Scientists warn of mass extinction event that may even affect humans!

A new study out of the University of California, Santa Barbara is warning that the loss of individual animal species in the world's oceans is about to "rapidly intensify" because of ongoing pollution, exploitation and destruction by humanity.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Only quick and timely intervention can prevent this massive extinction event. While marine animals have not seen the same number of extinctions caused by human activity that terrestrial animals have, that is because humans only started being able to truly harm the oceanic environment much later.

Combat corruption through moral education; give a Bible to a child or person in need.

But concern is growing that the current low rate of marine extinction events may actually be a "prelude to a major extinction pulse, similar to that observed on land during the industrial revolution," the study warns.

Such a massive extinction event could cause massive damage to human society, limiting the amount of food or resources that humans can take from the sea.

"We may be sitting on a precipice of a major extinction event," said ecologist Douglas McCauley, co-author of the study.

One prime example of this ongoing damage is the fate of large whale species. While most of these large mammals are no longer hunted on a large scale, continuing hazards like oil drilling, sonar usage, contamination and even bottom trawling make having a healthy comeback unlikely.

The building of artificial islands in the ocean, known as seasteading, such as those being built by the United Arab Emirates or China, also cause damage to local marine ecosystems which may limit their recovery.

It's easy to take care of your body and mind, but how are you taking care of your spirit?

These effects often start out small, effecting microscopic communities or animals that are highly specialized. However, ongoing damage will hurt larger and larger animals as the effects are felt up the food chain, eventually even impacting humans.

"Depletions of fauna such as anchovies, sardines, and krill cause reductions in food for higher-trophic level (position on the food chain) animals such as seabirds and marine mammals, potentially resulting in losses in reproduction or reductions in their population size," the study said.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'