We May Be on the Verge of Earth’s Sixth Mass Extinction, Humans Included

In the past four decades, half of the world's species are either going endangered or going extinct. Even familiar animals like giraffes are now endangered, and certain species of rhinos in Africa are about to be extinct. The world, in its entirety, is going ballistic. The worst part of it all is that humans are among those that are in danger.

According to a report from CNN, the world is on the verge of what is known as the sixth mass extinction. This is a phenomenon in which the world's animal species are starting to vanish at terrifying rates. To give a perspective of how bad the sixth mass extinction is, it is close to saying that about 75 percent of all common species will be gone.

The Guardian reported that more than half of the Earth's wildlife has been lost in the past four decades. With all the natural and manmade phenomenon affecting the Earth's health, we may be expecting worse in the coming years.

What are the evidence for this? The largest coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef was reported this year. Giraffes are now endangered. Orangutan populations have been decreasing. More than one species has gone extinct in the past half-decade alone. Poaching and hunting continuously decrease populations of animals in the wild. Bees are on the brink of extinction. More epidemics have occurred in the past three decades than ever before, avian flu and the Zika virus to name a few.

One of the biggest factors causing this harm to wildlife could possibly be climate change and global warming. There had been records of extreme climate pattern changes, from the driest drought to one of the coldest winters in history. A report from the National Geographic implied that if there will be a sixth mass extinction in our lifetime, and it is no one else's fault but humans, as we may hold the key to ultimately end climate change.