Mass Extinction Scam | Watts up with that?

James D. Agresti | President | just the truth

In contrast to 60 Minutes, the overwhelming truth is that the earth is not in the midst of an “extinction crisis”.

SOURCE:

On January 23, 2017, 60 Minutes reported, “A World Wildlife Fund study found that over the past 50 years, global wildlife abundance has decreased by 69%.” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/earth-mass-extinction-60-minutes-2023-01-01/

World Wildlife Fund research cited by 60 Minutes is based on the “Living Planet Index”.
https://wwflpr.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/lpr_2022_full_report.pdf#page=18

Scholars in academic journals have noted that the Living Planet Index (LPI) “does not measure abundance.” However, the World Wildlife Fund states that they have and receive “high media coverage” making “a common mistake in interpreting LPI as a measure of loss of abundance”. .
https://leung-lab.github.io/leunglab/articles/Leung_2022_601a.pdf
https://wwflpr.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/lpr_2022_full_report.pdf#page=18

Claiming that the Living Planet Index shows an “average decline in vertebrates of more than 50% since 1970” is “due to less than 3% of vertebrate populations”, while “no no global trends are maintained in typical populations”. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2920-6

A study using the world’s largest database of long-term species richness found: “Most populations (85%) show no significant trends in abundance and populations tend to balance winners (8%) and losers (7%). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ele.13242

The “up to 100 times” figure from Barnosky’s study actually “varying from 8 to 100 times”. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.140253

A book on biodiversity by Cambridge University Press explains that no “serious” attempt has been made to “reliability assessment” of fossil-based extinction rates because of “the uncertainty at each computation stage” would render that effort worthless. So, the book says: “Perhaps no one would be surprised if this estimate is wrong by 10 or even 100.” https://www.amazon.com/Biodiversity-Environmental-Philosophy-Introduction-Cambridge-ebook/dp/B000SHMQES

Barnosky’s study counted all “617” extinct or “possibly extinct” vertebral species since 1500. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.140253

An academic journal records that 95% of bird and mammal extinctions since 1500 “have been on islands”. It is therefore “helpful to treat islands as a special case” because species have “smaller geographical ranges” and other differences that make them more susceptible to extinction than mainland species. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00856.x

According to the textbook Conservation and Ecology, “Baseline extinction rate estimates” from fossils “come from the abundant and widespread species that dominate the fossil record. In contrast, the species most likely to become extinct today are rare and local.” https://www.amazon.com/Conservation-Ecology-Living-Earth-Rafferty/dp/1615303073

According to the textbook Paleontology and Vertebrate Evolution, “The particularly important bias of the fossil record is shown to favor rare and/or geographically restricted organisms. physical.” https://www.amazon.com/Vertebrate-Paleontology-Evolution-Robert-Carroll/dp/0716718227

A 2011 article in the journal Diversity and Distribution revealed that “only six continental bird species and three continental mammalian species have been recorded in the standard database as near-extinct as of[…]1500 compared to the 123 species of birds and 58 species of mammals on the island.” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00856.x

A 2015 paper in the journal Science revealed that “there have been only 15 global extinctions of marine mammals in the last 514 years” and “none in the last five decades”. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1255641

An article in the journal Endangered Species Research by an Australian scientist claims that some scientists have overstated “the risk of wildlife extinction” by exaggerating ” deliberate and crude”. The article also states that scientists who designate species as “endangered” are “general beneficiaries” of the funding generated by these designations. Thus, “the potential for self-service assessments has long been recognized.” http://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2008/6/n006p161.pdf

The scientists who authored the paper in the journal Diversity and Distribution said: “Our results do not support the claims or predictions of others about elevated extinction rates for the species. continental mammals and birds over the past 500 years against background rates.” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00856.x

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter tasked the EPA, the State Department, the National Science Foundation, and several other federal agencies with a “study of possible changes” to the “population” the world’s digital resources, natural resources and environment” until 2000. This turned out to be an extraordinary effort, involving hundreds of people, including “informal advisors” to the research representative of the world’s leading environmental organizations. https://www.justfacts.com/document/global_2000_report_president_carter_1979.pdf#page=4

In 1979, a group of dream scientists published the 2000 Global Report to the President of the United States, which stated that “at least 500,000–600,000” species “will be extinct in the next two decades” due to “continuous technological progress” and “no different from current public policy.” https://www.justfacts.com/document/global_2000_report_president_carter_1979.pdf#page=357

In 2004, the International Union for Conservation of Nature reported, “At least 27 species have been recorded as Extinct or Extinct in the Wild in the last 20 years (1984–2004). … For example, eight bird species were thought to have become Extinct or Extinct in the Wild in the last 20 years, but they were not included, as further research is needed to prove the last individual died.” https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/RL-2004-001.pdf

The Global Report 2000 to the President of the United States states: “How many extinctions are implied by the Forestry projections of the Global Study 2000? An estimate was prepared for the 2000 Thomas E. Lovejoy Global Study of the World Wildlife Fund.” https://www.justfacts.com/document/global_2000_report_president_carter_1979.pdf#page=353

The CBS 60-minute footage is reproduced under the fair use clause of US copyright law for “purposes such as criticism” and “commentary” (17 USC §107). https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107Show less