This is what we call mass extinction... The long accepted background (or pre-human) rate of extinction is 1 extinction per million species per year (E/MSY). Recent studies of the fossil record combined with phylogenic analysis of many different plant and animal species actually suggest a lower background rate closer to .1 extinction per million species per year, or 1 extinction per 10 million species per year.
Our current rate of extinction is 100 extinctions per million species per year. This takes into account species as of yet undiscovered by science. Using 1 E/MSY as the background rate, our current rate of extinction sits at 100 times the background rate, with expectations of it reaching 1000 times the background rate if no drastic change is made in world environmental policies. Using the new and widely accepted model of .1 E/MSY as our background rate, the current rate of extinction is 1000 times higher than baseline and is expected to reach 10,000 times the background rate if our trajectory is not changed.
It really is scary stuff. We're in the midist of the greatest extinction event since the dinosaurs suffered their end 65 million years ago. And there is no other cause but man for this massive loss of biodiversity.
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