The Sixth Mass Extinction: Can Humans Survive? 

 Will humans be able to pull through the ramifications of The Holocene Extinctions?

The term “Holocene” was proposed by Gervais in 1869 and was formally submitted to the International Geological Congress in 1885 later on endorsed on Stratigraphic nomenclature in 1969 (JQS,2009). Human interventions have contributed momentously in endangering the Earth’s flora and fauna, vanishing seventy-five to more than ninety percent of all species on earth in a geological eyeblink over the last 500 million years. Leading to the Holocene Extinction marking an epoch at the last major ice age. In the 4.5 billon years on our planet, countless species have risen and fallen though, present extinction rates are substantial being thousands of times greater than natural rates (Loman,2021), generating the sixth extinction crisis. This report will be scrutinizing on the impacts of the ongoing mass extinction or at least an emergent one and the influence it poses on human beings today globally.

According to recent studies the scale and impacts of Anthropocene defaunation and biodiversity losses on ecological functions are commensurate with other harmful global changes, such as global warming and burgeoning worldwide pollution (Hooper et al., 2012). The extant mass extinction is distinct from all previous extinctions, being driven by sole species rather than an earthly or galactic physical process. The stability of ecosystems and environmental regulation relies solely on biodiversity. However, extinction, catastrophic human activities, endangerment of species, and the escalating climate crisis are promoting the loss of biodiversity, which poses extensive consequences for both human species and the environment. Countries such as Australia are accountable for over half of the world’s ecosystem damage, the 2019 bushfire proved to be a red light for us to get a sober view of this disaster.

The Speciation and species extinction are a biotic occurrence that have molded the earths diversity and it’s the tree of being (Barraclough & Nee, 2001). However, it is simple for us to overlook that the continued extinction of species and widespread ecological damage is unsustainable for human survival. (Witchalls,2021). Question arises if we could put brakes to this colossal loss of life or is man doomed to become a casualty of its own environmental heedlessness?

The argument over whether the megafaunal extinctions had an environmental or human cause has muddled the issue while more plausibly, the prehistoric megafaunal extinctions that mark the beginning of the defaunation of Earth’s ecosystems were brought on by multifarious subsidiary plus direct repercussions of fluctuating environmental settings and homo sapiens.

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Over the last 50 years, more natural resources have been consumed than in all previous history (EPA, 2009), the increasing demand forsustenance, land, energy and fiber has put a dear figure on planetary systems (Steffen et al. ,2015). Agrarian economies have flourished at the expense of wildlife, aquafarming and animal husbandry are jeopardizing an overwhelming 7,522 breeds, from which 2,562 are grievously endangered depleting the populations at much higher rates (ecologist,2019). Human activity also has an impact on genetic variety; there are several examples of this diversity impairment as a result of crop and animal breeding, as well as the decrease in the population of wild species (Oliver,2018). Critical plant species are being exterminated at an alarming rate, 600 plant species have disappeared in the last 250 years, 500 times more quickly than they would have without human interference. Plant extinctions endanger other organisms, ecosystems and human well-being, and must be perceived for effective conservation planning. Along that expeditious urbanization and infrastructural expansions in coastal areas have encroached on natural habitats and altered the ecosystem functions, with for example changes in dietary distribution and currents (IAEA, 2018). The IUCN Red List has collated our understanding of the species that have gone extinct since 1500, however the information is taxonomically biased and far from comprehensive. According to Barnosky, if humans act promptly towards safeguarding species that are dying out and their ecosystems, global extinction can be avoided or stalled for thousands of years (Gibbons,2011).

On mutative timescales biodiversity has been patched up by evolution of new species that replace the extinct species. There are diverse instances of how humans have influenced the speciation process, even if we’re unsure of how humans affect the pace of speciation. The systems that underlie these impacts can be classified as human-altered niches, human-modified selection and human-modified interaction (Otto,2018). Contradistinction of diversifications of origins between rehabilitation from mass extinctions as opposed to during background intermissions are pertinent to long-lasting evolutionary upshots. Hence hypothetically the vicissitudes of macroevolutionary systems amongst mass extinctions and background intermissions are not confined to extinction alone (Monarrez et al., 2021). However, further research is required to assess if the current level of extinctions is the precursor of a mass extinction or simply reflect natural background levels of species substitute.

Several species at the moment, both endangered and evolutionary distinguished have lost families during the Holocene. Moreover, as humans remold natural habitats, the dissemination of fungal diseases is hastening, founding new prospects for evolution (Fisher et al.,2012). Our advancements are so closely linked with destruction that we often fail to see how anomalous the world we’ve create has turned out to be (Brannen,2017). According to research done in 1964 by Coe and Flannery, conclusions about the evolution of culture and the adaptation of historical human populations to environmental changes can be drawn by combining studies of local to regional scale changes in vegetation composition and climate during the mid to late Holocene.

Moreover, case studies demonstrate how different responses were taken by human populations to environmental changes controlled by historical, social, and biological factors. (PNAS,2023).We might obliquely mutate the ecological group dynamics via transforming the systems through which other beings dominate and interrelate with one another as well as the genus communities with which we interact directly (Pires et al., 2015). Whereas tracking interaction of species along their sequels for ecosystem health will be a significant challenge (Donlan et al.,2006), while many other studies provide us reasons for optimism.

Let us now consider the perspective “Humans will be able to mitigate the impacts of the Holocene Extinctions”.

According to an article by Robert H. Cowie“The Sixth Mass Extinction: fact, fiction or speculation?”, from the Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, only humans have the capacity to maneuver the biosphere into its influence.Cowie highlights, humans are not merely evolving in response to extrinsic factors, rather we are the solitary species possessing deliberate choice regarding the future and biodiversity of the planet (Cowei, 2022) giving hope for human activities being able to reverse the trend, currently employed with the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Robert H. Cowie is at the Pacific Biosciences Research Center. He specializes in systematics, ecology, and evolutionary biology research. Hence, it’s an authentic source.

We can allow nature to revitalize through focusing on systematic conservation planning on both global and regional scales. It may be possible with a trend that species become tremendously persistent and life redeems after the major extinctions if humans move towards a more sustainable lifestyle and development (Beura,2019).

Stanford university’s department of biological sciences published the article “Conservation Planning for Ecosystems Services” by Kai M. A. Chan in which he states the importance of ecosystem services. There have been various aggrandizements in social capacities, economic valuations and institutional designs in wildlife services. Which provide a strong opportunity for safeguarding the environment inviting a drastic turn and expanding of present conversation goals. The Stanford university is a renowned university for researches in California and thus the points that the article provides are credible and the source is reliable.

Substantial amount of significance is allocated by Pakistan’s government to its biodiversity. According to the article “Biodiversity Conservation in Pakistan” published by The Pakistan Journal of Forestry, in 1992 Pakistani government espoused and primed a national conservation strategy (NCS) which the World Bank took up as a National Environmental action plan. The plan predominantly aimed at sustainable developments, ameliorated regulations in the utilization and conservation of natural assets. Moreover, development of biodiversity policing programs as well as instituting of database foundations at federal and district levels (Anwar et al.,2008). As this was an official document this source has high credibility.

Conversely, environmental degradation has not only emanated local problems, that being the case ecosystem restoration will require global teamwork.

An article published in October 2021 by Michel Hannah, brought light to the fact that the rates of specie extinctions do not fully elucidate this matter. Totaling the species that the Red List registers as vulnerable to extinction and the list of already extinct species will allow us to fully assess the scope of the situation. The scene is altered when we do. Combined, the percentage of extinct or threatened wildlife increases from 1.46% to 23.48%, the number of amphibians increases to 33.56%, the percentage of insects increases to 19.23%, and the percentage of corals increases to 26.85%. The factual scope of the threat to the planet’s ecology is displayed by these figures (Hannah,2021).

According to a sweeping new report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization updated on 21 September 2023, China’s size, or over 10 million km2, was declared as protected sites by UNESCO in 2018. These conservation tools have implemented tactics and policies that promote the larger goals of sustainable development while working to save these locations. (UNESCO,2023). Projects like these would contribute immensely in mitigation of the ramifications of the Holocene extinction. UNESCO is a well-known specialized organization aimed at promoting world peace and protection for communities formed in 1945, and hence the source is reliable

In view of my report on the sixth mass extinction and the knowledge I have acquired from articles and other researches, I can conclude to that the sixth mass extinction isn’t something we can put a stop to but rather slow down the draw backs of the impacts it poses on humankind, mitigating them and delaying them for years to come .However, my report entirely stands upon provided studies that were carried out by previous researchers and although this major crisis calls for instantaneous action, we humans fail to see the vehemence of this catastrophe and inundate ourselves with the contemporary, modern societies diverting our vigilance from the paramount plight at hand to subjects such as nanotechnologies, gender equality and AI advancements. I wasn’t able to be more particular about the extinctions observed and their ramifications in my report and was rather more equivocal due to the word limit alongside the paucity of my experience in the research field. Extinctions are most certainly a topic of extensive studies and enable us to carry out more comprehensive researches.

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This Article is Contributed By: Eman Asad Khan