Extinction Explosion

21 Aug

Considered by many to have an intelligence that rivals humankind’s and otherworldly transformative evolution powers, the cuttlefish is among creatures slated for death in a sudden mass extinction of the worlds’ oceans.

Teetering on the dire precipice between existence and annihilation, time is running out for the Royal Bengal tiger, the Great White shark, and Victorian koalas.

There are reports that species in Brazil’s coastal rainforest are disappearing faster than scientists  can keep track of them. This is owed in part to the ripple effect of extinction, creatures toppling off the planet in a chain reaction.

But perhaps the most brutal and rapid decline is coming for the world’s oceans, with scientists predicting a cataclysmic period of mass extinction currently upon us, the ramifications for which will in turn be our own demise. From 1900-2010, freshwater fish species in North America went extinct at a rate 877 times faster than the rate found in the fossil record, while estimates indicate the rate may double between now and 2050.

Even the diversity of our communication will not be spared from the inevitable collapse wrought by industrial capitalism, with half of the world’s languages suffering a projected die-off in our lifetimes.

The end product of our modern civilization is thus the ultimate silence.

~ compiled by Molly J, Earth First! Journal collective

14 Responses to “Extinction Explosion”

  1. TheRewildWest August 21, 2012 at 2:38 pm #

    Thank you for posting this. Reblogged it on my site!

    –Love and Liberation–

    Jan @ TheRewildWest

    • EF! J Collective August 21, 2012 at 3:20 pm #

      Thank you for the support, and spreading the word! ❤

      • TheRewildWest August 21, 2012 at 3:21 pm #

        Thank YOU for alerting me to this new information!!

  2. thejumbledmind August 21, 2012 at 5:03 pm #

    Reblogged this on thejumbledmind and commented:
    Excellent but sad post by Earth First!

  3. lowerarchy August 21, 2012 at 5:19 pm #

    Oh no…

  4. lowerarchy August 21, 2012 at 5:19 pm #

    Reblogged this on dogsharon.

    • EF! J Collective August 21, 2012 at 5:40 pm #

      Thank you for re-blogging the story!

      • lowerarchy August 22, 2012 at 3:03 am #

        Thanks for sharing – what could be more important? Our future and the future of the ecosystem as we know it hangs in the balance.
        BTW there’s a set of short stories by English scifi writer Stephen Baxter featuring evolved cuttlefish – can’t remember exact title but will later 🙂 well worth reading
        I’ve written a satirical novel about a female messiah and her women friends who realise everything is doomed unless women manage human affairs. It’s funny and iconoclastic and I’ve got a few copies to give to interested folk.
        Here’s the FB page http://www.facebook.com/DOGSharonTheFutureIsFemale
        DOG is an acronym for Daughter Of God
        Here’s a quote:
        “We’re not saying it’s the new religion. The time of leaders has passed, and the age of governments is ending. We’re not looking to the past but to the future. We don’t need gods and goddesses for we are women – we gave birth to humanity and we’ll solve our own problems.”
        Regards, Dave

  5. kelly August 29, 2012 at 6:38 pm #

    humans disregard for all other species ie speceism will be its own demise. where facebook and youtube is more impotant than slaughterhouse torture and the health of the oceans.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

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  3. Explore Your Bioregion! « Rewild the West, and All the Rest! - August 22, 2012

    […] My favorite part, though, was when I sat on a little boulder jutting out of the creek side and stuck my feet and shins in the water.  Dozens and dozens of minnows, beautiful, graceful little fish, came up and began nibbling on my toes and feet and legs.  It tickled a little, but felt nice, too.  It had been a couple days since I showered, so they were probably munching off bits of dead skin (Your first reaction is probably, “Gross!”  But truly, it’s a beautiful thing!)  I felt very connected to my local ecosystem in that moment, with juice from the blackberries still sweet on my tongue and the sun heating my bare flesh and my legs pleasantly cool in the water.  And that is so important.  I’ve been to National Parks and felt less connected to the place than I did to this relatively meager little locale; and yet it’s close enough for me to walk to, even with my fucked up knees.  We don’t need to travel far (and soon enough, when automobile culture “crashes,” we won’t hardly be able to!)–to have a marvelous nature experience.  Get to know your local bioregion; it may be the difference between Life and Death when our umbilical cord to industrial water and food is severed by ecological collapse. […]

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    […] While nearly all species of canaries are threatened, the Red Siskin Canary is critically endangered and faces imminent extinction. […]

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