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Amphibians survived the last mass extinction, which happened about 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs disappeared. In fact, they have have existed for about 300 million years. But, since 1950, amphibians have experienced a pervasive decline. Over one hundred species have gone extinct due to human activities, with one in three of the remaining amphibian species currently at risk of extinction. Their main threat: HABITAT LOSS. And, when it comes to habitat loss, according to the United Nations, it’s the LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY that is the largest user of land on the planet and the leading driver of deforestation. The current loss of biodiversity is so severe that biologists already classify our present time as the Sixth Mass Extinction in Earth’s evolutionary history, being driven entirely by humans and our activities. Remember, every species that vanishes had millions of years of unique evolutionary history, never to be repeated! And, even if we were completely selfish and didn’t care that other species are going extinct, remember that our environment works as a whole and we humans are not as independent of it as we sometimes like to think. Of course, while natural habitats and other species have been in a free-fall, since 1950 our human population has rapidly tripled from 2.5 billion to 7.5 billion people. With this rapid increase in our population has come a corresponding explosion in the demand for environmentally devastating animal foods, the mass production of which (as alluded to above) weighs immensely in driving every major environmental crisis we now face — including climate change, water pollution and water depletion, land use, deforestation, and species extinctions. Unfortunately, there is a profound lack of awareness of the issue. Supporting education, gender equality, family planning and adoption can help slow the rate of our human population growth. And, for something that you can do immediately, abstaining from animal foods is one of the most impactful positive actions you can take as an individual, both to help restore our environment, protect what’s left of the planet’s biodiversity, and (of course) to withdraw your support for the completely unnecessary exploitation and death inflicted upon countless billions of sentient animals every year. |