Epitaph of the past. State of the present. Hope of the future.
Follow me on Twitter (@palaeomays) as I focus on the stories of 100 organisms over 100 days, starting May 22nd, International Day for Biological Diversity.
Recent models of climate and biodiversity predict the loss of 10–40% of all plant and animal species by the end of the 21st century… from climate change alone. Extinction rates are thousands of times higher than the background rate for some groups.
Scientifically, medically, economically and ethically we need to stop widespread biodiversity loss this century.
This campaign will shine a spotlight on the animals, plants and other organisms that we’ve lost. I will also highlight those that are getting dangerously close to the edge of extinction, and stories of hope when we’ve managed to bring some back to a safer place.
Many of the lost lived long before humans; these can serve as our deep-time lessons of past environmental changes. But today, for the first time in the long history of life on Earth, every species is within the reach of one: Homo sapiens.
It is up to us, in this century, whether we let them fall over the brink or pull them back.
PalaeoMays 