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When will the next mass extinction occur? - Borths, D'Emic, and Pritchard

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About 66 million years ago, a terrible extinction event wiped out the dinosaurs. But it wasn’t the only event of this kind -- extinctions of various severity have occurred throughout the Earth’s history -- and are still happening all around us today. Borths, D'Emic, and Pritchard give a quick history of mass extinctions.

If extinction is a normal part of ecosystems, and mass extinctions have happened before, why should humans be concerned about the rising extinction rate? What do current extinctions tell us about our impact on modern environments?

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TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Mattew Borths, Michael D'Emic, Adam Pritchard
  • Script Editor Alex Gendler
  • Director Juliette Marchand
  • Animator Guillaume Pallat
  • Narrator Addison Anderson

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