Abstract

The loss of biodiversity is a serious threat to the balance of all planetary ecosystems, due to extinction rates significantly higher than those prior to the appearance of man on Earth. Species’ extinction is a completely natural phenomenon, and it is part of those key mechanisms that allow the continuous evolution of species on the planet. Normally the extinction of one species in nature corresponds with the growth of others but in this case the extinction rates are unnatural, so fast that many species disappear from the Earth without new ones taking their place. This huge loss of biodiversity will be permanent. The presence of a highly invasive species on the planet, Homo sapiens, is the main cause of the destruction of biodiversity, due precisely to the enormous size of its population and its unstoppable growth. By becoming aware of the consequences of our daily actions, our lifestyle, our social and political ideologies, we can react to the destruction of life on the planet. Avoiding a sixth mass extinction requires rapid and intense efforts from each of us. Only in this way we can limit the damage that terrestrial ecosystems are suffering and protect endangered species. However, the time window to act and change our planet’s fate is rapidly closing