Rethinking Extinction and Climate Anxiety: Finding Hope Amidst the Crisis 

Welcome to the 21st century. News of a melting arctic, an ocean littered with plastic, cities blanketed in smog, and bleached coral reefs fill us with dread about the future and the impacts of human activity on the natural environment. Even worse, we feel helpless. It seems as if there is nothing we can do but sit back and let the old, rich white men make decisions that wreak havoc on the future of the environment. It is understandable why so many young people report experiencing climate anxiety, or anxiety related to anthropogenic climate change, especially since they didn’t cause the climate crisis but are forced to deal with its consequences, nonetheless. However, the absolute worst thing we can do is sit back and pout about what has already been done and accept our doomed fate. Instead of seeing the future of our environment as ruined and helpless, we can see the opportunity amidst the chaos and actively seek realistic solutions. In this article, I will take various catastrophic consequences of human actions and show how they may not be as detrimental as they seem with the hope of easing some widespread concerns about the future to foster a pragmatic generation of problem solvers. 

You may have come across the claim that we are in the middle of the sixth mass extinction. To understand the situation, let's take a step back and discuss the concept of extinction. Extinction is a part of evolution; all species have gone or will go extinct at some point. Without extinction, evolution would not have progressed as far as it has, and humans would not exist. The normal process of extinction is called background extinction. There are points in the geological record, however, where extinction rates became extremely high and cause what is referred to as a mass extinction, where over 75% of all species go extinct. There have been five mass extinctions. The last one, called the K-T extinction, was about 66 million years ago and led to the loss of around 80% of all species on Earth, including the dinosaurs.  

What about our current situation? According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 909 species are known to have gone extinct since 1500. This is an extinction rate of 1.7 species per year. There are 1.9 million documented living species on Earth, but an estimated total of 8.7 million species (Encyclopedia of Life, 2021). Therefore, the number of documented extinctions in the last 500 years represents 0.5% of the known species and 0.01% of the more likely estimated number of species. We are nowhere near the number of extinctions necessary to qualify for a mass extinction. 

So, we are not in a mass extinction, but are we approaching one? In the last 100 years, the proportion of species reported extinct has dramatically increased. If the rate of extinction continues to increase, then we may be looking at a sixth mass extinction in the next 600,000 to 4 million years. There are three reasons not to freak out about this. First, scientists only really started to study the fossil record in the last 100 years, so the increase in the rate of extinction is misleading as there is really no baseline to compare to. Second, many species that are thought to be extinct are in fact still here, with new species being discovered every hour. For example, 187 mammals were listed as extinct between 1500 and 2010, but 67 (36%) of these have since been rediscovered. Due to being under-studied, animals living in remote habitats that are small in size and have low population densities are frequently thought to be extinct when they are in fact still living. Furthermore, we are discovering new species at such an unprecedented rate that some scientists are calling the 21st century the New Age of Discovery. In 2007, 18,516 species were discovered.  That is 50 new species a day! Finally, we have a lot of time to invest in conservation efforts to protect threatened species. In fact, previous and current conservation efforts have been quite successful, and some argue that the rate of extinction is slowing, but there is no empirical evidence of this.  

Here is the reality. Extinction rates are accelerating due to increased human travel, resource exploitation, pollution, climate change, and other human activities. But headlines such as “Current extinction rates are at least 100-1,000 times higher than natural background rates” (IUCN Press release) and “Up to 150 species are becoming extinct every day” (Sigmar Gabrael, German environment minister 2005-2009, quoted on the BBC) are not only inaccurate, but arguably manipulative as they come from reputable and established sources. Graphs and trends headlined in the media contribute to climate anxiety and feelings of helplessness, but they are over-exaggerated and not supported by data.  

It is indisputable that biodiversity conservation is a necessity. Here lies the opportunity amidst the chaos. Instead of pointing fingers and accepting our doom, recognize your ability to make a difference and help save a variety of unique and beautiful species that we might not even know exist yet. Look for small ways you can make a difference and think creatively. Our fate as a planet is not predetermined. There is no benefit in being upset about something that hasn’t happened yet. Instead, let's combat climate anxiety and get excited about our generation’s ability to change the destiny of the environment.