A Sixth Mass Extinction?

A spectacular claim?

In my lifetime half of the world's wildlife have been wiped off the face of the Earth... - The Extinction Rebellion?

A sensational headline?

Humanity has wiped out 60% of animal populations since 1970, report finds - The Guardian

Once again, not to be mistaken for Tuesday's With Morrie, it's Tuesdays With Trump... 

Following up on How Trump Won The White House? Regardless of your political leanings, whether you're blue, red, or just fed up with politicians, the MSM and their BS...

The above reference report, The Living Planet Report - 2018 Aiming Higher states that the latest index shows an overall decline of 60% in population sizes between 1970 and 2014. See the WWF website (not wrestling knuckleheads) for further details.

In the last 44 years, have we really wiped out 60 percent of the animals?

The result from the latest Living Planet Report shows that globally, monitored populations of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians have declined in abundance by 60% on average during this 44-year period. Does this mean we have lost 60% of animals? Well, luckily, no!

The LPI results are calculations of average trends. An average trend in population change is not an average of total numbers of animals lost.  Well that's good news, right?

The magnitude of the declining trends exceeds that of the increasing trends in order to result in an average decline for the global LPI. This also suggests that the global LPI is not being driven by just a few very threatened species, but that there are a large number of species in each group (almost 50%) that together produce an average declining trend. - The Data Behind The Report

So the result of an average declining trend is not good, should we pay attention? 

The findings of a major new report have been widely mischaracterized—although the actual news is still grim....When the reality is this sensational, there’s not much need to sensationalize it even further. Bottom line: Things are bad.

Does this let the talking monkey's off the hook?  Au contraire...

Since prehistory, humans have killed off so many species of mammals that it would take 3 million to 7 million years of evolution for them to evolve an equivalent amount of diversity. At least a third of amphibians face extinction, thanks to climate change, habitat loss, and an apocalyptic killer fungus. Even invertebrates aren’t off the hook. There might be fewer data for them, but the data that exist paint an alarming picture of rapidly disappearing insects, even in supposedly pristine forests. Meanwhile, in the oceans, coral reefs are bleaching too quickly to recover: Half of the corals in the Great Barrier Reef have died since 2016. - The Atlantic

Is this just sensationalized doom and gloom? 

"This is not a doom and gloom story; it is reality. The astonishing decline in wildlife populations shown by the latest Living Planet Index – a 60% fall in just over 40 years – is a grim reminder and perhaps the ultimate indicator of the pressure we exert on the planet."

How much pressure have humans exerted? Species are going extinct 100 to 1,000 times faster than in geological times (Pimm et al. 1995) and will get worse with climate change. - TEEB

Current rates of species extinction are 100 to 1000 times higher than the background rate, [which is] the standard rate of extinction in earth's history before human pressure became a prominent factor.

 What could result from this additional human pressure?

Of all species that have existed on Earth, 99.9 percent are now extinct. Many of them perished in five cataclysmic events. According to a recent poll, seven out of ten biologists think we are currently in the throes of a sixth mass extinction. Some say it could wipe out as many as 90 percent of all species living today. - PBS:A Modern Mass Extinction?

Recommended Reading:
The Extinction Rebellion?
One Polar Ice Cap - Neat Please?
That Map Is Melting?
Tilt? Game Over?
The Clocks Ticking?
Irma: Lying To Us? - Part 2 
Irma: Lying To Us? - Part 1
Carbon Capture and a Warming Plate? 
Ye' Reap What Ye' Sow?