Two-thirds of all species were lost along with dinosaurs probably the result of a large asteroid crashing into Earth about 65 million years ago. Paleontologists- on average two species go extinct every year as part of the natural process but the current extinction rate is several hundred times higher.
Primary causes:
- growing population (2.5 billion to 6.00 billion in last 50 years)
- 9 billion by 2050
- increased consumption of natural resources
- growth of technology
Developed countries (US, Canada, Japan, Australia and most European nations have only 20% of the world‟s population but they consume almost 80% of global energy use and 85% of world's economy- a disproportionate share of natural resources and produces far more waste than developing countries but now China is leading in pollution.
