Over the years, humans have had too great impact on the earth's ecosystem. Some scientists have even put forward a pessimistic view that humans may be pushing the earth towards the "sixth mass extinction." From some situations, the so-called "mass extinction" proposed by scientists may have some scientific basis. For example, now humans have discovered that 7 billion snow crab disappeared "blindly" in Bering Strait . The reason behind it is not that simple. We humans are the culprits. What's going on?
Benjamin Daly, a researcher at the Department of Fishing and Hunting at Alaska, said that in 2018, the number of snow crabs in the Bering Strait could still reach about 8 billion, but by 2021 there will be only about 1 billion left. In other words, in just three years, the snow crabs in the Bering Strait have dropped sharply from 8 billion to 1 billion now, and the data has dropped by about 7 billion. Due to the sharp decline in numbers, Alaska, the United States had to announce the cancellation of this year's snow crab fishing, the first time in Alaska, in the United States that has cancelled snow crab fishing. Therefore, the sudden drop in snow crab data has a relatively large impact, which has affected some activities that have been underway for many years, and has a very substantial impact on local fishermen.
Generally speaking, the number of some animals has dropped sharply, which may be because humans have increased their efforts in fishing, breaking the ecological balance of these wild animals, and ultimately leading to very great difficulties in reproduction of some wild animals, which in turn leads to a sharp decline in the number. Looking back at the species extinction on Earth in the past few decades and hundreds of years, there are indeed many species that have become extinct due to human hunting. Scientists have found that 7 billion snow crabs disappeared "breathfully" and human fishing is one of the reasons. Survey data from 2021 to 2022 shows that under human fishing, the number of mature male snow crabs has decreased by about 40%, which ultimately leads to the natural replacement rate of snow crabs that cannot keep up with the number of fished, and the number is getting smaller and smaller.
Some scientists believe that humans have caused the earth's climate to warm and climate change may be the important reasons for the sharp decline in the number of these snow crabs. Michael, director of the Kodiak Laboratory under the NOAA, said that the sharp decline in the number of snow crabs is not the main reason for human overfishing, and climate change is the important reason.
Because snow crabs are a species that live in cold water areas, these snow crabs usually live in seas with water temperatures below 2℃. Over the years, as the earth's climate continues to warm, the water temperature in many seas has risen sharply, and the sea water near Alaska has also seen a rise in water temperature. Some scientists' research shows that warming near the Arctic is very fast, four times faster than the temperature rises in other parts of the earth, so sea ice near the Arctic has melted faster, and sea ice is getting less and less, especially the Bering Strait near Alaska, which is now becoming less suitable for these snow crabs.
is extinct or is already on the road?
7 billion snow crabs disappear "breathfully" are not an exception. Over the years, similar " tragedy " have been constantly emerging. I believe that many friends still remember this incident that happened on the beach in North Island, New Zealand: Thousands of mussels were "roasted" to death on the beach. Scientists say that as the impact of climate warming intensifies, more mussels will be "roasted" to death in the future due to high temperatures.
marine scientist Andrew Jeffs from the University of Auckland said that the large-scale death of mussels in the North Island of New Zealand was caused by abnormally warm weather and low tides. In the future, more marine organisms will be affected by climate change, and there is no good way to protect these shellfish at this stage.
Before New Zealand large-scale mussels were "roasted" on the beach to death. Until now, humans have discovered that the number of snow crabs in the Bering Strait has dropped sharply. In addition, many wild animals are on the verge of extinction. The latest evaluation report released by the World World Fund for Nature shows that in the past 50 years, wild animals around the world have decreased by almost 70%, involving as many as 32,000 populations. Now that so many species have disappeared and many species are on the verge of extinction, will the sixth mass extinction really occur on the earth?
According to the situation on Earth over the past few billion years, species extinction is actually inevitable, because the earth's environment has been changing, so species also need to continue to evolve to adapt to the earth's environment. In this process, many species can successfully evolve to adapt to the environment, and some species are eliminated because they cannot keep up with the evolution and cannot adapt to the environment. However, it is different if large-scale species suddenly become extinct in a short period of time. There have been five mass extinction events on the earth, and most species have disappeared in these mass extinction events. At this stage, although there are indeed many species on the verge of extinction on Earth, it has not reached the same as the previous mass extinction events. Therefore, it is a bit exaggerated to say that the earth is in 's sixth mass extinction.
Although the current extinction rate of organisms on Earth cannot be compared with previous mass extinction events, if we do not take measures to protect species on the verge of extinction, mass extinction events may really occur in the future. Given that many species are extinct nowadays, many ecologists think we may be witnessing the beginning of the sixth mass extinction. The causes of the first five mass extinctions were caused by asteroid collisions with the Earth, volcanic eruption and other natural disasters. If the Earth really has the sixth mass extinction incident, the driving force behind it may be us humans.
