The article indicates that the bulk of the extinction of large mammals happened during the Quaternary Extinction[1], between 52kya and 9kya, so 100 years ago the damage was already done. It also makes the argument that the extinction events in each region coincided with the arrival of humans to that region, which would imply that these extinctions were not due to climatic changes.I don't mean to imply that we're doing enough right now to keep our planet healthy. I agree with your sentiment and just wanted to provide a little context and clarification.
[1] https://ourworldindata.org/mammals#quaternary-megafauna-exti...
myshpa|3 years ago
10.000 years ago ... 15 mil. tonnes of carbon
100 years ago ... 10 mil. tonnes of carbon
now ... 3 mil. tonnes of carbon
https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2021/04/Decline-of-wild-m...
First 5 mil. tonnes took 90.000 year. Next 5 mil. 9.900 years. Next 7 mil. 100 years. 3 mil. remain, most of the megafauna is already gone.
If we continue this trend, in 30 years there'll be only mice, mosquitos, and medusas. And farm animals, of course.
We have to switch to plant-based diets. Now. There is no other way. No time to wait for technological breakthroughs.
pha392|3 years ago