extinction rate
Species loss pace
Extinction rate measures how quickly species are disappearing from Earth, typically expressed as the number of species lost per unit of time.
Scientists compare current rates to the natural "background" rate—the pace at which species would vanish without human influence.
Current extinction rates are estimated at 100 to 1,000 times the background rate.
The term appears frequently in discussions of biodiversity loss and conservation policy.
- biodiversityRange of life forms
- species lossDisappearance of organism types
- endangeredAt risk of extinction
- speciesFinest taxonomic rank
- declineDecrease or refuse
disappearing · dying out · habitat · loss · conservation · threatened · dying · vanishing · fossil · dodo · habitat loss · dinosaur · collapse · tipping point · on the brink · ecosystem · wildlife · deforestation
- extinctiondodo, died out, passenger pigeon, Tasmanian tiger, thylacine
- island ecologyoceanic islands, endemic species, archipelago, archipelagos, atoll
- Human Impacthuman impact, carbon footprint, ecological footprint, climate change, global warming
- survival ratessurvival odds, five-year survival, cancer survival, species survival, infant mortality
- climate recordshottest day, coldest day, highest temperature, lowest temperature, glacier retreat
- ecology metricsspecies diversity, evenness, abundance, dominance, rarefaction
extinction, rate, extinct, extinguish, extinguished, extinguishing, extinguishable, inextinguishable, extinguisher