Excerpt #111 from my book, Religion, An Obstacle to Human Progress
Scientists believe that there have been a total of six major extinction events throughout the history of the Earth: five caused by natural disasters long ago in the Earth’s history and a sixth ongoing
today—caused by humans.
Although the extinction of various species is a natural phenomenon, the rate of extinction occurring in today’s world is exceptional.
Harvard’s Dr. E. O. Wilson calculated that we lose approximately 50,000 species per year, or 140 species a day, to extinction.
This extinction rate is at least 1,000 times higher than the ‘background rate of extinction,’ the rate at which plants and animals typically go extinct during periods when there is no extinction spasm taking place.
THE MODERN AGE HAS PRODUCED THE GREATEST DESTRUCTION OF OTHER FORMS OF LIFE THAT THE WORLD HAS SEEN IN 250 MILLION YEARS.
A CRISIS IS LIFE’S WAY OF TELLING US IT’S TIME FOR A CHANGE.