Definition

A rapid, widespread reduction in biodiversity on Earth. Historically there have been five mass extinctions. Scientists believe we are undergoing the sixth mass extinction, known as the Holocene extinction or Anthropocene extinction.

Further reading
What is the sixth mass extinction and what can we do about it? - World Wildlife Fund (WWF) [website],
There have been five mass extinctions in Earth's history - Our World in Data (Ritchie, 2022) [website]
Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived? (Barnosky et al., 2011) [journal article]
Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction (Ceballos et al., 2015) [journal article]
Related

biodiversity crisis; biodiversity loss; biotic crisis; ecocide; extinction event; Extinction Level Event (ELE); major extinction events; mass extinction events; species losses

See also
Anthropocene
Biodiversity
Defaunation
Explore by theme
Challenges
Environmental Changes
Drafted by
Chris Graham
Reviewed by
TBC