48% of all species studied have declining populations (only 3% have populations that are growing.)

the current rate of extinction is faster than any of the 5 previous mass extinctions. the most recent mass extinction (not counting the current one) resulted in the loss of 95% of all life on earth.

great apes are on track to lose 94% of their range to climate change by 2050.

when baptistina killed the dinosaurs, the asteroid penetrated more than 20 miles into the earth. it was 4 times as hot as the sun, and turned all of the soil and rock that it came into contact with into gas. much of the gas was launched into space, where it cooled into droplets of glass, which rained down across the entire earth.

contrary to what you may have learned in school, the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs likely did the deed in a single afternoon, raising the air temperature across our entire planet by hundreds of degrees.

rather than dying out over hundreds or thousands of years due to cold caused by dust in the atmosphere, they burned alive.

the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs is called baptistina.

since the late 1990's, human beings are having less sex every year. this is true for all ages, genders, and in almost all countries.

over the past 35 years, the number of invertebrates such as beetles and bees has declined by 45% worldwide. birds, amphibians, and other animals that feed on insects declined as a result.

the loss is attributed to global climate change.

between 1989 and 2016, the number of flying insects on earth dropped 76%. the decline continues.

we are in the middle of the 6th mass extinction in the earth's history. here is a list of the animals that have gone extinct in just the last 100 years.

690 species extinctions occur every week. because of this, the number of vertebrates on earth is half of what it was just 40 years ago. this marks the 6th mass extinction in earth's history, but the only one caused by a single species.

due to a minor climate change between 1315 and 1322, there was universal crop failure from russia to great britain. millions died of starvation, rich or poor, some even killed their children and ate them.

at the end of the permian period, about 250 million years ago, a subterranean lava plume blew up all of siberia. it also set fire to nearby coal fields. as a result, most of the earth's atmosphere became toxic, and 90% of all living things died. it took 80 million years for life to recover. and it could happen again at any time.

in 1914, it's estimated that there were more than 100,000 wild tigers in asia, russia, and india. today, there are fewer than 3,200.

the london zoological society compiled a database of animal populations across more than 10,000 species. they found that species declined at an average of 52% over the past 40 years, and that freshwater species declined by 76%.

the biggest culprit: habitat loss, as humans continue to crowd out other species and monopolize resources.

every year, the sahara desert grows, killing almost everything in its path. 9 african nations have pledged to plant a 9-mile-wide band of trees across the continent to stop the desert's advance. unfortunately, it won't work.

americans eat 59 billion animals per year.

chairman mao of china decided that, to protect the grain harvest, all citizens should kill sparrows. they did - and the population of insects that the sparrows normally ate skyrocketed, ate all the grain, and caused widespread famine.

roughly 12 species go extinct per day. if this rate continues, 30% to 50% of all species will be extinct by 2050 - the 6th mass extinction since the earth began.

between 100 million and  billion birds die each year from colliding with glass windows, wind turbines and towers.