Humans ‘triggered 96% of extinctions’

HUMANS are to blame for 96 per cent of all mammal extinctions over the past 126,000 years, a study has found.

Scientists also concluded that by the end of this century, a further 558 mammal species could be gone for ever.

Other experts believe major climatic changes associated with Ice Age cycles were the driving force behind most prehistoric extinctions. But study co-author Daniele Silvestro, of Gothenburg University in Sweden, said: ‘We find essentially no evidence for climate-driven extinctions during the past 126,000 years.

‘Instead, we found that human impact explains 96 per cent of all mammal extinctions during that time.’

The study, published in the journal Science Advances, added that humancaused climate change and other human-related threats posed a large risk for many species.