Biologist warn of early stages of Earth's sixth mass extinction event

[Kosh]

Have you ever found it necessary to use actual knowledge to form your opinions?

The irony of those comments from the AGW cult..

 

[Crick]

boy they are laying the fearmongering on thick

how long have we been hearing the earth is going end?

remember when it was Globull cooling ?

Do you have anything substantive to add to this conversation? Do you know anything about this topic?

 

[Crick]

How topical

Fact or Fiction?: The Sixth Mass Extinction Can Be Stopped - Scientific American

 

[Old Rocks]

boy they are laying the fearmongering on thick

how long have we been hearing the earth is going end?

remember when it was Globull cooling ?

Hey Staph, no, and neither do you. You see there was never a scientific consensus on global cooling, only the fear that the increase in manmade areosols could lead to cooling, and for every paper that stated that, six stated that the problem was more likely to be global warming.

What 1970s science said about global cooling

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Prior to Manmade Global Warming, no species ever went extinct

 

[cutter]

Prior to Manmade Global Warming, no species ever went extinct

I beg to differ with you........
T-Rex

 

[jc456]

I find the rapid rate of acidification most alarming. I can see a marine mass extinction taking place in my children's lifetime.

In the past, atmospheric CO2 (which causes ocean acidification) has risen and fallen, but always at a far, far slower rate than it has done today. As the pH of the world's water fell, the weathering of carbonate minerals (ex: CaCO3) buffered the process leading to much dampened pH responses. Today's rate of atmospheric CO2 increase is ten times faster than that observed in past, acid-based, mass marine extinctions. The weathering process will have no opportunity to keep this change in check. The effect on the oceans will likely be completely unprecedented in a record that already includes - as you noted - several mass extinctions.

You say we can do nothing about it. Unfortunately, you base that opinion on the mistaken and unsupportable belief that humans had nothing to do with producing the current situation. In face, we are almost totally responsible and we DO have it within our powers to remedy the situation.

yo, yo, Crick, Dude, still waiting for that experiment showing 120 PPM of CO2 drives temperature and causes added PH. dude here we go round the malberry bush again. I see you're back at square 1. Didn't learn much eh?

 

[jc456]

boy they are laying the fearmongering on thick

how long have we been hearing the earth is going end?

remember when it was Globull cooling ?

Hey Staph, no, and neither do you. You see there was never a scientific consensus on global cooling, only the fear that the increase in manmade areosols could lead to cooling, and for every paper that stated that, six stated that the problem was more likely to be global warming.

What 1970s science said about global cooling

Holy crap rocks, I think you just dropped a load.

 

[Crick]

Prior to Manmade Global Warming, no species ever went extinct

Did you find it absolutely necessary to misstate what has been expressed here before producing a criticism? There's a name for that, but the point is that it is an invalid argument, it is dishonest and dishonorable and indicates that you lack real support from whatever IS your position.

You folks love to pull up the historical record. Well the historical record tells us about five particularly noteworthy 'die-offs'. Here, read and learn something Frank:

An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the amount of life on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of macroscopic life. It occurs when the rate of extinction increases with respect to the rate of speciation. Because the majority of diversity and biomass on Earth is microbial, and thus difficult to measure, recorded extinction events affect the easily observed, biologically complex component of the biosphere rather than the total diversity and abundance of life.[1]

Over 98% of documented species are now extinct,[2] but extinction occurs at an uneven rate. Based on the fossil record, the background rate of extinctions on Earth is about two to five taxonomic families of marine invertebrates and vertebrates every million years. Marine fossils are mostly used to measure extinction rates because of their superior fossil record and stratigraphic range compared to land organisms.

Since life began on Earth, several major mass extinctions have significantly exceeded the background extinction rate. The most recent, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago (Ma), was a large-scale mass extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically short period of time. In the past 540 million years there have been five major events when over 50% of animal species died. Mass extinctions seem to be a Phanerozoic phenomenon, with extinction rates low before large complex organisms arose.[3]

Estimates of the number of major mass extinctions in the last 540 million years range from as few as five to more than twenty. These differences stem from the threshold chosen for describing an extinction event as "major", and the data chosen to measure past diversity.

The blue graph shows the apparent percentage (not the absolute number) of marine animal genera becoming extinct during any given time interval. It does not represent all marine species, just those that are readily fossilized. The labels of the "Big Five" extinction events are clickable hyperlinks; see Extinction event for more details.

[[The image links did not come across, of course, so here is a quick rundown on the five, prior mass extinctions.]]

1. Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (End Cretaceous, K-T extinction, or K-Pg extinction): 66 Ma at the Cretaceous.Maastrichtian-Paleogene.Danian transition interval.[5] The K–T event is now officially called the Cretaceous–Paleogene (or K–Pg) extinction event in place of Cretaceous-Tertiary. About 17% of all families, 50% of all genera[6] and 75% of all species became extinct.[7] In the seas it reduced the percentage of sessile animals to about 33%. All non-avian dinosaurs became extinct during that time.[8] The boundary event was severe with a significant amount of variability in the rate of extinction between and among different clades. Mammals and birds emerged as dominant land vertebrates in the age of new life.

2. Triassic–Jurassic extinction event (End Triassic): 200 Ma at the Triassic-Jurassic transition. About 23% of all families, 48% of all genera (20% of marine families and 55% of marine genera) and 70% to 75% of all species went extinct.[6] Most non-dinosaurian archosaurs, most therapsids, and most of the large amphibians were eliminated, leaving dinosaurs with little terrestrial competition. Non-dinosaurian archosaurs continued to dominate aquatic environments, while non-archosaurian diapsids continued to dominate marine environments. The Temnospondyl lineage of large amphibians also survived until the Cretaceous in Australia (e.g., Koolasuchus).

3. Permian–Triassic extinction event (End Permian): 251 Ma at the Permian-Triassic transition. Earth's largest extinction killed 57% of all families, 83% of all genera and 90% to 96% of all species[6] (53% of marine families, 84% of marine genera, about 96% of all marine species and an estimated 70% of land species, including insects).[9] The evidence of plants is less clear, but new taxa became dominant after the extinction.[10] The "Great Dying" had enormous evolutionary significance: on land, it ended the primacy of mammal-like reptiles. The recovery of vertebrates took 30 million years,[11] but the vacant niches created the opportunity for archosaurs to become ascendant. In the seas, the percentage of animals that were sessile dropped from 67% to 50%. The whole late Permian was a difficult time for at least marine life, even before the "Great Dying".

4. Late Devonian extinction: 375–360 Ma near the Devonian-Carboniferous transition. At the end of the Frasnian Age in the later part(s) of the Devonian Period, a prolonged series of extinctions eliminated about 19% of all families, 50% of all genera[6] and 70% of all species.[citation needed] This extinction event lasted perhaps as long as 20 Ma, and there is evidence for a series of extinction pulses within this period.

5. Ordovician–Silurian extinction event (End Ordovician or O-S): 450–440 Ma at the Ordovician-Silurian transition. Two events occurred that killed off 27% of all families, 57% of all genera and 60% to 70% of all species.[6] Together they are ranked by many scientists as the second largest of the five major extinctions in Earth's history in terms of percentage of genera that went extinct.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_extinctions

 

[jc456]

Prior to Manmade Global Warming, no species ever went extinct

Did you find it absolutely necessary to misstate what has been expressed here before producing a criticism? There's a name for that, but the point is that it is an invalid argument, it is dishonest and dishonorable and indicates that you lack real support from whatever IS your position.

You folks love to pull up the historical record. Well the historical record tells us about five particularly noteworthy 'die-offs'. Here, read and learn something Frank:

An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the amount of life on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of macroscopic life. It occurs when the rate of extinction increases with respect to the rate of speciation. Because the majority of diversity and biomass on Earth is microbial, and thus difficult to measure, recorded extinction events affect the easily observed, biologically complex component of the biosphere rather than the total diversity and abundance of life.[1]

Over 98% of documented species are now extinct,[2] but extinction occurs at an uneven rate. Based on the fossil record, the background rate of extinctions on Earth is about two to five taxonomic families of marine invertebrates and vertebrates every million years. Marine fossils are mostly used to measure extinction rates because of their superior fossil record and stratigraphic range compared to land organisms.

Since life began on Earth, several major mass extinctions have significantly exceeded the background extinction rate. The most recent, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago (Ma), was a large-scale mass extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically short period of time. In the past 540 million years there have been five major events when over 50% of animal species died. Mass extinctions seem to be a Phanerozoic phenomenon, with extinction rates low before large complex organisms arose.[3]

Estimates of the number of major mass extinctions in the last 540 million years range from as few as five to more than twenty. These differences stem from the threshold chosen for describing an extinction event as "major", and the data chosen to measure past diversity.

The blue graph shows the apparent percentage (not the absolute number) of marine animal genera becoming extinct during any given time interval. It does not represent all marine species, just those that are readily fossilized. The labels of the "Big Five" extinction events are clickable hyperlinks; see Extinction event for more details.

[[The image links did not come across, of course, so here is a quick rundown on the five, prior mass extinctions.]]

1. Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (End Cretaceous, K-T extinction, or K-Pg extinction): 66 Ma at the Cretaceous.Maastrichtian-Paleogene.Danian transition interval.[5] The K–T event is now officially called the Cretaceous–Paleogene (or K–Pg) extinction event in place of Cretaceous-Tertiary. About 17% of all families, 50% of all genera[6] and 75% of all species became extinct.[7] In the seas it reduced the percentage of sessile animals to about 33%. All non-avian dinosaurs became extinct during that time.[8] The boundary event was severe with a significant amount of variability in the rate of extinction between and among different clades. Mammals and birds emerged as dominant land vertebrates in the age of new life.

2. Triassic–Jurassic extinction event (End Triassic): 200 Ma at the Triassic-Jurassic transition. About 23% of all families, 48% of all genera (20% of marine families and 55% of marine genera) and 70% to 75% of all species went extinct.[6] Most non-dinosaurian archosaurs, most therapsids, and most of the large amphibians were eliminated, leaving dinosaurs with little terrestrial competition. Non-dinosaurian archosaurs continued to dominate aquatic environments, while non-archosaurian diapsids continued to dominate marine environments. The Temnospondyl lineage of large amphibians also survived until the Cretaceous in Australia (e.g., Koolasuchus).

3. Permian–Triassic extinction event (End Permian): 251 Ma at the Permian-Triassic transition. Earth's largest extinction killed 57% of all families, 83% of all genera and 90% to 96% of all species[6] (53% of marine families, 84% of marine genera, about 96% of all marine species and an estimated 70% of land species, including insects).[9] The evidence of plants is less clear, but new taxa became dominant after the extinction.[10] The "Great Dying" had enormous evolutionary significance: on land, it ended the primacy of mammal-like reptiles. The recovery of vertebrates took 30 million years,[11] but the vacant niches created the opportunity for archosaurs to become ascendant. In the seas, the percentage of animals that were sessile dropped from 67% to 50%. The whole late Permian was a difficult time for at least marine life, even before the "Great Dying".

4. Late Devonian extinction: 375–360 Ma near the Devonian-Carboniferous transition. At the end of the Frasnian Age in the later part(s) of the Devonian Period, a prolonged series of extinctions eliminated about 19% of all families, 50% of all genera[6] and 70% of all species.[citation needed] This extinction event lasted perhaps as long as 20 Ma, and there is evidence for a series of extinction pulses within this period.

5. Ordovician–Silurian extinction event (End Ordovician or O-S): 450–440 Ma at the Ordovician-Silurian transition. Two events occurred that killed off 27% of all families, 57% of all genera and 60% to 70% of all species.[6] Together they are ranked by many scientists as the second largest of the five major extinctions in Earth's history in terms of percentage of genera that went extinct.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_extinctions

Your point?

 

[Kosh]

Prior to Manmade Global Warming, no species ever went extinct

Did you find it absolutely necessary to misstate what has been expressed here before producing a criticism? There's a name for that, but the point is that it is an invalid argument, it is dishonest and dishonorable and indicates that you lack real support from whatever IS your position.

You folks love to pull up the historical record. Well the historical record tells us about five particularly noteworthy 'die-offs'. Here, read and learn something Frank:

An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the amount of life on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of macroscopic life. It occurs when the rate of extinction increases with respect to the rate of speciation. Because the majority of diversity and biomass on Earth is microbial, and thus difficult to measure, recorded extinction events affect the easily observed, biologically complex component of the biosphere rather than the total diversity and abundance of life.[1]

Over 98% of documented species are now extinct,[2] but extinction occurs at an uneven rate. Based on the fossil record, the background rate of extinctions on Earth is about two to five taxonomic families of marine invertebrates and vertebrates every million years. Marine fossils are mostly used to measure extinction rates because of their superior fossil record and stratigraphic range compared to land organisms.

Since life began on Earth, several major mass extinctions have significantly exceeded the background extinction rate. The most recent, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago (Ma), was a large-scale mass extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically short period of time. In the past 540 million years there have been five major events when over 50% of animal species died. Mass extinctions seem to be a Phanerozoic phenomenon, with extinction rates low before large complex organisms arose.[3]

Estimates of the number of major mass extinctions in the last 540 million years range from as few as five to more than twenty. These differences stem from the threshold chosen for describing an extinction event as "major", and the data chosen to measure past diversity.

The blue graph shows the apparent percentage (not the absolute number) of marine animal genera becoming extinct during any given time interval. It does not represent all marine species, just those that are readily fossilized. The labels of the "Big Five" extinction events are clickable hyperlinks; see Extinction event for more details.

[[The image links did not come across, of course, so here is a quick rundown on the five, prior mass extinctions.]]

1. Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (End Cretaceous, K-T extinction, or K-Pg extinction): 66 Ma at the Cretaceous.Maastrichtian-Paleogene.Danian transition interval.[5] The K–T event is now officially called the Cretaceous–Paleogene (or K–Pg) extinction event in place of Cretaceous-Tertiary. About 17% of all families, 50% of all genera[6] and 75% of all species became extinct.[7] In the seas it reduced the percentage of sessile animals to about 33%. All non-avian dinosaurs became extinct during that time.[8] The boundary event was severe with a significant amount of variability in the rate of extinction between and among different clades. Mammals and birds emerged as dominant land vertebrates in the age of new life.

2. Triassic–Jurassic extinction event (End Triassic): 200 Ma at the Triassic-Jurassic transition. About 23% of all families, 48% of all genera (20% of marine families and 55% of marine genera) and 70% to 75% of all species went extinct.[6] Most non-dinosaurian archosaurs, most therapsids, and most of the large amphibians were eliminated, leaving dinosaurs with little terrestrial competition. Non-dinosaurian archosaurs continued to dominate aquatic environments, while non-archosaurian diapsids continued to dominate marine environments. The Temnospondyl lineage of large amphibians also survived until the Cretaceous in Australia (e.g., Koolasuchus).

3. Permian–Triassic extinction event (End Permian): 251 Ma at the Permian-Triassic transition. Earth's largest extinction killed 57% of all families, 83% of all genera and 90% to 96% of all species[6] (53% of marine families, 84% of marine genera, about 96% of all marine species and an estimated 70% of land species, including insects).[9] The evidence of plants is less clear, but new taxa became dominant after the extinction.[10] The "Great Dying" had enormous evolutionary significance: on land, it ended the primacy of mammal-like reptiles. The recovery of vertebrates took 30 million years,[11] but the vacant niches created the opportunity for archosaurs to become ascendant. In the seas, the percentage of animals that were sessile dropped from 67% to 50%. The whole late Permian was a difficult time for at least marine life, even before the "Great Dying".

4. Late Devonian extinction: 375–360 Ma near the Devonian-Carboniferous transition. At the end of the Frasnian Age in the later part(s) of the Devonian Period, a prolonged series of extinctions eliminated about 19% of all families, 50% of all genera[6] and 70% of all species.[citation needed] This extinction event lasted perhaps as long as 20 Ma, and there is evidence for a series of extinction pulses within this period.

5. Ordovician–Silurian extinction event (End Ordovician or O-S): 450–440 Ma at the Ordovician-Silurian transition. Two events occurred that killed off 27% of all families, 57% of all genera and 60% to 70% of all species.[6] Together they are ranked by many scientists as the second largest of the five major extinctions in Earth's history in terms of percentage of genera that went extinct.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_extinctions

Still trying to prove that aerosols are NOT a gas?

 

[Crick]

Prior to Manmade Global Warming, no species ever went extinct

Did you find it absolutely necessary to misstate what has been expressed here before producing a criticism? There's a name for that, but the point is that it is an invalid argument, it is dishonest and dishonorable and indicates that you lack real support from whatever IS your position.

You folks love to pull up the historical record. Well the historical record tells us about five particularly noteworthy 'die-offs'. Here, read and learn something Frank:

An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the amount of life on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of macroscopic life. It occurs when the rate of extinction increases with respect to the rate of speciation. Because the majority of diversity and biomass on Earth is microbial, and thus difficult to measure, recorded extinction events affect the easily observed, biologically complex component of the biosphere rather than the total diversity and abundance of life.[1]

Over 98% of documented species are now extinct,[2] but extinction occurs at an uneven rate. Based on the fossil record, the background rate of extinctions on Earth is about two to five taxonomic families of marine invertebrates and vertebrates every million years. Marine fossils are mostly used to measure extinction rates because of their superior fossil record and stratigraphic range compared to land organisms.

Since life began on Earth, several major mass extinctions have significantly exceeded the background extinction rate. The most recent, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago (Ma), was a large-scale mass extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically short period of time. In the past 540 million years there have been five major events when over 50% of animal species died. Mass extinctions seem to be a Phanerozoic phenomenon, with extinction rates low before large complex organisms arose.[3]

Estimates of the number of major mass extinctions in the last 540 million years range from as few as five to more than twenty. These differences stem from the threshold chosen for describing an extinction event as "major", and the data chosen to measure past diversity.

The blue graph shows the apparent percentage (not the absolute number) of marine animal genera becoming extinct during any given time interval. It does not represent all marine species, just those that are readily fossilized. The labels of the "Big Five" extinction events are clickable hyperlinks; see Extinction event for more details.

[[The image links did not come across, of course, so here is a quick rundown on the five, prior mass extinctions.]]

1. Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (End Cretaceous, K-T extinction, or K-Pg extinction): 66 Ma at the Cretaceous.Maastrichtian-Paleogene.Danian transition interval.[5] The K–T event is now officially called the Cretaceous–Paleogene (or K–Pg) extinction event in place of Cretaceous-Tertiary. About 17% of all families, 50% of all genera[6] and 75% of all species became extinct.[7] In the seas it reduced the percentage of sessile animals to about 33%. All non-avian dinosaurs became extinct during that time.[8] The boundary event was severe with a significant amount of variability in the rate of extinction between and among different clades. Mammals and birds emerged as dominant land vertebrates in the age of new life.

2. Triassic–Jurassic extinction event (End Triassic): 200 Ma at the Triassic-Jurassic transition. About 23% of all families, 48% of all genera (20% of marine families and 55% of marine genera) and 70% to 75% of all species went extinct.[6] Most non-dinosaurian archosaurs, most therapsids, and most of the large amphibians were eliminated, leaving dinosaurs with little terrestrial competition. Non-dinosaurian archosaurs continued to dominate aquatic environments, while non-archosaurian diapsids continued to dominate marine environments. The Temnospondyl lineage of large amphibians also survived until the Cretaceous in Australia (e.g., Koolasuchus).

3. Permian–Triassic extinction event (End Permian): 251 Ma at the Permian-Triassic transition. Earth's largest extinction killed 57% of all families, 83% of all genera and 90% to 96% of all species[6] (53% of marine families, 84% of marine genera, about 96% of all marine species and an estimated 70% of land species, including insects).[9] The evidence of plants is less clear, but new taxa became dominant after the extinction.[10] The "Great Dying" had enormous evolutionary significance: on land, it ended the primacy of mammal-like reptiles. The recovery of vertebrates took 30 million years,[11] but the vacant niches created the opportunity for archosaurs to become ascendant. In the seas, the percentage of animals that were sessile dropped from 67% to 50%. The whole late Permian was a difficult time for at least marine life, even before the "Great Dying".

4. Late Devonian extinction: 375–360 Ma near the Devonian-Carboniferous transition. At the end of the Frasnian Age in the later part(s) of the Devonian Period, a prolonged series of extinctions eliminated about 19% of all families, 50% of all genera[6] and 70% of all species.[citation needed] This extinction event lasted perhaps as long as 20 Ma, and there is evidence for a series of extinction pulses within this period.

5. Ordovician–Silurian extinction event (End Ordovician or O-S): 450–440 Ma at the Ordovician-Silurian transition. Two events occurred that killed off 27% of all families, 57% of all genera and 60% to 70% of all species.[6] Together they are ranked by many scientists as the second largest of the five major extinctions in Earth's history in terms of percentage of genera that went extinct.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_extinctions

Your point?

Primarily to educate the readership here as to what a mass extinction actually is and to illustrate (for the microscopic number of folks who needed it explained) how wrong were Frank's assertions.

Why?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Scientific American is clearly a misnomer

 

[Kosh]

Did you find it absolutely necessary to misstate what has been expressed here before producing a criticism? There's a name for that, but the point is that it is an invalid argument, it is dishonest and dishonorable and indicates that you lack real support from whatever IS your position.

You folks love to pull up the historical record. Well the historical record tells us about five particularly noteworthy 'die-offs'. Here, read and learn something Frank:

An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the amount of life on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of macroscopic life. It occurs when the rate of extinction increases with respect to the rate of speciation. Because the majority of diversity and biomass on Earth is microbial, and thus difficult to measure, recorded extinction events affect the easily observed, biologically complex component of the biosphere rather than the total diversity and abundance of life.[1]

Over 98% of documented species are now extinct,[2] but extinction occurs at an uneven rate. Based on the fossil record, the background rate of extinctions on Earth is about two to five taxonomic families of marine invertebrates and vertebrates every million years. Marine fossils are mostly used to measure extinction rates because of their superior fossil record and stratigraphic range compared to land organisms.

Since life began on Earth, several major mass extinctions have significantly exceeded the background extinction rate. The most recent, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago (Ma), was a large-scale mass extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically short period of time. In the past 540 million years there have been five major events when over 50% of animal species died. Mass extinctions seem to be a Phanerozoic phenomenon, with extinction rates low before large complex organisms arose.[3]

Estimates of the number of major mass extinctions in the last 540 million years range from as few as five to more than twenty. These differences stem from the threshold chosen for describing an extinction event as "major", and the data chosen to measure past diversity.

The blue graph shows the apparent percentage (not the absolute number) of marine animal genera becoming extinct during any given time interval. It does not represent all marine species, just those that are readily fossilized. The labels of the "Big Five" extinction events are clickable hyperlinks; see Extinction event for more details.

[[The image links did not come across, of course, so here is a quick rundown on the five, prior mass extinctions.]]

1. Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (End Cretaceous, K-T extinction, or K-Pg extinction): 66 Ma at the Cretaceous.Maastrichtian-Paleogene.Danian transition interval.[5] The K–T event is now officially called the Cretaceous–Paleogene (or K–Pg) extinction event in place of Cretaceous-Tertiary. About 17% of all families, 50% of all genera[6] and 75% of all species became extinct.[7] In the seas it reduced the percentage of sessile animals to about 33%. All non-avian dinosaurs became extinct during that time.[8] The boundary event was severe with a significant amount of variability in the rate of extinction between and among different clades. Mammals and birds emerged as dominant land vertebrates in the age of new life.

2. Triassic–Jurassic extinction event (End Triassic): 200 Ma at the Triassic-Jurassic transition. About 23% of all families, 48% of all genera (20% of marine families and 55% of marine genera) and 70% to 75% of all species went extinct.[6] Most non-dinosaurian archosaurs, most therapsids, and most of the large amphibians were eliminated, leaving dinosaurs with little terrestrial competition. Non-dinosaurian archosaurs continued to dominate aquatic environments, while non-archosaurian diapsids continued to dominate marine environments. The Temnospondyl lineage of large amphibians also survived until the Cretaceous in Australia (e.g., Koolasuchus).

3. Permian–Triassic extinction event (End Permian): 251 Ma at the Permian-Triassic transition. Earth's largest extinction killed 57% of all families, 83% of all genera and 90% to 96% of all species[6] (53% of marine families, 84% of marine genera, about 96% of all marine species and an estimated 70% of land species, including insects).[9] The evidence of plants is less clear, but new taxa became dominant after the extinction.[10] The "Great Dying" had enormous evolutionary significance: on land, it ended the primacy of mammal-like reptiles. The recovery of vertebrates took 30 million years,[11] but the vacant niches created the opportunity for archosaurs to become ascendant. In the seas, the percentage of animals that were sessile dropped from 67% to 50%. The whole late Permian was a difficult time for at least marine life, even before the "Great Dying".

4. Late Devonian extinction: 375–360 Ma near the Devonian-Carboniferous transition. At the end of the Frasnian Age in the later part(s) of the Devonian Period, a prolonged series of extinctions eliminated about 19% of all families, 50% of all genera[6] and 70% of all species.[citation needed] This extinction event lasted perhaps as long as 20 Ma, and there is evidence for a series of extinction pulses within this period.

5. Ordovician–Silurian extinction event (End Ordovician or O-S): 450–440 Ma at the Ordovician-Silurian transition. Two events occurred that killed off 27% of all families, 57% of all genera and 60% to 70% of all species.[6] Together they are ranked by many scientists as the second largest of the five major extinctions in Earth's history in terms of percentage of genera that went extinct.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_extinctions

Your point?

Primarily to educate the readership here as to what a mass extinction actually is and to illustrate (for the microscopic number of folks who needed it explained) how wrong were Frank's assertions.

Why?

Speaking of education, are you still trying to say that aerosols are NOT a gas?

 

[Crick]

Scientific American is clearly a misnomer

I think a better candidate would be "Frank the Rational Human".

 

[ScienceRocks]

Here is what we do.
1. Plant more tree's. In fact, every time we cut one down = planting a new one.
2. Greatly increase funding for any programs to help threaten animals come back and be unthreaten.
3. Start bringing extinct animals back. Focus on the ones we fucked over! I am talking about what happened to all the big land animals between 15,000 to 7,500 years ago mostly.
4. Double the national parks

 

[Stephanie]

Did you find it absolutely necessary to misstate what has been expressed here before producing a criticism? There's a name for that, but the point is that it is an invalid argument, it is dishonest and dishonorable and indicates that you lack real support from whatever IS your position.

You folks love to pull up the historical record. Well the historical record tells us about five particularly noteworthy 'die-offs'. Here, read and learn something Frank:

An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the amount of life on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of macroscopic life. It occurs when the rate of extinction increases with respect to the rate of speciation. Because the majority of diversity and biomass on Earth is microbial, and thus difficult to measure, recorded extinction events affect the easily observed, biologically complex component of the biosphere rather than the total diversity and abundance of life.[1]

Over 98% of documented species are now extinct,[2] but extinction occurs at an uneven rate. Based on the fossil record, the background rate of extinctions on Earth is about two to five taxonomic families of marine invertebrates and vertebrates every million years. Marine fossils are mostly used to measure extinction rates because of their superior fossil record and stratigraphic range compared to land organisms.

Since life began on Earth, several major mass extinctions have significantly exceeded the background extinction rate. The most recent, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago (Ma), was a large-scale mass extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically short period of time. In the past 540 million years there have been five major events when over 50% of animal species died. Mass extinctions seem to be a Phanerozoic phenomenon, with extinction rates low before large complex organisms arose.[3]

Estimates of the number of major mass extinctions in the last 540 million years range from as few as five to more than twenty. These differences stem from the threshold chosen for describing an extinction event as "major", and the data chosen to measure past diversity.

The blue graph shows the apparent percentage (not the absolute number) of marine animal genera becoming extinct during any given time interval. It does not represent all marine species, just those that are readily fossilized. The labels of the "Big Five" extinction events are clickable hyperlinks; see Extinction event for more details.

[[The image links did not come across, of course, so here is a quick rundown on the five, prior mass extinctions.]]

1. Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (End Cretaceous, K-T extinction, or K-Pg extinction): 66 Ma at the Cretaceous.Maastrichtian-Paleogene.Danian transition interval.[5] The K–T event is now officially called the Cretaceous–Paleogene (or K–Pg) extinction event in place of Cretaceous-Tertiary. About 17% of all families, 50% of all genera[6] and 75% of all species became extinct.[7] In the seas it reduced the percentage of sessile animals to about 33%. All non-avian dinosaurs became extinct during that time.[8] The boundary event was severe with a significant amount of variability in the rate of extinction between and among different clades. Mammals and birds emerged as dominant land vertebrates in the age of new life.

2. Triassic–Jurassic extinction event (End Triassic): 200 Ma at the Triassic-Jurassic transition. About 23% of all families, 48% of all genera (20% of marine families and 55% of marine genera) and 70% to 75% of all species went extinct.[6] Most non-dinosaurian archosaurs, most therapsids, and most of the large amphibians were eliminated, leaving dinosaurs with little terrestrial competition. Non-dinosaurian archosaurs continued to dominate aquatic environments, while non-archosaurian diapsids continued to dominate marine environments. The Temnospondyl lineage of large amphibians also survived until the Cretaceous in Australia (e.g., Koolasuchus).

3. Permian–Triassic extinction event (End Permian): 251 Ma at the Permian-Triassic transition. Earth's largest extinction killed 57% of all families, 83% of all genera and 90% to 96% of all species[6] (53% of marine families, 84% of marine genera, about 96% of all marine species and an estimated 70% of land species, including insects).[9] The evidence of plants is less clear, but new taxa became dominant after the extinction.[10] The "Great Dying" had enormous evolutionary significance: on land, it ended the primacy of mammal-like reptiles. The recovery of vertebrates took 30 million years,[11] but the vacant niches created the opportunity for archosaurs to become ascendant. In the seas, the percentage of animals that were sessile dropped from 67% to 50%. The whole late Permian was a difficult time for at least marine life, even before the "Great Dying".

4. Late Devonian extinction: 375–360 Ma near the Devonian-Carboniferous transition. At the end of the Frasnian Age in the later part(s) of the Devonian Period, a prolonged series of extinctions eliminated about 19% of all families, 50% of all genera[6] and 70% of all species.[citation needed] This extinction event lasted perhaps as long as 20 Ma, and there is evidence for a series of extinction pulses within this period.

5. Ordovician–Silurian extinction event (End Ordovician or O-S): 450–440 Ma at the Ordovician-Silurian transition. Two events occurred that killed off 27% of all families, 57% of all genera and 60% to 70% of all species.[6] Together they are ranked by many scientists as the second largest of the five major extinctions in Earth's history in terms of percentage of genera that went extinct.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_extinctions

Your point?

Primarily to educate the readership here as to what a mass extinction actually is and to illustrate (for the microscopic number of folks who needed it explained) how wrong were Frank's assertions.

Why?

sheeesh, really
didn't you all learn this in junior high school, high school?
so what you really meant, is you had to put down Frank as with most people in the thread, because my theory is...... that's seems to give you pleasure and what you need to be happy

 

[SSDD]

Here is what we do.
1. Plant more tree's. In fact, every time we cut one down = planting a new one.

Planting trees willy nilly isn't a good plan. Some idiot had a great idea a while back to plant a forest on the prairie to reduce CO2...turned out prairie grass is far better at up taking CO2 than trees.

. Greatly increase funding for any programs to help threaten animals come back and be unthreaten.

No money. The climate hoax is taking all the money that could be used for more useful research and actions.

3. Start bringing extinct animals back. Focus on the ones we fucked over! I am talking about happened to all the big land animals between 15,000 to 7,500 years ago mostly.

What's the point? Did any of them fulfill particularly valuable niches in the ecology that remain unfilled? Is there any use in bringing back a species that became so specialized that any minor alteration in its environment was enough to wipe it out? And those that were hunted to extinction for food, fur, body parts etc...is there any reason to think the same thing wouldn't happen again in the wild? Is it useful to keep small populations in captivity when they are extinct in the wild and could no longer survive in the wild....is such action actually helping the species or just making us feel good?

. Double the national parks

Why? We can't properly manage what we have....more would only further burden an already overburdened agency already swamped in bureaucracy. There is no point in taking any such actions till the underlying problems have been solved.

 

[Crick]

Your point?

Primarily to educate the readership here as to what a mass extinction actually is and to illustrate (for the microscopic number of folks who needed it explained) how wrong were Frank's assertions.

Why?

sheeesh, really
didn't you all learn this in junior high school, high school?
so what you really meant, is you had to put down Frank as with most people in the thread, because my theory is...... that's seems to give you pleasure and what you need to be happy

What would make me happy if people like you and Frank and the rest of the deniers here would stop spouting idiocy that will hurt us all.

And I appreciate your stated aversion to personal insults, but the fact that you make them makes it a little difficult to accept your sincerity.

 

[Crick]

Here is what we do.
1. Plant more tree's. In fact, every time we cut one down = planting a new one.

Planting trees willy nilly isn't a good plan. Some idiot had a great idea a while back to plant a forest on the prairie to reduce CO2...turned out prairie grass is far better at up taking CO2 than trees.

He didn't say plant them willy-nilly and he didn't say plant them in replacement of prairie grass. And I think a full grown tree will use a great deal more CO2 than would the square meter of grass it replaces. Now if you want to compare mature grassland to mature forests (which are much thinner than most folks realize) you might have a point, but on a meter per meter comparison, your contention fails.

. Greatly increase funding for any programs to help threaten animals come back and be unthreaten.

No money. The climate hoax is taking all the money that could be used for more useful research and actions.

There's plenty of money. We only need take it from the many fossil fuel subsidies currently in place.

3. Start bringing extinct animals back. Focus on the ones we fucked over! I am talking about happened to all the big land animals between 15,000 to 7,500 years ago mostly.

What's the point? Did any of them fulfill particularly valuable niches in the ecology that remain unfilled? Is there any use in bringing back a species that became so specialized that any minor alteration in its environment was enough to wipe it out? And those that were hunted to extinction for food, fur, body parts etc...is there any reason to think the same thing wouldn't happen again in the wild? Is it useful to keep small populations in captivity when they are extinct in the wild and could no longer survive in the wild....is such action actually helping the species or just making us feel good?

As usual, wrong almost EVERYWHERE. However, while it might be educational and certainly interesting, I don't think there's much value to be had in such an effort. I get the impression,however, that the only wildlife SSDD thinks are in need of preservation are cows, chickens and pigs.

. Double the national parks

Why? We can't properly manage what we have....more would only further burden an already overburdened agency already swamped in bureaucracy. There is no point in taking any such actions till the underlying problems have been solved.

Now there is a real problem solver. We need to put SSDD in CHARGE. Freeze everything until - by spontaneous action - all the problems simply disappear. Actually ACTING on them is FAR, FAR too dangerous. OOOOoooooo... scary.