Sixth Mass Extinction

Species are vanishing 100–1000x faster than background rates — the Anthropocene crisis

Extinction Metrics

Background rate~0.1 E/MSY
Current rate
Species lost (est.)
Threatened species
Previous mass extinctions:
End Ordovician (−443Ma) Late Devonian (−372Ma) End Permian (−252Ma) 96% End Triassic (−201Ma) K-Pg Asteroid (−66Ma) 75%

Threat Drivers

Habitat Loss
70%
Overexploitation
40%
Invasive Species
25%
Climate Change
20%
Pollution
15%