We are at the brink of a period of mass extinction potentially greater than the cataclysm of 65 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs and two-thirds of all species. This time, the cause is entirely new: Humans are destroying habitats of a substantial portion of the world's other 10 million species.
Ten percent of the species have already been lost. If the destruction of terrestrial and marine wilderness areas continues unchecked, one-half to two-thirds of all species could face almost certain extinction.