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Causes of Extinction of Species. Click the Read More link after each Snippet to read the complete article!

What is climate change? A really simple guide

Picture of the Earth

World temperatures are rising because of human activity, and climate change now threatens every aspect of human life.

Left unchecked, humans and nature will experience catastrophic warming, with worsening droughts, greater sea level rise and mass extinction of species.

We face a huge challenge, but there are potential solutions.

What is climate change?

Climate is the average weather in a place over many years. Climate change is a shift in those average conditions.

Extreme weather: What is it and how is it connected to climate change?

People around the globe are experiencing dramatic heatwaves, deadly floods and wildfires as a result of climate change.

The UK and parts of Europe have seen temperatures of above 40C this month, leading to transport disruption and water shortages.

Emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels have been trapping heat in the atmosphere since the start of the industrial era. This extra heat isn't evenly distributed across the globe, and bursts out extreme weather events.

Unless global emissions are cut, this cycle will continue.

Here are four ways climate change is changing the weather.

1. Hotter, longer heatwaves

To understand the impact of small changes to average temperatures, think of them as a bell curve with extreme cold and hot at either end, and the bulk of temperatures in the middle.

A small shift in the centre means more of the curve touches the extremes - and so heatwaves become more frequent and extreme.

2022 - We are living in the hottest period on earth in 125,000 years

The July 2022 heatwave is happening when average world temperatures have risen by just over 1C from their pre-industrial levels.

We are living in the hottest period in 125,000 years, according to the UN's climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

We know what is behind this - greenhouse gas emissions caused by our burning of fossil fuels like coal and gas. Concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere are at the highest level for two million years and rising, according to the IPCC.

If all the promises governments made at the UN COP26 climate conference in Glasgow last year are actually implemented then we're looking at temperatures rising by 2.4C by the end of the century.

But the bad news is that emissions of CO2 continue to increase. Without big cuts by 2030 we could see temperatures go even higher. Perhaps as much as 4C by the end of the century, scientists predict.

The illegal ivory trade threatening African Elephants

The illegal ivory trade threatening Africa's elephants

 

   
 

Nairobi's elephant orphanage cares for babies of mothers killed by poachers.

Despite a 23-year ban on international trade in ivory, elephants continue to be shot for their prized tusks, with much of the material ending up on sale in China. The very future of the African elephant, the largest land animal on Earth, could be at risk. Last year saw the highest number of large seizures of illegal ivory for more than two decades. From Kenya to Zambia, African law-enforcement and conservation authorities are facing a continuing battle with the poachers. And it is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where governance is at its weakest, that the elephant population is being hit hardest, with thousands of elephants killed each year. Conservationists have recorded steep declines in population and fear fewer than 20,000 of the region's forest elephants remain in the Congo basin.  

Human Government

Human Government, through its laws, and its enforcement of them, is both a major cause of and a potential solution to the Extinction of Species. Human Government needs to change its laws, and enforce them. We can save species in the short term by creating and enlargening Nature Reserves and Protected areas and legislating against killing any species within those protected aeras, and enforcing that legislation absolutely. After all Extinction is Forever! 

This is only a short term "solution", as it does not address Human Overpopulation, Human Overdevelopment and Human Pollution - the major causes of decline and loss and extinction of species and habitat.  Only Humans together can make the necessary laws to preserve Nature - which is what must be done to ensure our own survival as well as the survival of our Human Civilization.

Humanity depends on Nature - on habitat for food availablity, pollution control, water purification, and agriculture; on other species for food availability, pollution control and pollination; on the atmospheric and oceanic currents for temperature control and freshwater generation and distribution; on atmosphic layers to protect us from cosmic radiation; and much, much more.

We could never afford to do what Nature does for us - we don't have the capacity or ability, and it would cost us thousands or millions times more than the total wealth of the planet - if we could.

Furthermore, human engineering, rather than replacing Nature, only causes more pollution, which makes the situation worse.

Human Dependency on Nature

Humanity depends on Nature - on habitat for food availablity, pollution control, water purification, and agriculture; on other species for food availability, pollution control and pollination; on the atmospheric and oceanic currents for temperature control and freshwater generation and distribution; on atmosphic layers to protect us from cosmic radiation; and much, much more.

We could never afford to do what Nature does for us - we don't have the capacity or ability, and it would cost us thousands or millions times more than the total wealth of the planet - if we could.

Furthermore, human engineering, rather than replacing Nature, only causes more pollution, which makes the situation worse.

Neither can we find another planet in Space to go live on. We do not know of any other habitable planets, and we do not have the technology to get us there, when we do. Furthermore, this "option" will only be available for a very select few and will be horribly expensive, and won't come before the 22nd century, most likely. Planet Earth and our Human civilization won't survive that long unless we change the way we live dramatically.

The only answer for our Human survival is to reduce and limit our numbers, reduce and limit our development and destruction of the natural world, and reduce and limit our types and amounts of pollution. That is the only way we can save Nature, which we are part of, and upon which we depend absolutely.

Human Pollution

Human Pollution is killing the natural world and is a major cause of Extinction of Species. Human Pollution is directly related to Human Overpopulation and Human Overdevelopment. There are too many people on the planet for Nature to be able to sustainably heal itself and handle Human Pollution.

Endangered Humans

Groups, Populations and Tribes of Humans are at risk of Extinction - and for the same major causes as animals: Human overpopulation, overdevelopment, pollution, global warming, and loss, decline and extinction of other species and habitat that Humans depend on for food, pollination, freshwater, rain and water purification, and temperature control.

Causes

Causes of Extinction include hunting, over-fishing, habitat loss, over-population, climate change, global warming, pollution and more.

Preserving the genetic diversity of ancient trees

Even as we discover the incredible benefits of the world's most ancient trees, we are losing them to climate change.

In 2005, several of the centuries-old ponderosa pine trees on my 15 acres (0.06 sq km) of forest in the northern Rocky Mountains in Montana suddenly died. I soon discovered they were being brought down by mountain pine beetles, pernicious killers the size of the eraser on a pencil that burrow into the tree.

The next year the number of dying trees grew exponentially. I felt powerless and grief-stricken as I saw these giant, sky-scraping trees fading all around me, realising there was nothing I could do to stop it.

While the native bugs were the proximate cause, the underlying reason for the unprecedented mortality in my home state and throughout the Rockies was that winters had stopped getting really cold. When I first moved to Montana in the late 1970s, temperatures of -34C (-30F) or even below -40C (-40F) were common in winter, sometimes for weeks at a time. The coldest temperature on record in Montana is –57C (-70F). These days wintertime minimum temperatures rarely get below -18C (0F) or so. If they do, it is usually just for a day or two. That's not nearly cold enough to kill pine beetles, which make their own natural antifreeze.

20% of Reptiles Threatened - 2022

One in five reptiles is threatened with extinction, according to the first comprehensive assessment of more than 10,000 species across the world.

Scientists are calling for urgent conservation action for crocodiles and turtles, which are in a particularly dire situation.

They say reptiles have long been overlooked in conservation, because they are seen as less charismatic than "furry and feathery" creatures.

So far, 31 species have gone extinct.

The study, published in Nature, took more than 15 years to complete, because of problems getting funding for the work.

"Reptiles to many people are not charismatic and there's been a lot more focus on more furry, feathery species of vertebrates for conservation," said Dr Bruce Young of the international nature organisation, NatureServe.

- The venomous king cobra is in decline because of deforestation and human persecution

- Geckos are vanishing in parts of the world due to wildlife trade

- The mugger crocodile: Threatened by habitat destruction and human conflict

- Jamaican iguana: Reptiles on islands face risks from invasive species and sea level rise

Despite their low publicity profile, the cold-blooded vertebrates play an essential role in the balance of life.

"Reptiles are good for people because they help control pests such as insects and rodents," said Prof Blair Hedges of Temple University in Philadelphia, US.

Chemicals

Chemical pollution and waste is now found everywhere on Earth - from the Artic to the Antartic. From Mount Everest to the bottom of the seas. Chemical pollution ends up in the food chain, and in our drinking water. Chemical pollution kills and damages myriad species and forms of life, and it is believed to be a cause of cancer in humans.

Toxic 'forever chemicals' found in British otters

Toxic "forever chemicals" used in non-stick saucepans and food packaging have been found in otters across England and Wales, according to a study.

The substances, called PFASs, are also used in waterproof clothing, stain resistant products and fire retardants.

The chemicals are linked to pregnancy complications, liver disease, cancer and other illnesses.

Scientists say concentrations of these compounds in otters are a guide to levels of pollution in the environment.

The substances can leach out from products, getting into drains and sewage treatment works - from which they can then escape and contaminate the environment more widely.

PFAS substances are present in farmland sludge, which can wash from fields into rivers. Factories and landfill sites are another source for the chemicals.

Denmark recently banned their use in food packaging paper.

Used since the late 1940s, PFAS chemicals - which are divided into compounds called perfluoroalkyls and polyfluoroalkyls - help to make products water, grease and stain resistant.

They are known as "forever chemicals" because they don't break down easily in the environment. They contaminate fish, which can then be ingested by animals and humans. PFAS compounds can also get directly into drinking water.

Plastics

Plastic waste is now found everywhere on Earth - from the Artic to the Antartic. From Mount Everest to the bottom of the seas. Plastic pollution ends up in the food chain, and in our drinking water. Plastic pollution kills and damages myriad species and forms of life.

Overdevelopment = Habitat Loss

Human overpopulation leads to overdevelopment of the natural world. Human overdevelopment of the natural world causes terrible damage to Nature, the Earth and the environment. It causes habitat loss, which causes all forms of life to become extinct - plants, animals, insects, as well as human populations. This habitat loss, along with pollution causes critical losses of genetic biodiversity and threatens our very survival on planet earth.

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Causes

Causes of Extinction include hunting, over-fishing, habitat loss, over-population, climate change, global warming, pollution and more.

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