Elimination of old species and introduction of new ones is nature’s way of maintaining continuity and promoting evolution of living organisms on the earth. So, biologically, extinction and evolution are meant to go hand in hand.

But thanks to us- humans. ’Anthropogenic’ activities are interfering with these natural processes by accelerating their rate. This is leading to faster extinctions than the earth had ever seen. In fact, 20% of the current species are expected to become extinct in the coming 30 years.

Once browing through some lecture notes one day, I came across the fact that species diversity in terms of both variety and number increases the persistence of an eco-system. So, as gradually more and more species become extinct, the tolerance of our eco-systems decreases.This fact can be very aptly explained according to the Rivet Popper Hypothesis by Stanford Biologist Paul Ehrlich.

He assumed an airplane to be an eco-system and the rivets joining the plane’s parts- its species. Now if the passengers start popping rivets, i.e. cause species to become extinct, it may not affect flight safety initially. However, as more rivets are removed, eventually the plane will become extremely weak. Moreover, which rivet is removed is an important factor. For e.g. Rivets on the wings (key species) are more important than the ones on seats.

This is something we really need to ponder over. There are uncountable species of flora and fauna that have still not been discovered. The rainforests alone house millions of insects, plants, animals. And many of them are in the danger of getting lost without even being noticed! We need to think- lest our children should pay the price of our carelessness.