The Holocene extinction, also known as the Anthropocene extinction, is the current mass extinction and the 18th extinction event in Earth's history. It is often called the sixth or seventh mass extinction (depending on whether the Capitanian or Eocene-Oligocene extinctions are considered to be mass extinctions). The onset and duration of the Holocene extinction are a matter of debate. Various researchers associate its beginning with the appearance of anatomically modern humans (specifically Homo sapiens sapiens) around 200,000 years ago; with the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary around 11,700 years ago; or with later events.
Fauna[]
About 1 million species are projected to disappear, many of them being megafauna species, such as elephants, giraffes, zebra, big cats, wolves and their relatives, whales and dolphins, xenarthrans, afrotherians, and non human primates (lemurs, apes, monkeys, and other assorted primates), among others. Many of these species evolved during the Pleistocene, though they were much numerous during the Pleistocene and the early Holocene before humans appeared and wiped them out.
Most of the marine mammal fauna (particularly cetaceans) are also of Pleistocene stock, but outlived most of the Pleistocene land megafauna (excluding the megafauna that lived past the Pleistocene) due to being safe from human influence, as they were in the oceans and humanity did not have advanced technology yet to overharvest/overexploit the oceans at the time. If any marine mammalian fauna disappeared, it most likely would have been coastal species, like pinnipeds and sirenians, with such species restricted to a certain specific range.
Consequences[]
An extinction such as this can have disastrous and long lasting effects on humanity, and such effects will become a burden for humanity, which includes the disappearance of much needed buffer species who are necessary to the survival of their respective environments and ecosystems. For example, animals such as deer have deadly ectoparasites which are dangerous to humans. When deer become extinct, their parasites will be forced to search for new hosts, and thus, will use humanity and their livestock and pets as hosts. Another example is the freshwater isopod Hyallela azteca, which is used to measure the ph level in freshwater. This particular species is easily threatened by water pollution such as dumping wastewater and freshwater acidification.