Draft:Holocene Extinction



The Holocene Extinction, also known as the Sixth extinction or the Anthropocene extinction, is a man-made mass extinction, with the loss of a projected 1 million+ species (great job, humanity).

The exact time when the extinction started is currently unknown, but anthropologists and other researchers presume it may have likely started as soon as the first humans appeared around about 500,000 years ago to 200,000 years ago. The first victims of the extinction wave were most likely African megafauna that could not adapt to the relentless hunting strategy of the first humans (our ancestors).

Previously, on Planet Earth...
As indicated by one of its nicknames, the sixth extinction, this mass crisis/event is only the sixth disaster to happen on our planet. Simply put, a mass extinction is an event in which mass amount of species (predominantly animals) die off. The cause can vary depending on the extinction being discussed.

Previous five mass extinction occurred prior, with the last one being the most famous (the K-T Extinction, aka the extinction of the dinosaurs) among the general public. The other four are the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, the Late Devonian extinction, the Late Ordovician extinction, and the Permian-Triassic extinction, which was much worse in scale than the other extinctions, including the one that killed the non-avian dinosaurs.

How it all started
Scientists have theorized that the first wave of extinction occurred as soon as humans appeared and learned how to use tools to kill everything around them. As humans began migrating out of Africa, even more waves of extinction happened, with few megafaunal species outside of Africa surviving. This is because the fauna within Africa evolved alongside us and learned to fear us. However, even they cannot avoid extinction any longer, as rapid human activity on the continent since the Industrial Revolution has kicked the extinction into overdrive (not to mention the menagerie of megafauna that still survived on other continents which share the same fate).

Even before the industrial revolution, hunting and poaching posed (and still poses) a major threat to many at risk species (such as rhinos, elephants, tigers, gorillas, etc.) by reducing the gene pool, and leading to massive inbreeding which reduces the survival of the individual populations and eventually the entire species.

Where it's going
Environmental scientists have shown studies proving that the extinction is going into full swing as of 2022 and that the planet is headed for an ecological crisis/disaster. One way this'll affect us is that the lack of biodiversity threatens our food source. Invertebrates are especially vital for ecosystem function, from clams to centipedes. One common example is how insects aid in plant survival via pollination (mostly butterflies and bees, but less commonly beetles, wasps, and moths) are killed en masse via chemical pollution and changing climates. Plankton and soil mesofauna/microfauna are also threatened by human activity, as toxic materials that leak into their environments spell disastrous results for them.

Humans will be directly and indirectly affected in a variety of ways, with one example being our health affected from the disappearance of buffer species. These species are (often) animals preferred by other organisms such as pests and parasites (e.g. ticks on deer), which keeps symbiosis in check and keeps people safe from such pests and parasites. However, because we are driving these species to extinction, this leads to those pest and parasite organisms to spread in various ways and find new hosts (which can and will include humans), thus posing a direct threat to public health and the well being of the general public.

Tactics to fight the extinction:
Despite all the bad news (not to mention the possible apocalyptic future we face from this extinction crisis), there are ways we can mitigate the effects of this extinction, and here are a few simple methods to ensure that you can do your part to help the environment:
 * Veganism
 * Growing gardens/Planting trees
 * Environmental Conservation
 * Limiting or ending hunting of threatened game animals.
 * Cleaning freshwater and saltwater systems
 * Removal of trash from natural areas and recycling
 * Voluntary Childlessness
 * Government enforced population control (very controversial)
 * Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollution
 * Eliminate chemical pollution by not using harmful pesticides and fertilizers