You'll never, ever see any of these species

Extinction is coming.

Though, in large part, it already has. On Monday, the United Nation's Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) published an exhaustive report on the planet's accelerating extinction rate. The report — compiled over three years by 145 scientific authors with input from over 300 more — found that the modern extinction rate is the highest it's been in human history, and is "tens to hundreds of times" higher than the normal rate of extinction over the last 10 million years.

The toll from destroyed wilderness, exploiting critters for their horns and furs, accelerated climate change, and widespread pollution is easily apparent. Each year, scientists announce species that are gone forever. For an idea of just how grim Earth's modern day human-caused extinction crisis already is, the report provided some historical perspective: Read more...

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