In 2011, paleontologist Anthony Barnoski and his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, published
The cause of extinction was human activity -people destroy habitual habitats of animals and plants, which leads to a reduction in biodiversity. Probably, this process has a greater impact on plants - unlike animals, they cannot move when their habitat is destroyed. Another important reason is the increase in global temperature.
During the study, researchers studied more than 400oceanic and terrestrial species found throughout the world. Assessing the maximum and minimum temperatures for different species, the researchers concluded that 56% of oceanic species experienced a decrease in habitat due to global warming, compared with 27% of terrestrial species.
“We found that all over the world, marinespecies were eradicated from their native habitats due to rising temperatures at twice the rate of terrestrial species. The results suggest that enhanced conservation efforts will be necessary if people continue to use the ocean as a resource to support wealth, nutrition and economic activity."
Malin Pinski, Rutgers University
Previously, scientists from Percease College in New York, based on observations of wild animal GPS tags, concluded that one out of every four of them died at the hands of humans.