So often, we look abroad for species that are going extinct but we have our own in New England which are in dire straights.

For example, Spotted and Jeffersonian salamanders are only a fraction of what they used to be. As early as the mid-1970s, I used to see thousands of Spotted salamanders mating on First Night in the spring. Now I only see few if I can find them at all.

Also, the Spotted turtle and cousins, Wood, Bog, and Blandings turtle are almost impossible to find any longer and they breed only a few each year.

The problem?? We have too many people on the planet.

Nick, Petersham, MA

I heard recently that while the entire north Atlantic has about 180 species of fish, Lake Malawi has 1,000 species.

WHAT ARE THE FACTORS THAT PROMOTE EVOLUTION other than a rapidly-changing environment (which I don’t think has been the case in Malawi)? (Even a rapidly-changing environment can promote evolution only if there’s a high rate of mutation.)

Does the rate of 1.0M years toward extinction apply to the human species too? Are we expediting our own extinction in our carelessness in balancing with nature?

I live in South East Alabama. Our county line borders North West Florida. In the 1960’s there were panthers and bears in our county. During the past 40 years many of the hard wood forests have been destroyed. I haven’t seen evidence of any panthers in over 40 years. Panthers have a strange sound. It isn’t a roar. It is more like a cry or a scream and very spooky.

We also have a large bird population. But birds like blue herons are very rare now too.

Unfortunately the population here is very religiously fundamental and any discussion of environmental issues are met with scoffing and boos. They say it is “God’s will” and choose to ignore any scientific studies that show our human impact on our world. I continue to hope that this mindset will change before it is too late.

Two words to prevent extinction:

POPULATION CONTROL

Ours not theirs. Control our population and we will prevent their extinction.

This past weekend I attended a workshop by the non-profit http://www.heartofthehealer.org Foundation. Yesterday they quoted some of the statistics of extinction of species and the destruction of rainforests.

They have a “Rainforest Sanctuary Initiative designed to protect Amazonian biodiversity…conserving thousands of acres of rainforest…and restoring the health of our Earth.”

What we can do as individuals is contibute to that cause.

I believe this is one of the gravest issues facing our planet & life on earth. I agree with the posted comment about controlloing our own population. How can any other animal have a chance when there are billions of humans consuming the past, present and future.

I too live in Alabama and have observed the same mindset related by Ms. Wynn (i.e. the resources, the planet’s wildlife, forests are here for our use, enjoyment and fulfillment). To change that prevalent mindset will require a complete cultural shift of the magnitude envisioned by Sam Harris in his the “End of Faith” book. This is not something that is likely to happen. I respect those of faith who think they can change their fellow members of their faith within the context of the religion, but I am doubtful.

Before my current occupation, I was a micropaleontologist (studied the long extinct (since the Permian), the cosmopolitan, multi-specie, “Conondont”). Past extinctions of animal and plant life on Earth was something I found facinating. I am sorry to see that humans are driving the extinction of so many creatures. My love for our planet’s present wildlife and biodeversity could not be greater. I have been to Kauai’s mountains and seen the I’iwi and other endangered Hawaiian birds. I wondered what the forest sounded like their before the arrival of humans.

We can always hope things will change.

[...] Stuart Pimm, one of the world’s leading experts on extinction, was today’s guest on NPR’s “Species at the Brink” on On Point with Tom Ashbrook. According to Pimm, up to one half of the world’s species could be extinct within 100 years. [...]

It is unreasonable to assume we won’t become extinct.

Re. Marian Wynn’s observation that some people believe animal extinction is “God’s will”: Doesn’t it say somewhere in the Bible that God made human beings “stewards” of the Earth? If so, it would be God’s will that we take better care of His creation.

please note corrected email address

please note second correction to my email address. sorry.

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I moved to the mountains of Massachusetts last winter. My new neighbors told me that the Spring Peeper frogs would be “deafening.” They were startled and I disappointed that only a few individual frogs peeped this past spring. Is there any progress in the study as to why Madagascar seems to be the only country that’s free of the chytridiomycosis fungus that’s killing amphibians?

I’m happy to report that our vernal pool is still well populated with peepers. It’s like a thousand quacking ducks!

Human overpopulation is the reason other species are becoming extinct. What we fail to understand, however, is that we are part of nature and live by the laws of nature. When the food supply of a given species increases, so does the population. We increase the human food supply ever year, and every year we add more humans. What we need is a new vision forget about the one that tells us we are different than other species and that we’re supposed to be stewards of the world. The world got along fine without us for 3 million years. It is humans who are dependent on the world, not the other way around. Author Daniel Quinn provides great insight into this idea in many of his books.

Tom, I love your show and listen often. It is much better than the Connection that was too heady for me. and BTW, You are cute, but you can’t hold a candle to the monkey at the top of the page. Thanks for a great show. Since I am an artist who sculpts animal headed goddess figures in wood, I spend alot of time studying photos of animals and thinking about why I do what I do. What don’t I feel passionately about the MSPCA, for example. And listening to your show, I realize what inspires me about animals is their wild side and what I think makes nature beautiful is the mystery and complexity and living in balance with the environment. I feel so fortunate that good, smart people like Stuart Primm are devoting their minds and lives to this important cause and doing thoughtful work in the world with its creatures.

We increase the human food supply ever year, and every year we add more humans.

Parker, also note that due to advances in medicine and science – which we call progress – people are also living longer than before, thus needing and consuming more resources in their lifetime. Though the overall world population growth rate is on the decline.

Another factor is the choices we make at the dinner table. Meat requires many times more resources than plant-based food, so if a shift is made towards plant-based foods, it can ease up some pressure on the resources. Currently, meat is not grown sustainably in the US, and has negative external costs associated with it.

It may not be much, but to raise some awareness in a moderately fun way I’ve created a bracket on bracketeers.com called Most Endearing Endangered Animals. For each person who votes, I will make a modest donation in the name of the winner to savingspecies.org.

Check it out at http://www.bracketeers.com