cabo Verde, like the Canary Islands, witnessed precipitous deforestation upon the arrival of European settlers and various invasive species brought by them in the archipelago,{{cite journal |last1=Castilla-Beltrán |first1=Alvaro |last2=De Nascimento |first2=Lea |last3=Fernández-Palacios |first3=José-María |last4=Whittaker |first4=Robert J. |last5=Romeiras |first5=Maria M. |last6=Cundy |first6=Andrew B. |last7=Edwards |first7=Mary |last8=Nogué |first8=Sandra |date=22 March 2021 |title=Effects of Holocene climate change, volcanism and mass migration on the ecosystem of a small, dry island (Brava, Cabo Verde) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.14084 |journal=Journal of Biogeography |volume=48 |issue=6 |pages=1392–1405 |doi=10.1111/jbi.14084 |bibcode=2021JBiog..48.1392C |hdl=10400.5/21368 |s2cid=233708086 |access-date=30 November 2022 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=29 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129204440/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.14084 |url-status=live }} with the archipelago's thermophilous woodlands suffering the greatest destruction. Introduced species, overgrazing, increased fire incidence, and soil degradation have been attributed as the chief causes of Cabo Verde's ecological devastation.{{cite journal |last1=Castilla-Beltrán |first1=Alvaro |last2=De Nascimento |first2=Lea |last3=Fernández-Palacios |first3=José-María |last4=Fonville |first4=Thierry |last5=Whittaker |first5=Robert J. |last6=Edwards |first6=Mary |last7=Nogué |first7=Sandra |date=15 June 2019 |title=Late Holocene environmental change and the anthropization of the highlands of Santo Antão Island, Cabo Verde |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018218310605 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |volume=524 |pages=101–117 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.03.033 |bibcode=2019PPP...524..101C |s2cid=120143295 |access-date=30 November 2022 |archive-date=29 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129204444/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018218310605 |url-status=live }}

Archaeological and paleontological digs on 70 different Pacific islands suggested that numerous species became extinct as people moved across the Pacific, starting 30,000 years ago in the Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands.{{cite journal|last1=Steadman|first1=D. W.|last2=Martin |first2=P. S.|year=2003|title=The late Quaternary extinction and future resurrection of birds on Pacific islands|journal=Earth-Science Reviews|volume=61|issue=1–2|pages=133–147|doi=10.1016/S0012-8252(02)00116-2|bibcode=2003ESRv...61..133S}} It is currently estimated that among the bird species of the Pacific, some 2000 species have gone extinct since the arrival of humans, representing a 20% drop in the biodiversity of birds worldwide.{{cite journal|last=Steadman|first=D. W.|author-link=David Steadman|year=1995|title=Prehistoric extinctions of Pacific island birds: biodiversity meets zooarchaeology|journal=Science|volume=267|issue=5201|pages=1123–1131 |doi=10.1126/science.267.5201.1123|bibcode=1995Sci...267.1123S|pmid=17789194|s2cid=9137843 }} In Polynesia, the Late Holocene declines in avifaunas only abated after they were heavily depleted and there were increasingly fewer bird species able to be driven to extinction.{{Cite journal |last=Steadman |first=David W. |date=1 March 1989 |title=Extinction of birds in Eastern polynesia: A review of the record, and comparisons with other Pacific Island groups |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0305-4403%2889%2990065-4 |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=177–205 |doi=10.1016/0305-4403(89)90065-4 |bibcode=1989JArSc..16..177S |issn=0305-4403 |access-date=20 January 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}} Iguanas were likewise decimated by the spread of humans.{{Cite journal |last1=Steadman |first1=David W. |last2=Pregill |first2=Gregory K. |last3=Burley |first3=David V. |date=19 March 2002 |title=Rapid prehistoric extinction of iguanas and birds in Polynesia |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |language=en |volume=99 |issue=6 |pages=3673–3677 |doi=10.1073/pnas.072079299 |doi-access=free |pmid=11904427 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=122582 |bibcode=2002PNAS...99.3673S }} Additionally, the endemic faunas of Pacific archipelagos are exceptionally at risk in the coming decades due to rising sea levels caused by global warming.{{Cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=Lalit |last2=Tehrany |first2=Mahyat Shafapour |date=13 July 2017 |title=Climate change impacts on the threatened terrestrial vertebrates of the Pacific Islands |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=5030 |doi=10.1038/s41598-017-05034-4 |pmid=28706225 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=5509733 |bibcode=2017NatSR...7.5030K }}

Lord Howe Island, which remained uninhabited until the arrival of Europeans in the South Pacific in the 18th century, lost much of its endemic avifauna when it became a whaling station in the early 19th century. Another wave of bird extinctions occurred following the introduction of black rats in 1918.{{Cite journal |last1=Hume |first1=Julian P. |last2=Hutton |first2=Ian |last3=Middleton |first3=Greg |last4=Nguyen |first4=Jacqueline M.T. |last5=Wylie |first5=John |date=3 May 2021 |title=A Terrestrial Vertebrate Palaeontological Reconnaissance of Lord Howe Island, Australia |url=https://bioone.org/journals/pacific-science/volume-75/issue-1/75.1.2/A-Terrestrial-Vertebrate-Palaeontological-Reconnaissance-of-Lord-Howe-Island-Australia/10.2984/75.1.2.full |journal=Pacific Science |volume=75 |issue=1 |doi=10.2984/75.1.2 |issn=0030-8870 |access-date=3 July 2024 |via=BioOne Digital Library}}

The endemic megafaunal meiolaniid turtles of Vanuatu - representing the final members of a group that had existed for over 100 million years - became extinct immediately following the first human arrivals and remains of them containing evidence of butchery by humans have been found.{{Cite journal |last1=White |first1=Arthur W. |last2=Worthy |first2=Trevor H. |last3=Hawkins |first3=Stuart |last4=Bedford |first4=Stuart |last5=Spriggs |first5=Matthew |date=16 August 2010 |title=Megafaunal meiolaniid horned turtles survived until early human settlement in Vanuatu, Southwest Pacific |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |language=en |volume=107 |issue=35 |pages=15512–15516 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1005780107 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=2932593 |pmid=20713711 |bibcode=2010PNAS..10715512W }}

The arrival of humans in New Caledonia marked the commencement of coastal forest and mangrove decline on the island.{{Cite journal |last=Stevenson |first=Janelle |date=September 2004 |title=A late-Holocene record of human impact from the southwest coast of New Caledonia |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1191/0959-683604hl755rp |journal=The Holocene |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=888–898 |doi=10.1191/0959-683604hl755rp |bibcode=2004Holoc..14..888S |s2cid=44797352 |access-date=20 January 2024 |via=Sage Journals}} The archipelago's megafauna - such as the large, flightless galliform Sylviornis - was still extant when humans arrived, but indisputable evidence for the anthropogenicity of their extinction remains elusive.{{Cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=Atholl |last2=Sand |first2=Christophe |last3=Petchey |first3=Fiona |last4=Worthy |first4=Trevor H. |title=Faunal extinction and human habitation in New Caledonia: Initial results and implications of new research at the Pindai Caves |url=https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/5404 |journal=Journal of Pacific Archaeology |date=2009 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=89–109 |doi=10.70460/jpa.v1i1.12 |hdl=10289/5404 |access-date=20 January 2024 |archive-date=23 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223090800/https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/5404 |url-status=live |hdl-access=free }}

In Fiji, the giant iguanas Brachylophus gibbonsi and Lapitiguana impensa both succumbed to human-induced extinction shortly after encountering the first humans on the island.{{Cite journal |last1=Pregill |first1=Gregory K. |last2=Steadman |first2=David W. |date=1 March 2004 |title=South Pacific Iguanas: Human Impacts and a New Species |url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1670/73-03A |journal=Journal of Herpetology |language=en |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=15–21 |doi=10.1670/73-03A |s2cid=85627049 |issn=0022-1511 |access-date=20 January 2024}}

In American Samoa, deposits dating back to the period of initial human colonisation contain elevated quantities of bird, turtle, and fish remains caused by increased predation pressure.{{Cite journal |last1=Weisler |first1=Marshall I. |last2=Lambrides |first2=Ariana B. J. |last3=Quintus |first3=Seth |last4=Clark |first4=Jeffrey |last5=Worthy |first5=Trevor H. |date=2016 |title=Colonisation and late period faunal assemblages from Ofu Island, American Samoa |url=https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/59061/ |journal=Journal of Pacific Archaeology |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=1–19 |doi=10.70460/jpa.v7i2.200 |access-date=20 January 2024 |archive-date=7 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607130640/https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/59061/ |url-status=live }}

On Mangaia in the Cook Islands, human colonisation was associated with a major extinction of endemic avifauna,{{Cite journal |last1=Steadman |first1=David W. |last2=Kirch |first2=P. V. |date=1 December 1990 |title=Prehistoric extinction of birds on Mangaia, Cook Islands, Polynesia. |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |language=en |volume=87 |issue=24 |pages=9605–9609 |doi=10.1073/pnas.87.24.9605 |doi-access=free |pmid=11607131 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=55221 |bibcode=1990PNAS...87.9605S }} along with deforestation, erosion of volcanic hillsides, and increased charcoal influx, causing additional environmental damage.{{Cite journal |last=Kirch |first=P V |date=28 May 1996 |title=Late Holocene human-induced modifications to a central Polynesian island ecosystem. |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |language=en |volume=93 |issue=11 |pages=5296–5300 |doi=10.1073/pnas.93.11.5296 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=39239 |pmid=8643569 |bibcode=1996PNAS...93.5296K }}

On Rapa in the Austral Archipelago, human arrival, marked by the increase in charcoal and in taro pollen in the palynological record, is associated with the extinction of an endemic palm.{{Cite journal |last1=Prebble |first1=Matthew |last2=Anderson |first2=Atholl |last3=Kennett |first3=Douglas J |date=18 September 2012 |title=Forest clearance and agricultural expansion on Rapa, Austral Archipelago, French Polynesia |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959683612455551 |journal=The Holocene |language=en |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=179–196 |doi=10.1177/0959683612455551 |issn=0959-6836 |access-date=4 June 2024 |via=Sage Journals |archive-date=5 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605034447/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959683612455551 |url-status=live }}

Henderson Island, once thought to be untouched by humans, was colonised and later abandoned by Polynesians. The ecological collapse on the island caused by the anthropogenic extinctions is believed to have caused the island's abandonment.{{Cite journal |last1=Steadman |first1=David W. |last2=Olson |first2=Storrs L. |date=1 September 1985 |title=Bird remains from an archaeological site on Henderson Island, South Pacific: Man-caused extinctions on an "uninhabited" island |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |language=en |volume=82 |issue=18 |pages=6191–6195 |doi=10.1073/pnas.82.18.6191 |doi-access=free |pmid=16593606 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=391018 |bibcode=1985PNAS...82.6191S }}

The first human settlers of the Hawaiian Islands are thought to have arrived between 300 and 800 AD, with European arrival in the 16th century. Hawaii is notable for its endemism of plants, birds, insects, mollusks and fish; 30% of its organisms are endemic. Many of its species are endangered or have gone extinct, primarily due to accidentally introduced species and livestock grazing. Over 40% of its bird species have gone extinct, and it is the location of 75% of extinctions in the United States.{{Cite journal|date=22 November 2005|title=Controlling Ungulate Populations in native ecosystems in Hawaii|url=http://www.hawaiiconservation.org/images/uploads/resources/ungulates.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Hawaii Conservation Alliance|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508222953/http://www.hawaiiconservation.org/images/uploads/resources/ungulates.pdf|archive-date=2016-05-08}} Evidence suggests that the introduction of the Polynesian rat, above all other factors, drove the ecocide of the endemic forests of the archipelago.{{Cite journal |last1=Athens |first1=J. Stephen |last2=Toggle |first2=H. David |last3=Ward |first3=Jerome V. |last4=Welch |first4=David J. |date=14 November 2014 |title=Avifaunal extinctions, vegetation change, and Polynesian impacts in prehistoric Hawai'i |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1834-4453.2002.tb00507.x |journal=Archaeology in Oceania |language=en |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=57–78 |doi=10.1002/j.1834-4453.2002.tb00507.x |issn=0728-4896 |access-date=20 January 2024 |via=Wiley Online Library |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130054600/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1834-4453.2002.tb00507.x |url-status=live }} Extinction has increased in Hawaii over the last 200 years and is relatively well documented, with extinctions among native snails used as estimates for global extinction rates. High rates of habitat fragmentation on the archipelago have further reduced biodiversity.{{Cite journal |last1=Flaspohler |first1=David J. |last2=Giardina |first2=Christian P. |last3=Asner |first3=Gregory P. |last4=Hart |first4=Patrick |last5=Price |first5=Jonathan |last6=Lyons |first6=Cassie Ka’apu |last7=Castaneda |first7=Xeronimo |date=February 2010 |title=Long-term effects of fragmentation and fragment properties on bird species richness in Hawaiian forests |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0006320709004509 |journal=Biological Conservation |language=en |volume=143 |issue=2 |pages=280–288 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2009.10.009 |bibcode=2010BCons.143..280F |access-date=4 June 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct |archive-date=14 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014121438/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0006320709004509 |url-status=live }} The extinction of endemic Hawaiian avifauna is likely to accelerate even further as anthropogenic global warming adds additional pressure on top of land-use changes and invasive species.{{Cite journal |last1=Benning |first1=Tracy L. |last2=LaPointe |first2=Dennis |last3=Atkinson |first3=Carter T. |last4=Vitousek |first4=Peter M. |date=29 October 2002 |title=Interactions of climate change with biological invasions and land use in the Hawaiian Islands: Modeling the fate of endemic birds using a geographic information system |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |language=en |volume=99 |issue=22 |pages=14246–14249 |doi=10.1073/pnas.162372399 |doi-access=free |pmid=12374870 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=137869 |bibcode=2002PNAS...9914246B }}

{{Further|Wildlife of Madagascar|Subfossil lemur}}

File:Subfossil lemur C14 ranges.svg were present in Madagascar until after human arrival.]]

Within centuries of the arrival of humans around the 1st millennium AD, nearly all of Madagascar's distinct, endemic, and geographically isolated megafauna became extinct.{{Cite journal |last1=Hansford |first1=James P. |last2=Lister |first2=Adrian M. |last3=Weston |first3=Eleanor M. |last4=Turvey |first4=Samuel T. |date=July 2021 |title=Simultaneous extinction of Madagascar's megaherbivores correlates with late Holocene human-caused landscape transformation |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379121002031 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=263 |pages=106996 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106996 |bibcode=2021QSRv..26306996H |s2cid=236313083 |access-date=2023-05-31 |archive-date=2023-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531235823/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379121002031 |url-status=live }} The largest animals, of more than {{convert|150|kg|lbs}}, were extinct very shortly after the first human arrival, with large and medium-sized species dying out after prolonged hunting pressure from an expanding human population moving into more remote regions of the island around 1000 years ago. as well as 17 species of "giant" lemurs. Some of these lemurs typically weighed over {{convert|150|kg|lbs}}, and their fossils have provided evidence of human butchery on many species.{{Cite journal|last1=Perez|first1=Ventura R.|last2=Godfrey|first2=Laurie R.|last3=Nowak-Kemp|first3=Malgosia|last4=Burney|first4=David A.|last5=Ratsimbazafy|first5=Jonah|last6=Vasey|first6=Natalia|date=2005-12-01|title=Evidence of early butchery of giant lemurs in Madagascar|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=49|issue=6|pages=722–742|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.08.004|pmid=16225904|bibcode=2005JHumE..49..722P }} Other megafauna present on the island included the Malagasy hippopotamuses as well as the large flightless elephant birds, both groups are thought to have gone extinct in the interval 750–1050 AD. Smaller fauna experienced initial increases due to decreased competition, and then subsequent declines over the last 500 years. All fauna weighing over {{convert|10|kg|lbs}} died out. The primary reasons for the decline of Madagascar's biota, which at the time was already stressed by natural aridification,{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Hanying |last2=Sinha |first2=Ashish |last3=André |first3=Aurèle Anquetil |last4=Spötl |first4=Christoph |last5=Vonhof |first5=Hubert B. |last6=Meunier |first6=Arnaud |last7=Kathayat |first7=Gayatri |last8=Duan |first8=Pengzhen |last9=Voarintsoa |first9=Ny Riavo G. |last10=Ning |first10=Youfeng |last11=Biswas |first11=Jayant |last12=Hu |first12=Peng |last13=Li |first13=Xianglei |last14=Sha |first14=Lijuan |last15=Zhao |first15=Jingyao |last16=Edwards |first16=R. Lawrence |last17=Cheng |first17=Hai |date=16 October 2020 |title=A multimillennial climatic context for the megafaunal extinctions in Madagascar and Mascarene Islands |journal=Science Advances |volume=6 |issue=42 |pages=1–13 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abb2459 |pmid=33067226 |pmc=7567594 |bibcode=2020SciA....6.2459L |s2cid=222811671 }} were human hunting,{{cite journal |last1=Hixon |first1=Sean W. |last2=Douglass |first2=Kristina G. |last3=Crowley |first3=Brooke E. |last4=Rakotozafy |first4=Lucien Marie Aimé |last5=Clark |first5=Geoffrey |last6=Anderson |first6=Atholl |last7=Haberle |first7=Simon |last8=Ranaivoarisoa |first8=Jean Freddy |last9=Buckley |first9=Michael |last10=Fidiarisoa |first10=Salomon |last11=Mbola |first11=Balzac |last12=Kennett |first12=Douglas J. |date=21 July 2021 |title=Late Holocene spread of pastoralism coincides with endemic megafaunal extinction on Madagascar |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=288 |issue=1955 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2021.1204 |pmid=34284627 |pmc=8292765 }} herding,{{cite journal |last1=Hixon |first1=Sean W. |last2=Domic |first2=Alejandra I. |last3=Douglass |first3=Kristina G. |last4=Roberts |first4=Patrick |last5=Eccles |first5=Laurie |last6=Buckley |first6=Michael |last7=Ivory |first7=Sarah |last8=Noe |first8=Sarah |last9=Kennett |first9=Douglas J. |date=22 November 2022 |title=Cutmarked bone of drought-tolerant extinct megafauna deposited with traces of fire, human foraging, and introduced animals in SW Madagascar |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=18504 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-22980-w |pmid=36414654 |pmc=9681754 |bibcode=2022NatSR..1218504H }} farming,{{cite journal |last1=Godfrey |first1=Laurie R. |last2=Scroxton |first2=Nick |last3=Crowley |first3=Brooke E. |last4=Burns |first4=Stephen J. |last5=Sutherland |first5=Michael R. |last6=Pérez |first6=Ventura R. |last7=Faina |first7=Peterson |last8=McGee |first8=David |last9=Ranivoharimanana |first9=Lovasoa |date=May 2019 |title=A new interpretation of Madagascar's megafaunal decline: The "Subsistence Shift Hypothesis" |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=130 |pages=126–140 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.03.002 |pmid=31010539 |s2cid=128362254 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2019JHumE.130..126G }} and forest clearing, all of which persist and threaten Madagascar's remaining taxa today. The natural ecosystems of Madagascar as a whole were further impacted by the much greater incidence of fire as a result of anthropogenic fire production; evidence from Lake Amparihibe on the island of Nosy Be indicates a shift in local vegetation from intact rainforest to a fire-disturbed patchwork of grassland and woodland between 1300 and 1000 BP.{{cite journal |last1=Reinhardt |first1=Antonia L. |last2=Kasper |first2=Thomas |last3=Lochner |first3=Maximilian |last4=Bliedtner |first4=Marcel |last5=Krahn |first5=Kim J. |last6=Haberzettl |first6=Torsten |last7=Shumilovskikh |first7=Lyudmila |last8=Rahobisoa |first8=Jean-Jacques |last9=Zech |first9=Roland |last10=Favier |first10=Charly |last11=Behling |first11=Hermann |last12=Bremond |first12=Laurent |last13=Daut |first13=Gerhard |last14=Montade |first14=Vincent |date=4 February 2022 |title=Rain Forest Fragmentation and Environmental Dynamics on Nosy Be Island (NW Madagascar) at 1300 cal BP Is Attributable to Intensified Human Impact |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |volume=9 |pages=1–21 |issn=2296-701X |doi=10.3389/fevo.2021.783770 |doi-access=free }}

{{Main|List of New Zealand animals extinct in the Holocene}}

{{See also|Biodiversity of New Zealand|Timeline of the New Zealand environment|Invasive species in New Zealand}}

New Zealand is characterized by its geographic isolation and island biogeography, and had been isolated from mainland Australia for 80 million years. It was the last large land mass to be colonized by humans. Upon the arrival of Polynesian settlers in the late 13th century, the native biota suffered a catastrophic decline due to deforestation, hunting, and the introduction of invasive species.{{Cite journal |last1=Holdaway |first1=Simon J. |last2=Emmitt |first2=Joshua |last3=Furey |first3=Louise |last4=Jorgensen |first4=Alex |last5=O'Regan |first5=Gerard |last6=Phillipps |first6=Rebecca |last7=Prebble |first7=Matthew |last8=Wallace |first8=Roderick |last9=Ladefoged |first9=Thegn N. |date=18 November 2018 |title=Māori settlement of New Zealand: The Anthropocene as a process |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/arco.5173 |journal=Archaeology in Oceania |language=en |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=17–34 |doi=10.1002/arco.5173 |issn=0728-4896 |access-date=3 July 2024 |via=Wiley Online Library}}{{Cite journal |last=Mcglone |first=M.S. |date=1989 |title=The Polynesian Settlement of New Zealand in Relation to Environmental and Biotic Changes |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24053254 |journal=New Zealand Journal of Ecology |volume=12 |pages=115–129 |jstor=24053254 |issn=0110-6465 |access-date=3 July 2024 }} The extinction of all of the islands' megafaunal birds occurred within several hundred years of human arrival.{{Cite news|last=Kolbert|first=Elizabeth|date=2014-12-22|title=The Big Kill|newspaper=The New Yorker|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/22/big-kill|access-date=2016-02-25|issn=0028-792X|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001044/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/22/big-kill|url-status=live}} The moa, large flightless ratites, were thriving during the Late Holocene,{{Cite journal |last1=Allentoft |first1=Morten Erik |last2=Heller |first2=Rasmus |last3=Oskam |first3=Charlotte L. |last4=Lorenzen |first4=Eline D. |last5=Hale |first5=Marie L. |last6=Gilbert |first6=M. Thomas P. |last7=Jacomb |first7=Christopher |last8=Holdaway |first8=Richard N. |last9=Bunce |first9=Michael |date=17 March 2014 |title=Extinct New Zealand megafauna were not in decline before human colonization |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |language=en |volume=111 |issue=13 |pages=4922–4927 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1314972111 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=3977255 |pmid=24639531 |bibcode=2014PNAS..111.4922A }} but became extinct within 200 years of the arrival of human settlers, as did the enormous Haast's eagle - their primary predator - the omnivorous adzebills and at least two species of large, flightless geese. The Polynesians also introduced the Polynesian rat, which may have consumed avian eggs and chicks. This may have put some pressure on other birds, but at the time of early European contact (18th century) and colonization (19th century), the bird life was nonetheless prolific. The megafaunal extinction happened extremely rapidly despite a very small population density, which never exceeded 0.01 people per km².{{Cite journal |last1=Holdaway |first1=Richard N. |last2=Allentoft |first2=Morten E. |last3=Jacomb |first3=Christopher |last4=Oskam |first4=Charlotte L. |last5=Beavan |first5=Nancy R. |last6=Bunce |first6=Michael |date=7 November 2014 |title=An extremely low-density human population exterminated New Zealand moa |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6436 |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=5 |issue=1 |page=5436 |doi=10.1038/ncomms6436 |pmid=25378020 |bibcode=2014NatCo...5.5436H |issn=2041-1723 |access-date=4 June 2024 |archive-date=3 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903070309/https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6436 |url-status=live }} Extinctions of parasites followed the extinction of New Zealand's megafauna.{{Cite journal |last1=Lafferty |first1=Kevin D. |last2=Hopkins |first2=Skylar R. |date=13 February 2018 |title=Unique parasite aDNA in moa coprolites from New Zealand suggests mass parasite extinctions followed human-induced megafauna extinctions |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |language=en |volume=115 |issue=7 |pages=1411–1413 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1722598115 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=5816219 |pmid=29440435 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115.1411L }} With them, the Europeans brought various invasive species including ship rats, possums, cats and mustelids which devastated native bird life, some of which had adapted flightlessness and ground nesting habits, and had no defensive behavior as a result of having no native mammalian predators. The kākāpō, the world's biggest parrot, which is flightless, now only exists in managed breeding sanctuaries. New Zealand's national emblem, the kiwi, is on the endangered bird list.

==Mitigation==

{{Further|Nature conservation|Climate change mitigation}}{{multiple image

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Stabilizing human populations;{{cite journal|last1=Crist|first1=Eileen|last2=Ripple|first2=William J.|last3=Ehrlich|first3=Paul R.|last4=Rees|first4=William E.|last5=Wolf|first5=Christopher|date=2022|title=Scientists' warning on population|journal=Science of the Total Environment|volume=845|issue=|page=157166|doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157166|s2cid=250387801|pmid=35803428|bibcode=2022ScTEn.84557166C |url=https://scientistswarning.forestry.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/Crist2022.pdf|access-date=2022-11-08|archive-date=2022-11-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112170021/https://scientistswarning.forestry.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/Crist2022.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite book |last=Beebee |first=Trevor |title=Impacts of Human Population on Wildlife: A British Perspective |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-1108833554}}{{Cite journal |last1=Brashares |first1=Justin S. |last2=Arcese |first2=Peter |last3=Sam |first3=Moses K. |date=2001 |title=Human demography and reserve size predict wildlife extinction in West Africa |jstor=3067753 |journal=Proceedings: Biological Sciences |volume=268 |issue=1484 |pages=2473–2478|doi=10.1098/rspb.2001.1815 |pmid=11747566 |pmc=1088902 }} reining in capitalism,{{Cite news |date=8 October 2020 |title=Attenborough: 'Curb excess capitalism' to save nature |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54268038 |access-date=8 November 2022 |archive-date=8 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008143757/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54268038 |url-status=live }} decreasing economic demands,{{Cite journal |vauthors=Büscher B, Fletcher R, Brockington D, Sandbrook C, Adams W, Campbell L, Corson C, Dressler W, Duffy R, Gray N, Holmes G, Kelly A, Lunstrum E, Ramutsindela M, Shanker K |date=2017 |title=Half-Earth or Whole Earth? Radical ideas for conservation, and their implications |journal=Oryx |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=407–410 |doi=10.1017/S0030605316001228|s2cid=56573294 |doi-access=free }} and shifting them to economic activities with low impacts on biodiversity;{{cite journal |last1=Marques |first1=Alexandra |last2=Martins |first2=Inês S. |last3=Kastner |first3=Thomas |last4=Plutzar |first4=Christoph |last5=Theurl |first5=Michaela C. |last6=Eisenmenger |first6=Nina |last7=Huijbregts |first7=Mark A. J. |last8=Wood |first8=Richard |last9=Stadler |first9=Konstanin |last10=Bruckner |first10=Martin |last11=Canelas |first11=Joana |last12=Hilbers |first12=Jelle P. |last13=Tukker |first13=Arnold |last14=Erb |first14=Karlheinz |last15=Pereira |first15=Henrique M. |date=4 March 2019 |title=Increasing impacts of land use on biodiversity and carbon sequestration driven by population and economic growth |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=628–637 |doi=10.1038/s41559-019-0824-3 |pmid=30833755 |pmc=6443044 |bibcode=2019NatEE...3..628M }} transitioning to plant-based diets; and increasing the number and size of terrestrial and marine protected areas{{Cite journal |vauthors=Kopina H, Washington H, Gray J, Taylor B |date=2018 |title=The "future of conservation" debate: defending ecocentrism and the Nature Needs Half movement |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=217 |pages=140–148 |issn=0006-3207 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2017.10.016|s2cid=89930104 }}{{Cite journal |vauthors=Noss R, Dobson A, Baldwin R, Beier P, Davis C, Dellasala D, Francis J, Locke H, Nowak K, Lopez R, Reining C, Trombulak S, Tabor G |date=2012 |title=Bolder thinking for conservation |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=1–4 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2011.01738.x|pmid=22280321 |s2cid=44550790 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2012ConBi..26....1N }} have been suggested to avoid or limit biodiversity loss and a possible sixth mass extinction. Rodolfo Dirzo and Paul R. Ehrlich suggest that "the one fundamental, necessary, 'simple' cure, ... is reducing the scale of the human enterprise." According to a 2021 paper published in Frontiers in Conservation Science, humanity almost certainly faces a "ghastly future" of mass extinction, biodiversity collapse, climate change, and their impacts unless major efforts to change human industry and activity are rapidly undertaken.{{cite news|last=Weston|first=Phoebe|date=January 13, 2021|title=Top scientists warn of 'ghastly future of mass extinction' and climate disruption|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/13/top-scientists-warn-of-ghastly-future-of-mass-extinction-and-climate-disruption-aoe|access-date=February 13, 2021|archive-date=January 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113050606/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/13/top-scientists-warn-of-ghastly-future-of-mass-extinction-and-climate-disruption-aoe|url-status=live}}

Reducing human population growth has been suggested as a means of mitigating climate change and the biodiversity crisis,{{cite journal |last1=O'Sullivan |first1=Jane N. |date=June 2020 |title=The social and environmental influences of population growth rate and demographic pressure deserve greater attention in ecological economics |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800919310201 |journal=Ecological Economics |volume=172 |page=106648 |doi=10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106648 |bibcode=2020EcoEc.17206648O |s2cid=216368140 |access-date=5 January 2023 |archive-date=6 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106003641/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800919310201 |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=McKee |first1=Jeffrey K. |last2=Sciulli |first2=Paul W. |last3=Fooce |first3=C. David |last4=Waite |first4=Thomas A. |date=January 2004 |title=Forecasting global biodiversity threats associated with human population growth |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320703000995 |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=115 |issue=1 |pages=161–164 |doi=10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00099-5 |bibcode=2004BCons.115..161M |access-date=3 January 2023 |archive-date=2 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102165922/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320703000995 |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Crist |first1=Eileen |last2=Mora |first2=Camilo |last3=Engelman |first3=Robert |date=21 April 2017 |title=The interaction of human population, food production, and biodiversity protection |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316286860 |journal=Science |volume=356 |issue=6335 |pages=260–264 |doi=10.1126/science.aal2011 |pmid=28428391 |bibcode=2017Sci...356..260C |s2cid=12770178 |access-date=1 January 2023}} although many scholars believe it has been largely ignored in mainstream policy discourse.{{cite journal |last1=Dodson |first1=Jenna C. |last2=Dérer |first2=Patrícia |last3=Cafaro |first3=Philip |last4=Götmark |first4=Frank |date=15 December 2020 |title=Population growth and climate change: Addressing the overlooked threat multiplier |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969720348750 |journal=Science of the Total Environment |volume=748 |page=141346 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141346 |pmid=33113687 |bibcode=2020ScTEn.74841346D |s2cid=225035992 |access-date=5 January 2023 |archive-date=6 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106041958/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969720348750 |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Kopnina |first1=Helen |last2=Washington |first2=Haydn |date=6 April 2016 |title=Discussing why population growth is still ignored or denied |journal=Chinese Journal of Population Resources and Environment |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=133–143 |doi=10.1080/10042857.2016.1149296 |s2cid=155499197 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2016CJPRE..14..133K |hdl=1887/44662 |hdl-access=free }}{{Explain|date=November 2024}} An alternative proposal is greater agricultural efficiency & sustainability. Lots of non-arable land can be made into arable land good for growing food crops. Mushrooms have also been known to repair damaged soil.{{cite journal |last1=Elsakhawy |first1=Tamer |last2=Omara |first2=Alaa El-Dein |last3=Abowaly |first3=Mohamed |last4=El-Ramady |first4=Hassan |last5=Badgar |first5=Khandsuren |last6=Llanaj |first6=Xhensila |last7=Törős |first7=Gréta |last8=Hajdú |first8=Peter |last9=Prokisch |first9=József |title=Green Synthesis of Nanoparticles by Mushrooms: A Crucial Dimension for Sustainable Soil Management |journal=Sustainability |date=6 April 2022 |volume=14 |issue=7 |pages=12–13 |doi=10.3390/su14074328|doi-access=free |bibcode=2022Sust...14.4328E }}

A 2018 article in Science advocated for the global community to designate 30% of the planet by 2030, and 50% by 2050, as protected areas to mitigate the contemporary extinction crisis. It highlighted that the human population is projected to grow to 10 billion by the middle of the century, and consumption of food and water resources is projected to double by this time.{{cite journal|last1= Baillie|first1=Jonathan|last2=Ya-Ping |first2=Zhang|date=September 14, 2018|title=Space for nature|journal=Science|volume=361|issue=6407 |pages=1051|doi=10.1126/science.aau1397|pmid=30213888 |bibcode=2018Sci...361.1051B|doi-access=free}} A 2022 report published in Science warned that 44% of Earth's terrestrial surface, or {{convert|24.7|e6sqmi|e6km2|abbr=off|order=flip}}, must be conserved and made "ecologically sound" to prevent further biodiversity loss.{{cite journal |last1=Allan |first1=James R. |last2=Possingham |first2=Hugh P. |last3=Atkinson |first3=Scott C. |last4=Waldron |first4=Anthony |display-authors=etal. |title=The minimum land area requiring conservation attention to safeguard biodiversity |journal=Science |date=2 June 2022 |volume=376 |issue=6597 |pages=1094–1101 |doi=10.1126/science.abl9127 |pmid=35653463 |bibcode=2022Sci...376.1094A |hdl=11573/1640006 |s2cid=233423065|hdl-access=free }}{{cite news |last=Magramo |first=Kathleen |date=June 3, 2022 |title=More than 40% of Earth's land surface must be conserved to stop the biodiversity crisis, report warns |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/03/world/earth-conservation-report-intl-hnk-scn/index.html |access-date=June 8, 2022 |archive-date=June 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608045732/https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/03/world/earth-conservation-report-intl-hnk-scn/index.html |url-status=live }}

In November 2018, the UN's biodiversity chief Cristiana Pașca Palmer urged people worldwide to pressure governments to implement significant protections for wildlife by 2020. She called biodiversity loss a "silent killer" as dangerous as global warming but said it had received little attention by comparison. "It's different from climate change, where people feel the impact in everyday life. With biodiversity, it is not so clear but by the time you feel what is happening, it may be too late."{{cite news|last=Watts|first=Jonathan|date=November 3, 2018|title=Stop biodiversity loss or we could face our own extinction, warns UN|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/03/stop-biodiversity-loss-or-we-could-face-our-own-extinction-warns-un|work=The Guardian|access-date=November 3, 2018|archive-date=January 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127033608/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/03/stop-biodiversity-loss-or-we-could-face-our-own-extinction-warns-un|url-status=live}} In January 2020, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity drafted a Paris-style plan to stop biodiversity and ecosystem collapse by setting the deadline of 2030 to protect 30% of the Earth's land and oceans and to reduce pollution by 50%, to allow for the restoration of ecosystems by 2050. The world failed to meet the Aichi Biodiversity Targets for 2020 set by the convention during a summit in Japan in 2010.{{cite news|last=Greenfield|first=Patrick|date=January 13, 2020|title=UN draft plan sets 2030 target to avert Earth's sixth mass extinction|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/un-draft-plan-sets-2030-target-to-avert-earths-sixth-mass-extinction-aoe|work=The Guardian|access-date=January 14, 2020|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224095816/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/un-draft-plan-sets-2030-target-to-avert-earths-sixth-mass-extinction-aoe|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Yeung|first=Jessie|date=January 14, 2020|title=We have 10 years to save Earth's biodiversity as mass extinction caused by humans takes hold, UN warns|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/14/world/un-biodiversity-draft-plan-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html|work=CNN|access-date=January 14, 2020|archive-date=February 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215051020/https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/14/world/un-biodiversity-draft-plan-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html|url-status=live}} Of the 20 biodiversity targets proposed, only six were "partially achieved" by the deadline.{{cite news|last=Dickie|first=Gloria|author-link=Gloria Dickie|date=September 15, 2020|title=Global Biodiversity Is in Free Fall|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/global-biodiversity-is-in-free-fall/|work=Scientific American|access-date=September 15, 2020|archive-date=March 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307040317/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/global-biodiversity-is-in-free-fall/|url-status=live}} It was called a global failure by Inger Andersen, head of the United Nations Environment Programme:

{{blockquote|text="From COVID-19 to massive wildfires, floods, melting glaciers and unprecedented heat, our failure to meet the Aichi (biodiversity) targets—to protect our home—has very real consequences. We can no longer afford to cast nature to the side."{{cite news|last1=Larson|first1=Christina|last2=Borenstein|first2=Seth|date=September 15, 2020|title=World isn't meeting biodiversity goals, UN report finds|work=Associated Press|url=https://apnews.com/f2702a401da3b4c7617e4af7d7a6f2a3|access-date=September 15, 2020|archive-date=January 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111061746/https://apnews.com/f2702a401da3b4c7617e4af7d7a6f2a3|url-status=live}}}}

Some scientists have proposed keeping extinctions below 20 per year for the next century as a global target to reduce species loss, which is the biodiversity equivalent of the 2 °C climate target, although it is still much higher than the normal background rate of two per year prior to anthropogenic impacts on the natural world.{{cite journal|vauthors=Rounsevell M, Harfoot M, Harrison P, Newbold T, Gregory R, Mace G|date=June 12, 2020|title=A biodiversity target based on species extinctions|url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10099553/|journal=Science|volume=368|issue=6496|pages=1193–1195|doi=10.1126/science.aba6592|pmid=32527821|bibcode=2020Sci...368.1193R|s2cid=219585428|via=UCL Discovery|access-date=August 26, 2020|archive-date=October 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030202538/https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10099553/|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|date=June 30, 2020|title=Fewer than 20 extinctions a year: does the world need a single target for biodiversity?|journal=Nature|volume=583|issue=7814 |pages=7–8 |doi=10.1038/d41586-020-01936-y|pmid=32606472|bibcode=2020Natur.583....7.|doi-access=free |department=Editorial}}

An October 2020 report on the "era of pandemics" from IPBES found that many of the same human activities that contribute to biodiversity loss and climate change, including deforestation and the wildlife trade, have also increased the risk of future pandemics. The report offers several policy options to reduce such risk, such as taxing meat production and consumption, cracking down on the illegal wildlife trade, removing high disease-risk species from the legal wildlife trade, and eliminating subsidies to businesses which are harmful to the environment.{{cite news|last=Carrington|first=Damian|date=October 29, 2020|title=Protecting nature is vital to escape 'era of pandemics' – report|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/29/protecting-nature-vital-pandemics-report-outbreaks-wild|work=The Guardian|access-date=November 28, 2020|archive-date=October 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029144031/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/29/protecting-nature-vital-pandemics-report-outbreaks-wild|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Mcelwee|first=Pamela|date=November 2, 2020|title=COVID-19 and the biodiversity crisis|url=https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/523944-covid-19-and-the-biodiversity-crisis|work=The Hill|access-date=November 28, 2020|archive-date=May 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515193422/https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/523944-covid-19-and-the-biodiversity-crisis|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://ipbes.net/pandemics|title=Escaping the 'Era of Pandemics': Experts Warn Worse Crises to Come Options Offered to Reduce Risk|author=|work=IPBES secretariat |date=2020|publisher=Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services|access-date=November 28, 2020|archive-date=January 26, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240126000615/https://www.ipbes.net/pandemics|url-status=live}} According to marine zoologist John Spicer, "the COVID-19 crisis is not just another crisis alongside the biodiversity crisis and the climate change crisis. Make no mistake, this is one big crisis—the greatest that humans have ever faced."

In December 2022, nearly every country on Earth, with the United States and the Holy See being the only exceptions,{{cite news|last=Einhorn|first=Catrin|date=December 19, 2022|title=Nearly Every Country Signs On to a Sweeping Deal to Protect Nature|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/climate/biodiversity-cop15-montreal-30x30.html|work=The New York Times|location=|access-date=January 5, 2023|quote=The United States is just one of two countries in the world that are not party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, largely because Republicans, who are typically opposed to joining treaties, have blocked United States membership. That means the American delegation was required to participate from the sidelines. (The only other country that has not joined the treaty is the Holy See.)|archive-date=December 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219234121/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/climate/biodiversity-cop15-montreal-30x30.html|url-status=live}} signed onto the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreement formulated at the 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) which includes protecting 30% of land and oceans by 2030 and 22 other targets intended to mitigate the extinction crisis. The agreement is weaker than the Aichi Targets of 2010.{{cite news|last=Paddison|first=Laura|date=December 19, 2022|title=More than 190 countries sign landmark agreement to halt the biodiversity crisis|url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/19/world/cop15-biodiversity-agreement-montreal-climate-scn-intl/index.html|work=CNN|location=|access-date=January 5, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220015200/https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/19/world/cop15-biodiversity-agreement-montreal-climate-scn-intl/index.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Curry|first=Tierra|date=December 24, 2022|title=COP15 biodiversity summit: Paving the road to extinction with good intentions|url=https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/3787000-cop15-biodiversity-summit-paving-the-road-to-extinction-with-good-intentions/|work=The Hill|location=|access-date=January 5, 2023|archive-date=December 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227054903/https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/3787000-cop15-biodiversity-summit-paving-the-road-to-extinction-with-good-intentions/|url-status=live}} It was criticized by some countries for being rushed and not going far enough to protect endangered species.

{{portal|border=no|Biology|Ecology|Environment|World}}

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

• Anthropocene
• Biodiversity loss
• Ecocide
• Existential risk from artificial intelligence
• Extinction Rebellion
• Extinction risk from climate change
• Extinction symbol
• Extinction: The Facts (2020 documentary)
• Human impact on the environment
• Lists of extinct species
• Pleistocene rewilding
• Late Pleistocene extinctions
• Racing Extinction (2015 documentary film)
• Timeline of extinctions in the Holocene
• World Scientists' Warning to Humanity

{{div col end}}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• {{cite book|last1=Ceballos|first1=Gerardo|last2=Ehrlich|first2=Anne H.|last3=Ehrlich|first3=Paul R.|author-link3=Paul R. Ehrlich|date=2015|title=The Annihilation of Nature: Human Extinction of Birds and Mammals|url=https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/annihilation-nature|location=Baltimore, Maryland|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-1421417189|access-date=2017-04-09|archive-date=2017-04-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409200408/https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/annihilation-nature|url-status=live}}
• {{cite journal|last=deBuys|first=William|date=March 2015|url=http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175968/tomgram%3A_william_debuys%2C_a_global_war_on_nature/|title=The Politics of Extinction – A Global War on Nature|journal=Tom Dispatch|quote=Uncounted species—not just tigers, gibbons, rhinos, and saola, but vast numbers of smaller mammals, amphibians, birds, and reptiles—are being pressed to the brink. We’ve hardly met them and yet, within the vastness of the universe, they and the rest of Earth’s biota are our only known companions. Without them, our loneliness would stretch to infinity.|access-date=2015-03-15|archive-date=2015-09-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903231539/http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175968/tomgram%3A_william_debuys%2C_a_global_war_on_nature/|url-status=live}}
• {{cite journal|vauthors=Firestone RB, West A, Kennett JP, Becker L, Bunch TE, Revay ZS, Schultz PH, Belgya T, Kennett DJ, Erlandson JM, Dickenson OJ, Goodyear AC, Harris RS, Howard GA, Kloosterman JB, Lechler P, Mayewski PA, Montgomery J, Poreda R, Darrah T, Hee SS, Smith AR, Stich A, Topping W, Wittke JH, Wolbach WS|display-authors=6|title=Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact 12,900 years ago that contributed to the megafaunal extinctions and the Younger Dryas cooling|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=104|issue=41|pages=16016–16021 |date=October 2007|pmid=17901202|pmc=1994902|doi=10.1073/pnas.0706977104 |bibcode=2007PNAS..10416016F|doi-access=free}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Hughes|first1=Emma C. |last2= Edwards|first2=David P.|last3=Thomas|first3=Gavin H.|date=2022 |title=The homogenization of avian morphological and phylogenetic diversity under the global extinction crisis|url= |journal=Current Biology|volume= 32|issue= 17|pages= 3830–3837.e3|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2022.06.018|pmid=35868322 |pmc=9616725 |bibcode=2022CBio...32E3830H |s2cid=247827456 }}
• {{cite magazine|last=Kolbert|first=Elizabeth|date=May 25, 2009|author-link=Elizabeth Kolbert|title=The Sixth Extinction? There have been five great die-offs in history. This time, the cataclysm is us|magazine=The New Yorker|url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/25/090525fa_fact_kolbert|access-date=8 May 2012|archive-date=27 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427190027/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/25/090525fa_fact_kolbert|url-status=live}}
• {{cite book|title=The Sixth Extinction: Patterns of Life and the Future of Humankind|last=Leakey|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Leakey|author2=Lewin, Roger|author-link2=Roger Lewin |year=1996|publisher=Anchor Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-385-46809-1}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Lees|first1=Alexander C.|last2=Attwood|first2=Simon|display-authors=etal.|date=2020|title=Biodiversity scientists must fight the creeping rise of extinction denial|journal=Nature Ecology and Evolution|volume=4|issue=11|pages=1440–1443|doi=10.1038/s41559-020-01285-z|pmid=32811999|s2cid=221167551|doi-access=free|bibcode=2020NatEE...4.1440L }}
• {{cite journal|last=Loarie|first=Scott R.|author2=Duffy, Philip B.|author3=Hamilton, Healy|author4=Asner, Gregory P.|author5=Field, Christopher B.|author6= Ackerly, David D.|title=The velocity of climate change|journal=Nature|year=2009|volume=462|issue=7276|pages=1052–1055|doi=10.1038/nature08649|pmid=20033047|bibcode=2009Natur.462.1052L|s2cid=4419902}}
• {{cite news|last=Marsh|first=Bill|title=Are We in the Midst Of a Sixth Mass Extinction?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/06/01/opinion/sunday/are-we-in-the-midst-of-a-sixth-mass-extinction.html|newspaper=The New York Times Sunday Review: Opinion Page|date=1 June 2012|access-date=18 October 2012|archive-date=31 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121231015931/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/06/01/opinion/sunday/are-we-in-the-midst-of-a-sixth-mass-extinction.html|url-status=live}}
• {{cite book|title=Pleistocene Extinctions: The Search for a Cause|editor-last=Martin|editor-first=P. S.|editor2=Wright, H. E. Jr|year=1967|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|isbn=978-0-300-00755-8}}
• {{cite journal|last=McCallum, Malcolm L.|title=Vertebrate biodiversity losses point to sixth mass extinction|journal=Biodiversity and Conservation|year=2015|volume=24|issue=10|pages=2497–2519|doi=10.1007/s10531-015-0940-6 |bibcode=2015BiCon..24.2497M |s2cid=16845698}}
• {{cite book|last=Newman|first=Lenore|title=Lost Feast: Culinary Extinction and the Future of Food|year=2019|isbn=978-1770414358|publisher=ECW Press}}
• {{cite news|last=Nihjuis|first=Michelle|title=Conservationists Use Triage to Determine Which Species to Save and Not|date=23 July 2012|newspaper=Scientific American}}
• {{cite book|author=Oakes, Ted|title=Land of Lost Monsters: Man Against Beast – The Prehistoric Battle for the Planet|publisher=Hylas Publishing|year=2003|isbn=978-1-59258-005-7|url=https://archive.org/details/landoflostmonste00tedo}}
• {{cite book|title=Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature Is Thriving in an Age of Extinction|first=Chris D.|last=Thomas|publisher=PublicAffairs|year=2017|isbn=978-1610397278}}
• {{Cite journal|last=Wiens|first=John J.|date=December 2016|title =Climate-Related Local Extinctions Are Already Widespread among Plant and Animal Species|journal=PLOS Biology|volume=14|issue=12 |pages=e2001104 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.2001104|pmid=27930674|pmc=5147797|hdl=10150/622757 |doi-access=free }}

{{refend}}

{{external media

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|width=220px

|video1= {{YouTube|z9gHuAwxwAs|Are We Living in the Sixth Extinction?}}

|video2={{YouTube|dbCR0KSU52g|We need IMMEDIATE action to stop extinction crisis, David Attenborough – BBC}}

|video3={{YouTube|6TqhcZsxrPA|Earth currently experiencing a sixth mass extinction, according to scientists}}}}

• [http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/ The Extinction Crisis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903122445/https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/ |date=2019-09-03 }}. Center for Biological Diversity.
• [http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2016/12/specials/vanishing/ Vanishing: The extinction crisis is far worse than you think] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904200743/https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2016/12/specials/vanishing/ |date=2019-09-04 }}. CNN. December 2016.
• [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/25/half-all-species-extinct-end-century-vatican-conference Biologists say half of all species could be extinct by end of century] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115005708/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/25/half-all-species-extinct-end-century-vatican-conference |date=2020-01-15 }}, The Guardian, 25 February 2017
• [https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/mass-extinction-humans-causing-earth-deaths-end-times-warning-a7765856.html Humans are ushering in the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth, scientists warn] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904210738/https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/mass-extinction-humans-causing-earth-deaths-end-times-warning-a7765856.html |date=2019-09-04 }}, The Independent, 31 May 2017
• [http://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/national-today-newsletter-russia-diplomats-biodiversity-1.4592950 Human activity pushing Earth towards 'sixth mass species extinction,' report warns] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825000831/https://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/national-today-newsletter-russia-diplomats-biodiversity-1.4592950 |date=2019-08-25 }}. CBC. Mar 26, 2018
• [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/04/terror-being-waged-on-wildlife-leaders-warn 'Terror being waged on wildlife', leaders warn] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823224640/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/04/terror-being-waged-on-wildlife-leaders-warn |date=2019-08-23 }}. The Guardian. October 4, 2018.
• [https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/earth-is-on-the-cusp-of-the-sixth-mass-extinction-heres-what-paleontologists Earth Is on the Cusp of the Sixth Mass Extinction. Here's What Paleontologists Want You to Know] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204141836/https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/earth-is-on-the-cusp-of-the-sixth-mass-extinction-heres-what-paleontologists |date=2020-12-04 }}. Discover. December 3, 2020.
• [https://www.thenation.com/article/environment/extinct-species-2022/ What the Extinction Crisis Took From the World in 2022] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228043845/https://www.thenation.com/article/environment/extinct-species-2022/ |date=2022-12-28 }}. The Nation. December 22, 2022.
• [https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/extinction-crisis-puts-1-million-species-brink-2022-12-23/ Extinction crisis puts 1 million species on the brink] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105043311/https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/extinction-crisis-puts-1-million-species-brink-2022-12-23/ |date=2023-01-05 }}. Reuters. December 23, 2022.
• [https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/huge-chunk-plants-animals-us-risk-extinction-report-2023-02-06/ Exclusive: Huge chunk of plants, animals in U.S. at risk of extinction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215010238/https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/huge-chunk-plants-animals-us-risk-extinction-report-2023-02-06/ |date=2023-02-15 }}. Reuters. February 6, 2023.

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