Word: extinctionism
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Then there are the really big asteroids -- masses of rock and iron five or ten miles across that hit every 10 million to 100 million years. The half- milers are bad enough, but these giant ones pose a threat to the entire planet. It was such an asteroid (or an...
As part of a series of science lectures for non-specialists, Wilson told the crowd of about 200 that extinction is the most pressing environmental concern today, and predicted it would play a much larger foreign policy role in the next few years.
"It takes millions of years to make diversity," said Wilson. "Usually we only hear about three of the four horsemen: toxic waste, ozone depletion and climatic warming due to the Greenhouse Effect. But the fourth horseman--species extinction--unlike the first three is truly irreversible."
A noted evolutionary biology expert, Wilson said that scientists have only identified between 5 and 30 percent of the Earth's species, and said a worldwide survey of species is necessary to better understand just how many species are threatened by extinction.
"There are six species of the plant on Madagascar. Only one has been examined and one other is on the verge of extinction," said Wilson.