It’s Official People, The Earth Is Well Truly Fucked This Time

So apparently the earth is on it’s way out already? Scientists are warning that our lovely planet has entered the sixth stage of extinction; which means that species all over the world, including us, are “essentially the walking dead”. What a lovely thought.

A paper authored by some of the top minds at Stanford, Princeton and Berkeley universities has concluded that vertebrates are vanishing at a rate 114 times faster than what would be expected without the destructive influence of humans. The brains behind the paper claim we are entering the “sixth great mass extinction event” – it’s worth noting that the fifth was 65 million years ago, when dinosaurs disappeared.

The paper’s lead author, Professor Gerardo Ceballos, stated that we could irreparably damage our planet and our species if we don’t alter out patterns and behaviours.

“If it is allowed to continue, life would take many millions of years to recover and our species itself would likely disappear early on.”

The research states that the current extinction rates on earth are totally unsustainable; finding that since 1900 more than 400 species of vertebrates have disappeared – a rate 100 times higher than in other periods. The report also goes onto blame climate change, pollution and deforestation as significant causes for this rapid change. All things caused by, you guessed it, US.

I’m not 100% convinced that we’re as close to extinction as some of these scientists would have us believe, but the report makes compelling reading for anyone with the slightest interest in the state of our planet. Has this story got you down in the mouth? Well don’t worry, here are some stunning images of our gorgeous planet to get you smiling again. What did you make of this extinction report? Let us know.