IS HUMANITY SUICIDAL

The world's fauna and flora has entered a crisis unparalleled since th e end of the Mesozoic Era, with the extinction rate of species now ele vated to more than a thousand times that existing before the coming of humanity. Scientists and policy makers are ill-prepared to moderate t his hemorrhaging, because so little is known of the biology of the Ear th's millions of species and because so little effort has been directe d toward conservation thus far. With the vanished species will go grea t potential wealth in scientific knowledge, new products, ecosystems s ervices, and part of the natural world in which the human species orig inated. The need for new research and improved management is thus urge nt. If it is not met, humanity will likely survive, but in a world bio logically impoverished for all time.