What Is the Sixth Mass Extinction? What Can We Do?
The sixth mass extinction is a major crisis in which plants and animals are disappearing faster than ever. Unlike earlier extinctions caused by natural events like asteroids or volcanic eruptions, this one is mainly caused by people. Deforestation, pollution, overhunting, and climate change are the biggest reasons.
This loss of life affects everyone. When species go extinct, ecosystems fall apart, putting food supplies at risk and harming the economy. Experts say plants and animals are vanishing up to 1,000 times faster than they should.
In this article, we’ll explain mass extinctions, why this one is different, and how they affect our lives. We’ll also explore solutions, like Eden Green Technology, that can help protect the planet’s biodiversity.
Understanding Mass Extinctions
Mass extinctions are rare but catastrophic events where a significant number of species vanish in a short amount of time. They mark turning points in Earth’s history, reshaping ecosystems and paving the way for new life to evolve.
To understand the sixth mass extinction, it’s important first to explore what defines it and look back at the five major extinctions in Earth’s past.
What Defines a Mass Extinction?
A mass extinction happens when the Earth loses a large percentage of its species in a geologically short time. Scientists define these events based on three key criteria:
Speed: The extinctions occur much faster than normal background extinction rates.
Scale: The loss impacts many species across the planet, not just in one region or ecosystem.
Diversity Loss: Major groups of plants, animals, or microorganisms disappear entirely.
Mass extinctions disrupt ecosystems, wiping out keystone species that play essential roles in maintaining balance. These events can be caused by disasters like asteroid impacts, massive volcanic eruptions, or extreme climate changes.
The sixth mass extinction is unique because humans, not natural events, cause it, and species loss is happening faster than in most past extinctions.
The Five Previous Mass Extinctions
Earth has experienced five major mass extinctions:
Late Ordovician (443 million years ago): A drop in sea levels and climate cooling killed about 85% of species.
Late Devonian (359 million years ago): Likely caused by changes in ocean chemistry, it wiped out 75% of species.
Permian-Triassic (252 million years ago): Known as “The Great Dying,” this event killed 96% of species due to volcanic activity and climate shifts.
Triassic-Jurassic (201 million years ago): Possibly caused by volcanic eruptions and rising CO₂ levels, 80% of species vanished.
End-Cretaceous (66 million years ago): An asteroid impact killed 76% of species, including the dinosaurs.
Each event reshaped life on Earth, clearing the way for new species to evolve. The sixth mass extinction, however, threatens the future of biodiversity like never before.
What Makes the Sixth Mass Extinction Unique?
Natural events, like asteroid impacts or volcanic eruptions, triggered past extinctions. This one is happening much faster because of how people change the planet.
Human-Driven Causes
Various human activities contribute to species disappearing so quickly. Here are the main causes:
Habitat Destruction: People cut down forests, drain wetlands, and build cities, destroying homes for animals and plants and leaving them nowhere to live.
Pollution: Chemicals, trash, and plastic harm the air, water, and soil. For example, pollution in the oceans kills fish and other sea life, while pesticides hurt important pollinators like bees.
Overuse of Resources: Hunting, fishing, and taking too much from nature is causing many animals and plants to vanish. Species like rhinos are at risk because of illegal hunting.
Climate Change: Carbon in the atmosphere makes the planet hotter. This changes weather patterns, melts ice, and raises sea levels. Many species can’t adapt fast enough to survive.
These problems are happening simultaneously, making the extinction crisis worse.
Rapid Loss of Biodiversity
Right now, plants and animals are disappearing 100 to 1,000 times faster than they should. This is much quicker than in the past.
For example, one-third of amphibians are at risk of extinction. Coral reefs, home to many sea creatures, are dying because of warming oceans.
In the last mass extinction, it took thousands of years for most species to vanish. Today, the same loss has happened in just a few decades. Without action, Earth could lose one million species in the next few years, and recovering from this loss would take millions of years.
Evidence for the Sixth Mass Extinction
Scientists have gathered strong evidence that the sixth mass extinction is happening. They’ve studied how animal populations are shrinking, how ecosystems are changing, and what fossils and DNA tell us about species loss. Together, this evidence paints a clear picture of a biodiversity crisis.
Decline in Animal Populations
Animal populations are dropping fast. This decline is especially clear in amphibians, birds, and mammals.
Amphibians: Frogs, salamanders, and other amphibians vanish faster than any other group. Nearly 40% of species are at risk of extinction. For example, the golden toad from Costa Rica disappeared because of habitat loss and disease.
Birds: About 1 in 8 bird species is at risk. The ivory-billed woodpecker, once found in the U.S., was officially declared extinct in 2021 due to habitat destruction.
Mammals: Hunting and habitat loss critically threaten big animals like rhinos, elephants, and tigers. The vaquita, a small porpoise, is one of the most endangered mammals, with fewer than 10 left in the wild.
These population declines are a warning sign of widespread extinction.
Impacts on Ecosystems
When species disappear, ecosystems break down. Like puzzle pieces, each plant or animal species plays a role in its environment. If too many pieces go missing, the system stops working.
Food Webs: Predators, prey, and plants are all connected. When one species is lost, others are affected. For example, plants that depend on bees for pollination can’t grow when bees disappear.
Ecosystem Services: Nature provides clean water, fertile soil, and air purification. Losing species weakens these systems, making it harder for ecosystems to support life—including humans.
Without healthy ecosystems, life becomes more difficult for all living things.
Fossil and Genetic Evidence
Fossils and DNA show clear signs of the sixth mass extinction.
Fossils: Fewer species are surviving over time compared to the past. Fossil records confirm that extinction rates are unusually high.
Genetics: Studies of animal DNA reveal shrinking populations and a loss of genetic diversity, which makes species more vulnerable to disease and climate change.
The evidence is clear: without change, we’re on track to lose countless species forever.
Why It Matters to Humanity
The sixth mass extinction doesn’t just threaten plants and animals—it also puts humanity at risk. Healthy ecosystems are essential for food, clean water, and stable economies. As species disappear, these systems break down, creating problems that affect everyone.
Threats to Food Security
Biodiversity is critical for agriculture, but species loss threatens the food supply. Pollinators like bees, butterflies, and bats are disappearing quickly. These animals help pollinate crops, including fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Without them, many foods could become scarce or disappear entirely.
Agricultural diversity is also shrinking. Farmers rely on only a few crop types, making food systems more vulnerable to pests, diseases, and climate change. For example, bananas grown worldwide are mostly one variety at risk from a single fungal disease.
Losing species that support agriculture could lead to food shortages, higher prices, and widespread hunger. Protecting biodiversity helps ensure a stable food supply for the future.
Economic and Social Consequences
Ecosystem collapse comes with a high price tag. Nature provides “free services” like clean water, fresh air, and fertile soil. When ecosystems fail, these services are lost, and replacing them is expensive. For example, cities must spend billions on water treatment systems without forests to filter water.
The loss of biodiversity also impacts industries like fishing, tourism, and agriculture. Coral reef destruction, for instance, reduces fish populations and tourism revenue in coastal areas.
Social consequences are just as serious. Like farmers and fishers, communities that rely on nature for food and income are hit hardest. This scarcity creates inequality and forces some people to migrate for resources.
In short, biodiversity loss harms economies, deepens social challenges, and makes life harder for everyone. Protecting ecosystems is vital for a sustainable future.
How Eden Green Technology Can Help
Eden Green Technology is on a mission to change how we grow food. Our vertical farms use less space and fewer resources than traditional farms. We're helping protect nature while producing fresh, healthy food. This approach can play a big role in fighting the sixth mass extinction.
Sustainable Agriculture Practices
Eden Green uses vertical farming to grow plants in stacked layers inside greenhouses. This method uses 98% less water than regular farms and doesn’t require soil. Because it’s so space-efficient, it can grow large amounts of food in a small area.
This strategy helps save forests and other natural habitats from being cleared for farming. By not using harmful pesticides, Eden Green also protects pollinators such as bees and butterflies, which are important for many ecosystems.
Vertical farming is also year-round, meaning food can be grown in all seasons. Eden Green’s methods are a smart way to feed people while using fewer resources and causing less harm to the planet.
Reducing Pressure on Wild Ecosystems
Growing food in vertical farm greenhouses, like Eden Green's, helps protect wild ecosystems. When food grows this way, there’s less need to destroy forests, wetlands, or other habitats for farmland. This means more animals and plants can enjoy their natural habitats.
Eden Green’s system can also grow food closer to cities and towns. Doing so reduces the need to ship food long distances, which helps lower pollution and fight climate change.
By making farming more sustainable, Eden Green is helping protect nature while ensuring people have enough to eat. Our innovative technology is a big step toward solving the biodiversity crisis and creating a healthier planet.
The Urgent Need to Act on the Sixth Mass Extinction
The sixth mass extinction is one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced. Species are disappearing at an alarming rate, and the consequences are severe—for ecosystems, economies, and our future. This is a crisis we cannot afford to ignore.
Eden Green Technology offers hope in the fight against biodiversity loss. By rethinking how we grow food, they provide sustainable solutions that protect natural habitats, conserve resources, and reduce harm to wildlife. Their innovative approach to farming shows that we can feed the world without destroying it.
But technology alone isn’t enough. Every person can make a difference. Support sustainable agriculture, reduce waste, and advocate for policies that protect the environment. Together, we can slow the sixth mass extinction and build a future where nature and humanity thrive.