# The Many Forces Driving Extinction



## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

A recent article by the NY Times which includes some thoughts by Dr. Joe Mendelson on amphibian extinctions and conservation: The Many Forces Driving Extinction


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## Woodsman (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks for the link, Ron. Sometimes, the only solace I can find is in thinking about geologic time, some place in the future when the whole ugly mess that humanity dredged-up will be fodder for some newly-evolved paleontologist to study. The greatest mass extinction will one day be over.

Take care, Richard.


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## Ross (Feb 10, 2008)

That was an interesting and depressing read. Sadly, as long as human populations increase, biodiversity will continue to plummet. Soon enough we'll find ourselves in complete ecological freefall.

I'm all for conservation but stories like this make me shake my head and wonder what's the point of it when it will eventually be destroyed by our descendants. The notion of sustainable growth is a fairy tale. The best thing for life in general on this planet would be the extinction of our own species but who's gonna give it to us 

Fortunately, in about 5 billion years the sun will deplete its hydrogen and begin to burn helium, expanding in size out past Mars, scorching the Earth and everything on it. Eventually our star will go supernova and recycle all the matter in our local system. We'll be long gone by then. Who knows, maybe if we get our act together we will have escaped this doomed planet and found a new home. I think it's more likely we all go extinct way before that happens, though 

I suppose it's just best to enjoy things while you still can.


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Interesting article, although I am not sure I completely agree with Dr. Mendelson's assertions. Habitat loss undoubtedly contributes greatly to species extinctions around the world, and I do agree with him that habitat loss is certainly not the only cause for extinction. But because there are multiple causes, does that mean that the impact of habitat loss is that much less? Not at all.

Similarly, you could make the same argument about chytrid. Amphibian decline and chytrid are synonymous. Amphibians are globally threatened, but is chytrid as big an issue as the current research suggests? I don't mean to say that it's not a serious issue, but if you looked at the amount of literature in the last year on chytrid versus climate change versus habitat loss versus harvest and so on, chytrid is the overwhelming victor. But does it really represent that big of a threat?

I think that the big problem is that extinction and its causes are a very complex topic, and to identify and tackle all of them, it would be logistic nightmare and would likely spread resources thin for conservation efforts.


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