2012中科院考博阅完形.docVIP

There have been five extinction waves in the planets history — including the Permian extinction 250 million years ago,?when?an estimated 70% of all terrestrial animals and 96% of all marine creatures vanished, and, most recently, the Cretaceous event 65 million years ago, which ended the reign of the dinosaurs. Though scientists have directly assessed the viability of fewer than 3% of the worlds described species, the sample polling of animal populations so far suggests that we may have entered?what?will be the planets sixth great extinction wave. And this time the cause isnt an errant asteroid or megavolcanoes. Its us.Through our growing numbers, our thirst for natural resources and, most of all, climate change — which, by one reckoning, could help carry off 20% to 30% of all species before the end of the century — were shaping an?Earth?that will be biologically impoverished. A 2008 assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature found that nearly 1 in 4 mammals worldwide was at risk for extinction, including endangered species like the famous Tasmanian devil. Overfishing and acidification of the oceans are threatening marine species as diverse as the bluefin tuna and reef-forming corals. Just about everything is going down, says Simon Stuart, head of the IUCNs species-survival commission. And when I think about the impact of climate change, it really scares me.Scary for conservationists, yes, but the question arises, Why should it matter to the rest of us? After all, nearly all the species that were ever alive in the past are gone today.?Evolution?demands extinction. When were using the term extinction to talk about the fate of the U.S. auto industry, does it really matter if we lose species like the Holdridges toad, the Yangtze River dolphin and the golden toad, all of which have effectively disappeared in recent years? What does the loss of a few species among millions matter??For one thing, were animals too, dependent on this planet like