Facts

• One quarter of all mammal species face extinction in 30 years. (United Nations, http://news.bbc.co.uk/)
• For every person in the world to reach present U.S. levels of consumption we would need 4 more planet Earths. (Wilson, p. 23)
• Humans currently consume 50% of the Earth's available freshwater, leaving what's left over for all other species. (World Wildlife Fund, http://www.panda.org/)
• Humans currently consume 40% of all organic matter produced by photosynthesis on Earth, leaving what's left over for all other species. (Wilson, p. 33)
• Every species of great ape on the Earth (gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, and bonobos) is in imminent danger of extiction. (United Nations, http://news.bbc.co.uk/)
• Every species of tiger on Earth is in imminent danger of extinction. (World Wildlife Fund, http://web.archive.org/)
• The number of lions left in Africa has fallen 90% in 20 years -- there are now only 20,000 remaining. (BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/)
• 90 percent of all large fishes have disappeared from the world's oceans in the past half century. (Nature Magazine, http://www.cnn.com/)
• Human population is expected to increase by at least 50% over the next 75 years. (United Nations Population Division, http://www.enviroliteracy.org/)

Links

• Crisis of Life: Biodiversity in Danger film
• American Museum of Natural History Press Release on Current Mass Extinction
• Fastest Mass Extinction in Earth's History (Worldwatch Report)
• SCIENTISTS AGREE WORLD FACES MASS EXTINCTION (CNN-- 2002)
• THE SIXTH EXTINCTION by Richard Leakey
• The Sixth Extinction (American Museum of Natural History)
• Wake-Up Call on Extinction Wave (British Royal Society-- 2003)
• GLOBAL EXTINCTION CRISIS CONFIRMED-- 2000 IUCN Red List Released
• Mass Extinction Pace Quickening: Red List 2000 Released (N.Y. Times)
• Headlong Drive to Mass Extinction-- 2002 Red List Released (Toronto Globe and Mail)
• 12,000 Threatened Species: "Only Scratching the Surface"-- 2003 Red List Released (U.K. Guardian)
• 15,589 Threatened Species: "Greatly Underestimates True Number"-- 2004 Red List Released (MSNBC)
• GLOBAL WARMING THREATENS EXTINCTION OF ONE MILLION SPECIES (Nature-- 2004)
• By 2050 Global Warming Will Doom A Million Species (National Geographic-- 2004)
• BRITISH STUDY CONFIRMS WORLDWIDE MASS EXTINCTION (Science-- 2004)
• Two Thirds of World's Species May Be Threatened (EurekAlert/AAAS-- 2005)
• 1998 Comprehensive Data on Plant Extinction Rate (N.Y. Times)
• 1996 Comprehensive Data on Animal Extinction Rate (IUCN)
• World's Biodiversity Becoming Extinct (International Botanical Congress)
• Scientists Warn of Mass Extinction (Environmental News Network)
• CNN Special Report on Mass Extinction
• Human Impact Triggers Massive Extinctions (Environment News Service)
• Unprecedented Extinction Rate (World Conservation Union)
• The Current Mass Extinction (Scientific American)
• Biodiversity Under Siege (Environmental News Network)
• World Facing Greatest Extinction Risk Since Dinosaurs Disappeared (IUCN)
• The Current Mass Extinction (PBS)
• Mammals, Fish, Birds, Amphibians, Reptiles Suffering Major Declines (Worldwatch)
• ONE QUARTER OF MAMMALS FACE EXTINCTION WITHIN 30 YEARS (United Nations-- BBC-- 2002)
• Global Picture of Death, Damage and Destruction (United Nations)
• Is Humanity Suicidal? by E.O. Wilson, Harvard University
• The Future of Life, E.O. Wilson, Harvard University
• Can Humans and Nature Coexist? (USA Today)
• The Weeds Shall Inherit the Earth, David Quammen (U.K. Independent)
• Life in the Balance, by Niles Eldredge, American Museum of Natural History
• The Sixth Extinction, by Niles Eldredge, American Museum of Natural History
• World Losing Battle Against Extinctions, Peter Raven, Washington University (BBC)
• The Biodiversity Crisis, Peter Raven, Washington University
• Earth in the Balance, Peter Raven, Washington University
• End of the Wild, Stephen M. Meyer, MIT
• Mass Extinction Foreseen, Michael Soule, U.C. Santa Cruz
• A Winnowing for Tomorrow's World, Norman Myers, Oxford University
• Planet Faces Mass Extinction, Richard Leakey
• Earth On Edge, Michael Novacek, American Museum of Natural History
• Repeating History at Our Peril, by David Suzuki, University of British Columbia
• Ecologists Predict Massive Extinction (University of Tennessee)
• The Dawn of a New Mesozoic Era (Wired News)
• Losing Strands in the Web of Life (Worldwatch Institute)
• Extinctions Past and Present (World Book)
• The Brink of the Homogocene (U.S. National Academy of Sciences)
• Rapid Species Loss a Global Danger (Science)
• A Field Guide to the Sixth Extinction (N.Y. Times)
• The Last of Their Kind (E/Environmental Magazine)
• Local Populations Going Extinct (Stanford University)
• Genetic Diversity Within Single Species As Crucial as Species Diversity (National Geographic)
• Study Jolts Views on Recovery from Extinctions (N.Y. Times)
• Recovery From Extinction Will Take Ten Million Years (ABC News)
• Global Warming Report Predicts Doom For Many Species (N.Y. Times)
• Global Warming Threatens Third of World Habitat (Reuters)
• Extinctions, Not Random, Threaten Thousands of Species (UniSci)
• Hunting To Extinction (U.S. News and World Report)
• What Will We Lose As More Species Vanish? (N.Y. Times)
• Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems (Science)
• Humans Now Using 40% Of All Resources Available For Life On Earth (U.K. Guardian)
• Ecological Overshoot: Humans Exceeding Earth's Capacity (U.S. National Academy of Sciences)
• World's Ecosystems on Verge of Sudden Collapse (Nature)
• The Current Biodiversity Extinction Event (U.S. National Academy of Sciences)
• The Biotic Crisis and the Future of Evolution (U.S. National Academy of Sciences)
• Biodiversity: Vanishing Before Our Eyes (Time Magazine)
• Time Nearly Up For Human Race (U.K. Guardian)
• Humans Moving Closer To Extinction, Study Says (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
• British Environment Minister: Humans Killing Planet (U.K. Guardian)
• Needed-- Two More Planets (WWF)
• Nature's Crown Jewels Face Ruin (U.K. Guardian)
• Extinction Crisis Even Worse Than Previously Thought (Science)
• Governments Sound Biodiversity Alarm (Convention on Biological Diversity)
• UN Paints Grim Global Picture (United Nations Environment Program--Outlook 2000)
• Earth on Edge of a Precipice: United Nations 2001 Population Report
• Earth Will Expire By 2050 (World Wildlife Fund)
• 2002 Biodiversity Summit a Complete Failure (U.K. Guardian)
• Condition Critical: U.N. Assessment of Earth's Ecosystems (Time)
• The Fraying Web of Life (United Nations)
• A History of Awareness of the Current Mass Extinction (Wild Earth Magazine)
• Why Are We Not Astonished? Ed Ayres (Worldwatch)

For more information on the extinction crisis, visit massextinction.net.