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The claim of impending mass extinction of the Earth's species is a never-ending drama

Species Extinction Not As Bad As Claimed



The claim of impending mass extinction of the Earth's species is a never-ending drama. In 1979, the biologist Norman Myers declared that a fifth of all species on the planet would be gone within two decades. In the 1990s, E. O., Wilson popularized various numbers ranging from 4,000 to 100,000 species a year being lost, and these numbers were repeated over and over again in environmental groups' fund raising literature, in congressional testimony and in speeches by Al Gore.
Yet, after more than 90 percent of the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil were cut down, mostly in the 19th century, the actual number of animal extinctions has been zero, even though many of the Brazilian species are highly endemic, found nowhere else in the world. (1) Add to this a recent paper in Science that says there are far fewer species than the up to 100 million some folks have estimated, and species extinction numbers are even less troublesome. Mark Costello and colleagues state that the number of species on earth today is 5 plus or minus 3 million, of which 1.5 million are named. Globally, around one percent of species are likely to be vanishing per decade rather than the five percent figure some experts have proposed. (2) Supporting this work is an earlier paper from Conservation International's Center for Applied Biodiversity Science. The study found that 46 percent of the earth's land area is still wilderness—a much higher percentage than is commonly supposed. (3) Coupled with the above, here's one that's even harder to believe. It it very likely that more people live in closer proximity to wild animals, birds, and trees in the eastern United States today than anywhere on the planet at any time in history. For nature lovers, this should be wonderful news. Unless, perhaps you are one of the more than four thousand drivers who hit a deer today, or your child's soccer field is carpeted with goose droppings, or coyotes are killing your pets, or the neighbor's cat has turned your bird feeder into a fast-food outlet, or wild turkeys have eaten your newly planted seed corn, or beavers have flooded your driveway, or bears are looting your garbage cans, reports Jim Sterba in his fascinating new book, Nature Wars. (4)

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Sterba adds, “Much of urban sprawl has plenty of trees, and its human residents offer better amenities than many creatures can find in the wild: plenty of food, water, hiding places, and protection from predators with guns. The result is a mix of people and wildlife that should be an animal lover's dream come true but often turns into a sprawl dweller's nightmare. Yet what is striking is how many wild species, large and small, have come back—from near extinction in some cases. They aren't all back, of course, but many animal and bird populations not only have been nursed back to health but have adjusted unexpectedly to life among people. This has happened nationwide, but it is especially true in the eastern third of the country, where the majority of Americans live. Along the seven hundred miles from Portland , Maine, to Norfolk, Virginia, this corridor contains one city after another, with overlapping suburbs, and exurbs, splotches of rural sprawl, and growing populations of wild creatures.” (4) Lastly, are you aware that dozens of incidents have been reported in California where exotic animals—lions, tigers, leopard, apes, alligators—were held illegally in people's backyards. According to state law, residents cannot import transport or possess restricted animals, like big cats, without a permit. Yet, at one time in the early 1980s, there were probably as many captive lions in the LA Basin as there were in Africa, said game warden Steven Callan. He adds, “The Department of Fish and Wildlife almost never issues permits anymore to private individuals for the possession of big cats or restricted animals, but a lot of people still have these animals illegally.” (5) References
  1. Stephen Budiansky, “The Teflon doomsayers,” budiansky.blogspot.com, September 26, 2010
  2. Mark J. Costello, Robert M. May and Nigel E. Stork, “Can we name the earth's species before they go extinct,?” Science, 339, 413, January 25, 2013
  3. Steven F. Hayward, “2011 Almanac of Environmental Trends,” (San Francisco, Pacific Research Institute, April 2011), 221
  4. Jim Sterba, Nature Wars, (New York, Crown Publishers, 2012)
  5. Tom Stienstra, “History of exotic animal horror stories,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 11, 2013


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Jack Dini -- Bio and Archives

Jack Dini is author of Challenging Environmental Mythology.  He has also written for American Council on Science and Health, Environment & Climate News, and Hawaii Reporter.


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