Scientists have concluded that the animals of Earth, and possibly the planet itself, are dying. The San Francisco Gate reports the shocking news and with the animals gone, it will be catastrophic. As an aside, the researchers blame humans for the species’ demise (of course). It just so happens that one of the researchers is none other than Paul Ehrlich of The Population Bomb fame.

You remember Paul Ehrlich, right? He is the nutcase who said in 1968 that mankind would face extinction through mass starvation within ten years due to resource depletion resulting from population growth. To rectify the hype built up from his predictions, Ehrlich not only proposed special taxes on diapers and children, but also suggested sneaking sterilization of the public through drinking water, and even lacing foreign food assistance with anti-fertility drugs. Erich’s ideas had such an impact that India instituted a sterilization program where millions of people were sterilized in which some sterilization was forcibly administered. Despite none of Erlich’s doom and gloom predictions having come true, he remains unapologetic and continues to purport his apocalyptic vision like a fire and brimstone clergyman.

Mammals, birds and reptiles are disappearing from the planet so rapidly that a team of scientists concluded Friday that Earth is in the midst of a sixth mass extinction, one so dire that it could threaten the existence of humanity.

The scientific study, published Friday in the journal Science Advances, determined that animals are going extinct at a rate 100 times faster than normal if nature was on its regular course.

The joint study by scientists from the UC Berkeley, Stanford University and other research institutions said humans are polluting the ecosystem, destroying habitat and killing off species at a rate so rapid that the demise of animals like elephants, tigers, rhinoceros and others could occur within three human lifetimes.

“In real terms, we’re in trouble,” said Paul Ehrlich, a Stanford professor and president of the Center for Conservation Biology who co-authored the study. “This is another indicator that we are sawing off the limbs that we are sitting on.”

Since Ehrlich wrote about population growth, the population has admittedly more than doubled to seven billion. But the amount of food per head has gone up dramatically thanks to genetically modified foods and other means to enhance the food supply. This along with technological innovations in healthcare that help keep people alive. While there are famines that is attributed to poor government policies and not population. The death rate has actually gone down. I don’t think a significant number of Americans have starved.

I wonder if Ehrlich and his colleagues would be able to explain the explosion of the alligator population explosion in the American Southeast. It has gotten so bad there that people in places like Florida are barricading themselves in their homes. Meanwhile in the Northeastern US, thanks to a cold winter, the white tailed deer population has risen dramatically. There is no doubt the climate is changing. Unfortunately, some species will go extinct. Species live and adjust to climate changes while other species die. That is a natural fact of life but not solely or mostly due to humans activity.