The Holocene—or Anthropocene—Extinction is the sixth mass extinction in Earth’s 4.5 billion year history. It is entirely the result of the human degradation of forests and rainforests, grasslands and wetlands, coral reefs and mangroves, and human encroachment on nature. Almost one million species of flora and fauna worldwide face extinction in the coming decades. According to a study published this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, “515 species {are} on the brink (1.7% of the evaluated vertebrates). Around 94% of the populations of 77 mammal and bird species on the brink have been lost in the last century. Assuming all species on the brink have similar trends, more than 237,000 populations of those species have vanished since 1900.
This is irreversible.
The road to ruin is paved with good intentions: of the 20 targets set out by the 2010 Convention on Biological Diversity in Aichi, Japan, none have been fulfilled. Humans are a superpredator: our fangs are greed, our greed is our demise. We are imprisoned in a psychic game of inurement; death by the smoothing of edges. But Gaia finds a way.
released October 5, 2020
Lyrics by Bitsy knox
Composed & produced by Bitsy Knox & Roger 3000 in Tundra studio, Forest, Brussels.
Artwork by Julien Meert