There are several long-time drivers of what researchers call "defaunation" — the decline of various animal species. The study points to " overexploitation, habitat destruction, and impacts from invasive species" as continuing threats, but notes that soon, human-caused climate change will be the number one driver of defaunation
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Dinosaurs are extinct because of defaunation. Dinosaurs consumed too much. The planet could not sustain them.
Mother Nature has a way of controlling population, or reformatting the planet, as needed with plagues, war, and natural acts of nature (tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes).
Climate change is very real, as is global warming, and mankind is accelerating it, but those events would happen regardless of man's existence.
Mass extinction has happened throughout history, but has it really? Polar bears will become extinct, but actually they will not. Polar bears are Grizzly bears, and the white fox is a red fox. Ages ago an earthquake (most likely) divided a piece of land and split groups of animal packs. The animals that drifted evolved with each generation, acclimating to its new climate--polar bears and white fox.
The earth changes, the species evolve and adapt. The human race will be the targeted dinosaur eventually in my opinion. No one can stop it, only buy time, however, getting third world countries to stop massive destructive industrialization is not going to happen. Look at what is going on in the African countries with Ebola. The same thing that happened with the Black Death (Bubonic plague) in the 14th century--and China is actually dealing with it now. Bubonic plague has reared its head several times, but the butcher's bill of the 14th century was the largest. We have waded through HIV, which has been around for thousands of years but started spreading with globalization, and every time science finds a way to at least contain it, a new mutation occurs. HIV is a mutation of SIV. It comes from eating contaminated monkey meat--bush meat.
It is not just republicans that are aiding and abetting climate change... it is everyone, and the first warning of man accelerated climate change came in the 18th century from England--the industrial age.