Articles like this always attract people who say, "Oh, species have always gone extinct, so what's the big deal?"

The big deal is that they're vanishing a thousand times faster than normal, faster than anything can evolve to replace them, and that this time, we're overwhelmingly responsible for it.

Mass extinctions have always happened. Thing is, we've always looked at them from a pre-historic perspective. Humans have a difficult time comprehending hundreds of years much less hundreds of thousands or millions of years. The mass extinctions in the past took many millenia to happen. In cosmological terms, that's a blink of an eye. But to us mere humans it takes place over generations.
We're so centrically focused on our own on-goings that we don't have the ability to see beyond our own immediacy. So when we read a text book about the extinction of the dinosaurs we tend to think it happened instantaneously.

We very well are contributing to the current rate of extinction. However, we simply could be a catalyst to an already on going extinction that is happening rapidly. That doesn't make us any more or less guilty for these transgressions. But it demonstrates our lack of understanding of the cycles our beloved planet goes through.

Extinction is normal. Whether its faster or slower than history, no one really knows. And if humans are responsible...so what! Only those species who are able to adapt to their surroundings and pass on those genes to the next generation will move forward in the evolutionary tree. If anyone wants humans to stop destroying other species, the only way to do that is to wipe out the human species from this earth. But thats not going to happen. We can't save every single species, its not going to happen.

Is it considered a new species even if the Asians can't eat it?

Earth is just another Easter Island in progress.

Anyone that can't see humans are destroying themselves is either ignorant of the evidence or in self-denial.

BTW, it's almost certainly too late to avoid (or even mitigate) the inevitable as well.

If you are a believer in macro-evolution, then this is of no concern: The apparent sudden extinction of so many species would be the environmental trigger to cause a rapid increase in evolutionary rate. (See "punctuated equilibrium" for more information on this.) Whether humans are the environmental trigger, or something else, it shouldn't matter. Evolution will prevail.

If you don't hold to macro-evolution, then this is still of no concern: The young age of the planet would indicate that past extinctions have happened at a far greater rate than scientists have presumed, and yet we (as in, animal kind) are still here and flourishing. Plus, many of the extinctions are not extinction of an animal kind, but extinction of a variation or adaptation of an animal kind.

The fct that new species come an go is not much more than the way things are, an always have been. New things pop up to fill new niches and others who can not adapt or compete disappear, same as it ever was or ever will be.

As for the notion that species are becoming extinct at an increasingly rapid rate , it is a contention that is impossible to conclusively prove and misleading given that there have been periods of mass extinction that have occurred over time and has had little or no effect on those remaining species that were able to adapt to a changing environment.

It seems rather a backward notion to believe that one species survives or disappears because of their environment , a more practical and probably accurate assessment would be that species who survive do so in spite of their environment and because they are able to adapt to or change their environment to suit their continued survival.

Looks to me like the earth is entering a new phase and natural selection is speeding up for some species to survive the environmental changes that are coming. Leaves me to wonder what our world will be like in a couple of hundred years without humans. Would be fascinating to live beyond the years I have left for me if such is the case.

But if all that biodiversity is just waiting to be discovered, why do we hear all this talk about a modern extinction crisis? It's because hundreds or thousands of other species are passing into oblivion every year.

Opinion, not fact. There is no proof of any mass extinction. No one has been able to produce any list of recently extinct species. In fact some species thought extinct have recently been found to still exist.

Traditional Chinese medicine is not only medically unsound, but environmentally destructive as it has lead to the endangering or extinction of countless species, some of which are more famous than others like rhino, tiger, bear, and shark species. I'm sorry, but eating some endangered animal is not going to make you live longer or your penis bigger.

I just thought I should point this out as it does relate to the article.

Sorry Lucreto I have to disagree with you in part, while we have no proof of "Mass" extinction we do have proof of declining animal species populations due to massive habitat loss. Mankind is pushing animals, insects, birds, and reptiles (this isnt even covering sea life loss due to pollution and other man made activities)

There is direct proof that man is pushing animals to the brink of extinction. While we might not have observable proof of mass extinctions it doesnttake much to determine that some species that we never knew about in places such as rain forests, or miniature ecosystems get wiped out due to clear cutting for farmland or development.

Some animals, birds, insect and reptiles can adapt but the vast majority of them cannot. So what happens when we take over all their habitat? Its only a matter of time before mankind will have its proof but unfortunately by that time it will be too late to do anything about it.

The problem with humanity it its reactive, its not proactive that is what will cause our own species (or at minimum human civilisation to become extinct one day.

How many "new" species have been discovered, cooked and eaten by uneducated, misinformed and starving people all over the world?

The earth and the natural process of things seems to creat envoirnments that will support life and life finds those inviornments to thrive in. (whichever way you look at it). My concern is that the earth does a great job of "self cleansing". Element potentially harmful to a life form are usually seperated from those life forms by miles rock, thousands of feet of ocean, or scattered across vast areas where the delution makes them less harmfull. Man is really great at finding those cancer causing and life destoying elements, concentrating them,and bringing them back into contact with plants and animals after the earth has worked so hard and long to seperate them to insure a species is not affected by them.

Such beautiful species, it would be a shame if they became extinct.

A few species we wish still existed;

• honest politicians
• long term thinking corporate leaders
• Doctors that believe in healing despite profit margins
• Holy men that are not perverted child molesters nor insane female abusing homicidal oppressive tyrants
• Teachers that want to teach conceptual knowledge (not just how to memorize what a book said)
• men and women that took marriage vows seriously
• people that cherished children
• patriots of the USA

I am sure there are more, many many more...

It's Darwin, stupid......makes no difference what the causes of change are....adapt and survive.....or not. That goes for us too. "Nature" really doesn't care. The processes of species evolution and extinction are going on all the time....we have much less impact on it than we think; thankfully. Lamenting over the "lost" species we don't even know exist? Only a fool goes down that road. Folks seem to think extinction is always bad....haven't seen any evidence that that is true, from Nature's viewpoint. Actually, I'd be happy to see the AIDS virus go extinct, and malaria, and smallpox, and .....we'll you get the point. If we could, we'd make them (and a lot of other adverse-to-humans life forms) extinct...but we can't. Why do you suppose that is? Nature simply is.....adapt and survive....or not.