Climate Change and Extinction: What the Facts Really Say

Climate change has been a hot topic for years, with many people saying it's causing animals and plants to die out at an alarming rate. But a new report from the UK Royal Society shakes things up. It says that extinction rates haven't gone up much in the last 200 years. In fact, for bugs and plants, the rates have actually gone down in the last 100 years. This report looks at a lot of data. It shows that most extinctions happen on islands. This is often because of invasive species, not climate change. Habitat loss is also a big problem. These issues are being tackled, but they're not always linked to climate change. The report also looks at the IUCN Red List. It shows that turtles and mollusks have the highest extinction rates. Freshwater fish are more at risk than marine fish. Many freshwater extinctions are caused by dams, like the ones built on Alabama's Coosa River.It's hard to study extinctions. But the report makes some clear points. For example, many plant extinctions peaked in the 1920s. This matches other studies. Environmentalism has become political. Some people use it to push for more control. They say burning fossil fuels is causing climate change. But taking care of the planet is different. It's about reducing habitat loss and protecting nature. It's also about managing waste, like plastic. There are some strange things happening in the name of environmentalism. Wind turbines kill bats and birds. Rainforests are being destroyed for EV batteries. The Amazon is being cut down for windmill parts. At a COP conference in Brazil, 100, 000 rainforest trees were cut down. This was for a conference about preserving the rainforest. Climate science is often seen as settled. But scares are invented to push political agendas. When David Attenborough talks about mass extinctions, people should ask, "Where are the bodies? "