loading page

Extinction is inevitable in the globalized world
  • Aishwarya Maheshwari
Aishwarya Maheshwari
Banda University of Agriculture and Technology

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile

Abstract

No abstract - Extinction is a natural process and every species on this planet has an expiration date except Homo sapiens because we are extending our expiry at the cost of other species (Brook and Alroy 2017, Pimm et al. 2014, Ceballos et al. 2015). In contrast, biodiversity loss is not natural but a global issue and it is not caused by the globalization, but as a result of human activities at the global level (Pimm et al. 2014, Ceballos et al. 2015). Eventually, severe biodiversity losses lead to anthropogenic die-off and extinction of naturally occurring species (Pimm et al. 2014, Ceballos et al. 2015, DeVos et al. 2014). The previous, current and future extinction rates have been estimated using a variety of measures and their estimation methodologies vary (to be between 100 to 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate) but they clearly demonstrate that current extinction rates are far above than the “background” rates (Brook and Alroy 2017, Pimm et al. 2014, Ceballos et al. 2015, DeVos et al. 2014, Lamkin and Miller 2016). Aggravatedly, population declines and extirpations are appearing to be more graving than species extinction and negative cascading consequences on ecosystem services (Ceballosa et al. 2020). Substantial information is available on over-exploitation of natural resources by humans in the globalization perspective (Ceballosa et al. 2020, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005, Groom et al. 2006, Ehrnfeld 2003) and we have lost an estimated US$ 4-20 trillion per year in ecosystem services owing to land-cover change and US$ 6-11 trillion per year from land degradation during 1997 to 2011 (OECD 2019). Such loss also leads to an increased disease risk (Gilbert 2010) and recent coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) might be one of the similar consequences.
23 Dec 2020Published in Human Dimensions of Wildlife on pages 1-2. 10.1080/10871209.2020.1860271