Extinction at an Alarming Rate

Global warming may take second chair in global environmental concerns as the case for mass extinction strengthens. Biologists at UC Santa Barbara are in the process of evaluating the potential ecological damage and prioritizing conservation efforts. From Science Daily:

"The current extinction event is due to human activity, paving the planet, creating pollution, many of the things that we are doing today," said co-author Bradley J. Cardinale, assistant professor of ecology, evolution and marine biology (EEMB) at UC Santa Barbara. "The Earth might well lose half of its species in our lifetime. We want to know which ones deserve the highest priority for conservation."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081020171454.htm