The Sound of One Species Clapping

Humans responsible for fastest rate of extinction since dinosaurs

Human beings continue to dominate "Survivor: Earth," voting other species off the island at a blistering pace. "In effect, we are currently responsible for the sixth major extinction event in the history of earth, and the greatest since the dinosaurs disappeared, 65 million years ago," sums up the new U.N. Global Biodiversity Outlook report. A global goal to significantly reduce biodiversity loss by 2010 appears to be, shall we say, not on track: the current extinction rate is 1,000 times faster than historical rates of loss. The report urged "unprecedented additional efforts" to reduce loss. Presumably this cosmically depressing news will provide fodder for lively conversation among the 6,000 representatives from more than 190 countries currently gathering in Brazil at a meeting on the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity. Outwit, outplay, outlast, fellas!