RECYCLING FOR DUMMIES

by Maria Torres

Not only are humans causing the demise of thousands of species, but we are also destroying them in record numbers. According to a report by The Guardian, an estimated 83 percent of wild mammals have already gone extinct due to human involvement. And it doesn’t stop there. Roughly 500 species have gone extinct within the last century, and the number is growing by the dozens, with over 16 thousand species on the endangered species list.

Many argue that extinction is the natural order of things, but in reality the natural rate of extinction sees only the demise of 5 species a year. In a large contrast, our current extinction rate is 1000 times that, coming in at nearly dozens of species a day.

The terrifying reality of extinction in our age is rarely acknowledged, but must take center stage if humans wish to survive. The culling of millions of species is not only detrimental to the health of the planet, but also to the people who live here. If humans want to continue living in our society as we know it, huge changes must be made to the way we handle our natural environment and surrounding ecosystems.

Either we learn to co-exist with our fellow species on Earth, or there will no longer be a place for us here.

by Ulonie Garza