Earth is on the brink of a sixth mass extinction, scientists say, and it’s humans’ fault

"We are now moving into another one of these events that could easily, easily ruin the lives of everybody on the planet," Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich said in a video created by the school.

In a study published Friday in the journal Science Advances, biologists found that the Earth is losing mammal species at a rate 20 to 100 times faster than in the past. The extinctions are happening so fast they could rival the event that killed the dinosaurs in as little as 250 years. And given the timing, the unprecedented speed of the losses and decades of research on the effects of pollution, hunting and habitat loss, they assert that human activity is responsible.

By Sarah Kaplan

Full Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/22/the-earth-is-on-the-brink-of-a-sixth-mass-extinction-scientists-say-and-its-humans-fault/?tid=hp_mm&hpid=z3