Scientists have long treated mass extinctions as events locked deep in the fossil record. That framing now feels less distant. New research points to patterns that resemble earlier biological ...

Scientists have documented five major mass extinction events in Earth's history, during which at least three-quarters of life went extinct. But with humans clearing habitats, exterminating species and ...

Farther back in our planet’s history, volcanic eruptions, rapid climate change, and plummeting oxygen levels have caused at least four additional mass extinctions, with smaller pulses of biodiversity ...

Humans have wiped out hundreds of species — with many more on the brink or experiencing large declines in population. Some scientists have argued that we have entered a “sixth mass extinction” event ...

Could we be on the verge of the sixth mass extinction? To better understand what’s to come for life on Earth–and the current harm we’re doing to our own environment–we have to look into the past. But, ...

Human activity has accelerated extinction rates, raising concerns that we may be entering a sixth mass extinction.

No species lasts forever — extinction is part of the evolution of life. But at least five times, a biological catastrophe has engulfed the planet, killing off the vast majority of species from water ...

It troubles me deeply to hear about the massive wave of extinctions that scientists predict are coming if we don’t address the current human assault on our natural environment. I am wondering what we ...

In case you haven't heard, there have been five "mass extinctions" in the history of our planet. The first mass extinction was about 450 million years ago. That's right, 450 million. (Our planet is ...