extinction risk
Species disappearance likelihood
Extinction risk is the probability that a species will cease to exist entirely.
Conservation biologists assess extinction risk based on population size, habitat loss, and reproductive rates: The extinction risk for polar bears has increased due to melting sea ice.
The term also applies to broader catastrophic scenarios—asteroid impacts, pandemics, or nuclear war—that could threaten humanity itself: Researchers study extinction risk from artificial intelligence.
- habitat lossElimination of living spaces
- climate changePlanetary atmospheric transformation
- point of no returnThreshold beyond which reversal impossible
- endangeredAt risk of extinction
- on the brinkAt the threshold
biodiversity · species · keystone species · endemic species · irreversible · mass die-off · deforestation · population size · invasive species · protected areas · overhunting · habitat restoration · conservation · natural disasters · legal protections · urbanization · pollution · resource scarcity
- conservationconservation, wildlife, endangered, habitat, sanctuary
- extinctiondodo, extinct, died out, passenger pigeon, extinct species
- dangersdanger, peril, hazard, menace, threat
- wildlife statusendangered, extinct, vulnerable, threatened, rare species
- population ecologypopulation density, population growth, carrying capacity, population size, birth rate
- population dynamicsbirth rate, population size, death rate, growth rate, mortality rate