The ongoing sixth mass extinction may be one of the most serious environmental threats to the persistence of civilisation.
This research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).
Mass extinction refers to a substantial increase in the degree of extinction or when the Earth loses more than three-quarters of its species in a geologically short period of time.
So far, during the entire history of the Earth, there have been five mass extinctions.
The five mass extinctions that took place in the last 450 million years have led to the destruction of 70-95 per cent of the species of plants, animals and microorganisms that existed earlier.
The sixth one, which is ongoing, is referred to as the Anthropocene extinction.
Researchers have described it as the “most serious environmental problem” since the loss of species will be permanent.
The loss of species has been occurring since human ancestors developed agriculture over 11,000 years ago.
Tropical regions have seen the highest number of declining species.