Recent mass extinction is comparable with the preceding mass extinction event of planet Earth

The synergistic effects of direct human perturbations and climate change have been causing the mass extinction of species. The current extinction rate is about 100–1000 times the background rate. The local biodiversity intactness in terrestrial ecosystems is perhaps already beyond the planetary boundary on more than half of the world’s land surface.

About 70% of the forests are within 1 km of the forest edges, which reduces biodiversity by 10–70%.

According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 10–30% of the world’s amphibian, bird and mammal species are threatened by extinction.

Wilson suggests that half of the species will face an extinction by 2100. Nonlinearities, positive feedbacks, abrupt collapses and regime shifts are being observed globally. The rate of temperature increase, ocean acidification, sea level rises, anoxic ocean dead zones and extinctions make the recent mass extinction comparable with the "Big Five ¹", even with the greatest End Permian extinction event, which wiped out 90% of species.