Mass extinctions and the future of life on Earth | Michael Benton | TEDxThessaloniki

Are we really on the brink of a new mass extinction? Palaeontologist Michael Benton explains how scientists trace the history of life on Earth, examines the data on biodiversity and addresses the question we all dread to ask: Will the Anthropocene mark the end of the world as we know it?
Michael Benton is the Head of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol and a Fellow of the Royal Society. A key theme in his work is the Permo-Triassic mass extinction, the largest mass extinction of all time, which took place over 250 million years ago, where he investigates how life was able to recover from such a devastating event. He has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of the history of life on Earth and he has written more than 50 books, including palaeontology textbooks for students and a children's book on dinosaurs.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

Пікірлер: 157

  • @raginald7mars408
    @raginald7mars408 Жыл бұрын

    ... as a German Biologist - Michael Benton is a highly impressive Biologist and Role Model for the World. As the World has no respect for Persons like Benton we self extinct easy...

  • @sidearmsalpha
    @sidearmsalpha3 жыл бұрын

    Despite our best efforts, eventually something is going to wipe us out because we can't get our collective asses together right now.

  • @ishrendon6435

    @ishrendon6435

    Жыл бұрын

    Even if we could it assumes we can somehow prevent it. Most diseases we cant even cure or reduce symptoms and more we cant do . Itll be hard to avoid any kind of extinction no matter what it is. Has nothing to do with the collective. Sounds too fantastical and optimistic and a wrong idea of how extinction happens.

  • @lyndaschroeder8117
    @lyndaschroeder81174 жыл бұрын

    I am your age and have lived most of my life outside and in the last 30 years so many of insects and birds l have lived with are almost gone. They pollinate our food...so that we have food....and it is too quiet. If we exclude all pesticides, herbicides and fungicides from farming hopefully that will help. With proper care and large organic farms the change in the soils will make a huge contribution in the CO2 arena. Our mono farming practices can be doomesville also. I suggest that every family who have space grow a garden....and teach your kids the same.

  • @atwaterpub

    @atwaterpub

    4 жыл бұрын

    Most people just do not understand what you are talking about. They don't notice or appreciate the insects. They don't hear the silence. Too bad, because one day they will -- and then it will be too late...

  • @futurebest4952

    @futurebest4952

    4 жыл бұрын

    It's the sun

  • @atwaterpub

    @atwaterpub

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@futurebest4952 Motorcycle riders that are old enough to remember know there are not as many bugs in the air today as there were just thirty years ago.. The planet is dying. It is NOT the sun.

  • @futurebest4952

    @futurebest4952

    4 жыл бұрын

    Yes it is were I live there are stop signs with no color due to sun uv Ray's it is probably the sun because the uv rays are disrupting the larva for the insects and that explains why there are more in other places.

  • @atwaterpub

    @atwaterpub

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@futurebest4952 Interesting theory. I tend to think that the pesticide and poisons that humanity spreads on the Earth have more to do with mutant insect larva that UV rays ever will...

  • @xkimexkime
    @xkimexkime6 жыл бұрын

    What an amazing talk.

  • @ericrobinson7184
    @ericrobinson71846 жыл бұрын

    Intellectually sharp...straight-talk!

  • @margaritaorlova6697

    @margaritaorlova6697

    4 жыл бұрын

    You did not notice several logical mistakes in the talk, did you?

  • @HelenaPedroso

    @HelenaPedroso

    4 жыл бұрын

    Can you explain it, please?

  • @notabene2403

    @notabene2403

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@margaritaorlova6697 Again, please explain!

  • @Celis.C
    @Celis.C4 жыл бұрын

    Can we just take a moment to apprrreciate how delightfully the R rrrolls of his tongue?

  • @whatabouttheearth

    @whatabouttheearth

    2 жыл бұрын

    😂😂😂 he may sound British to us Americans but that gave it away real fast

  • @tobi79777
    @tobi797774 жыл бұрын

    I need to listen to more of this guy.

  • @brock11190
    @brock111903 жыл бұрын

    Great work

  • @MartinScreeton
    @MartinScreeton6 жыл бұрын

    Reminds me of a temporary duty trip to thessaloniki way back in 1982 :) ...from Athens... and the Mass extinction is well under way... just look out your window at the weather. :)

  • @georgekikionis7167

    @georgekikionis7167

    6 жыл бұрын

    Martin Screeton i am from from thessaloniki

  • @mariaosorio3967

    @mariaosorio3967

    3 жыл бұрын

    e

  • @aishwariyasweety2433
    @aishwariyasweety24335 жыл бұрын

    I don't know what's more frightening. The facts in the video, or this comment section. Both. Both.

  • @crystalblueee

    @crystalblueee

    2 жыл бұрын

    Both. I see the trend to argue the facts and this diverts us from the reality that we could make changes to help ourselves and the other beings on earth get through hard times.

  • @josephhenry1084
    @josephhenry10845 жыл бұрын

    Did not know TED had speakers of this calibre they are normally plastic., sensationalists . Dr Benton is authentic facts, no excitement to blur the accuracy of the subject

  • @margaritaorlova6697

    @margaritaorlova6697

    4 жыл бұрын

    Did not you notice several logical mistakes at the end of the talk, did you?

  • @notabene2403

    @notabene2403

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@margaritaorlova6697 How many times you are going to repeat your insubstantial question?

  • @kenmoore45
    @kenmoore453 жыл бұрын

    The director of this video should have been fired. The boom camera invading the on-stage presence of the speaker was extremely distracting. The close-up video shots were not static but bounced around, and much of the overall video looked like an amateur production. The boom operator had no business operating the boom like s/he did. At least one of the camera operators needs more practice in a non-recording session. And the director who directed this production produced one of the worst Tedx Talks I have ever seen. The speaker did a great job despite all the things out of his control.

  • @joedohn9727
    @joedohn97274 жыл бұрын

    Man, I’ll never watch Jurassic Park the same way ever again. They never woulda made it 😥

  • @whatabouttheearth

    @whatabouttheearth

    2 жыл бұрын

    Read this guy's book, 'Vertebrate Palaeontology' by Michael Benton Watch Aron Ra's 50 part series 'Systematic Classification of Life' And birds are ALL dinosaurs, still.

  • @greylady8178
    @greylady81785 жыл бұрын

    Good

  • @shadrana1
    @shadrana14 жыл бұрын

    What can man do against a massive meteorite or if the 'ring of fire' in the Pacific all blows at once? They can panic and kill each other or keep calm and die anyways.

  • @reaperinsaltbrine5211
    @reaperinsaltbrine52113 жыл бұрын

    I am a simple man. If I see the names Benton, Ward, Wignall, Hallam, I press like :D

  • @ragereset2795

    @ragereset2795

    Жыл бұрын

    Peter Ward was the one who led me down this rabbit hole about two years ago. I’ll be chasing down the other two names you listed, so thanks!

  • @reaperinsaltbrine5211

    @reaperinsaltbrine5211

    Жыл бұрын

    @@ragereset2795 Glad to hear!

  • @peanut12345
    @peanut123453 жыл бұрын

    What are Total Species including Oceans from 1500-1600, 1600-1700,1700-1800, 1900-2000? They can't even do data on 2017, how can say there is an extinction of a species? He mentioned 5 animals over 200 years, OH My!!!

  • @Joke9972
    @Joke99726 жыл бұрын

    Though this bs about this T-Rex is irrelevant in my opinion, he's right. We have been fuelling a heat engine for many many decades (about 20-25 decades), and we felt like a frog in heating water, we could afford that for a long while, I think the sting will be in the tail. It will go haywire in no time at all, 12-20 years, starting within a few years from now. There is not much we can do now, which will have a positive effect, the damage has been done. Within a few hundred million years, there might have been risen a conscious out of some amphibians or insects, and they will find some of the stuff we had been making, and try to guess what killed us off. Who knows.

  • @whatabouttheearth

    @whatabouttheearth

    2 жыл бұрын

    Irrelevant? Do you know who this is? 😂 He's a well know Paleontologist, specifically the type of Paleontologists who study and write about dinosaurs. Check out his book 'Vertebrate Palaeontology', it's pretty good

  • @jackbranco916
    @jackbranco9165 жыл бұрын

    Well we See the Future..,?

  • @patrickmcnulty848
    @patrickmcnulty8486 жыл бұрын

    At the edge of extinction only Ocean Mechanical Thermal Energy Conversion remains so we can love more often..

  • @ronsimmsfan2661

    @ronsimmsfan2661

    5 жыл бұрын

    Nature bats last

  • @kurokku2
    @kurokku24 жыл бұрын

    Death stranding sent me here

  • @rolandedowdell-grout9687
    @rolandedowdell-grout96872 жыл бұрын

    Yes we know by now and what do we do….what is humanity doing ?

  • @porkchop1948
    @porkchop19483 жыл бұрын

    Aren't you going to be surprised when we pass through the galactic sheet.

  • @dickritchie2596
    @dickritchie25964 жыл бұрын

    Good speaker but what was his point?

  • @trevormatthews7981
    @trevormatthews79815 жыл бұрын

    I've often wondered if some of the previous mass extinctions have also been caused by the rapid spread of a particular species that then goes extinct itself. If this happened over a short period how likely is it that the evidence would exist in the fossil records and would we be smart enough to connect it.

  • @margaritaorlova6697

    @margaritaorlova6697

    4 жыл бұрын

    Did not you notice several logical mistakes at the end of the talk, did you?

  • @notabene2403

    @notabene2403

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@margaritaorlova6697 And once more, please explain!

  • @crystalblueee

    @crystalblueee

    2 жыл бұрын

    I have wondered about this as a possible factor as well

  • @jonfairway8235
    @jonfairway82353 жыл бұрын

    very interesting .... what about Global Climate change ? The Heat Engine...

  • @manuelfavata8683
    @manuelfavata86834 жыл бұрын

    When will earth become a burnt out cinder ? We don't know. But it's a Good guess that it will. Good luck folks.

  • @garryhazell7290
    @garryhazell72906 жыл бұрын

    Guy McPherson

  • @wadeinn463

    @wadeinn463

    4 жыл бұрын

    Should be on TeddyX

  • @texasRoofDoctor
    @texasRoofDoctor4 жыл бұрын

    More deck from Ted.

  • @kaisermabus6902
    @kaisermabus69025 жыл бұрын

    3:21 Boom in the shot!

  • @dickritchie2596
    @dickritchie25964 жыл бұрын

    What we should do is get a puppy.

  • @Danny-wb2zr
    @Danny-wb2zr4 жыл бұрын

    Yeah so what if it happens naturally WTF are going to do??

  • @terrencekelly1256
    @terrencekelly12565 жыл бұрын

    Remind me not to get bitten by a shark....or T-rex!!!

  • @elekkr
    @elekkr3 жыл бұрын

    What ? He was saying ; what ?

  • @yankee2666

    @yankee2666

    2 жыл бұрын

    TEDx - the place where people come to overthink life.

  • @denissitel9302
    @denissitel93022 жыл бұрын

    Sad

  • @btht1723
    @btht17234 жыл бұрын

    Well the scientists think the world is ending and the religions of the world predict the world is ending I guess one way or another it’s going to end 😕 bummer

  • @Peewee0413
    @Peewee04133 жыл бұрын

    Anyone see Bill Gates say depopulation statement?

  • @jt4369
    @jt43695 жыл бұрын

    How does 100 per day come to 40,000 per year? That's some fancy rounding.

  • @jt4369

    @jt4369

    5 жыл бұрын

    Robert Bonneau I’d “fell” better if you weren’t off by a whole magnitude. You have even fancier rounding at 365,000. I think you were aiming for 36,500.

  • @notabene2403

    @notabene2403

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@jt4369 Since you know the answer why did you ask your silly question? Pettifogger

  • @jt4369

    @jt4369

    4 жыл бұрын

    nota bene The point of this whole exercise is to be careful with words and to be even more careful when discussing numbers. I’m sure you’d very annoyed with your creditor if he or she simply “rounded” a 36,500 debt to 40,000.

  • @notabene2403

    @notabene2403

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@jt4369 You are just a poor, hilarious pedant, unable or unwilling to catch the really important message. And stop wasting my time!

  • @jt4369

    @jt4369

    4 жыл бұрын

    I get the message just fine. And my intention at first was just to make a humorous quip about “fancy rounding,” but it somehow devolved into this. I’m sure your accountant will be as much a pedant as you’re accusing me of being. As for wasting of time, we’ll put that to the test: if this is truly a waste of your time, you won’t even respond to this. Good day.

  • @garysnyder6390
    @garysnyder63904 жыл бұрын

    Earth is life !!....Species are going extinct, quite a few at that. Are there any new species being discovered ?? On any daydo we get a report of differenciation of a bird or a fish or a human confirmed ?? Every extinction has so far did an'astounding' job of regeneration of life. And supposedly a better evolved human !! Lets do it.

  • @wadeinn463

    @wadeinn463

    4 жыл бұрын

    We could start from the flesh eating bacteria. Would have a head start.

  • @whatabouttheearth

    @whatabouttheearth

    2 жыл бұрын

    I don't think you quite understand evolution. Proliferation take millions of years after an extinction and things don't regenerate. Evolution is genetic modification with shared descent Watch Aron Ra's 50 part series 'Systematic Classification of Life'

  • @myopinionwhileIcanstillhaveone
    @myopinionwhileIcanstillhaveone6 жыл бұрын

    Don't limit your diet to eating 4 animals. Expand your diet to the millions of species of plants and fungus. Save the world by going vegan.

  • @RussianPlus

    @RussianPlus

    5 жыл бұрын

    you cant eat plants ! they are alive too!

  • @notabene2403

    @notabene2403

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@RussianPlus if you chose to prefer to see it this way you should start eating human bodies. Soon we'll have plenty of them. The rise of mankind had started with cannibalism and it will end with it as well...

  • @tantiwahopak101
    @tantiwahopak1015 жыл бұрын

    4:00 great white shark does not have the biggest bite force

  • @workingman3878

    @workingman3878

    5 жыл бұрын

    what does then

  • @badkal94

    @badkal94

    5 жыл бұрын

    It's true a white shark has approximately 4000 psi While the nile crocodile has up to 5000 psi

  • @markhampson2827

    @markhampson2827

    4 жыл бұрын

    nor does a t rex. forget computer projections. seen some of their failures? & what sort of car. a' fact' is when you put them in the ring together & say 'go for it rexy,' i wanna see two 1/2 cars. 'fraid until then it is an opinion. science gives us licence to postulate. not call the unproven a fact

  • @jasonjanes3256
    @jasonjanes32564 жыл бұрын

    Check out Guy Mcpherson for more truth this video fails to address - Aersol Masking Effect -

  • @peterrichards931
    @peterrichards9312 жыл бұрын

    I keep asking myself why there are so many people who need to both believe and be told that mankind is a terrible species, and that this planet and countless species are on the verge of destruction. These claims are made so, so frequently, and always, always, always fail to come true. One of the last people you want to believe is someone who's always predicting disaster. It must psychologically satisfy some people to constantly tell people the end is near, or to need to believe someone who tells you that.

  • @Mike80528

    @Mike80528

    Жыл бұрын

    Snow crab would like to have a word with you...while they still exist. So many examples all around us. Willful ignorance - can you please do a TED talk on that? You're really, really, really, really good at it...

  • @josefpark5421
    @josefpark54214 жыл бұрын

    If Trump is president, I'm president too

  • @nibiruresearch
    @nibiruresearch3 жыл бұрын

    Mass extinctions occur very often on our planet. They are caused by a recurring natural disaster. These disasters are mentioned in ancient books as the Mahabharata from India and the Popol Vuh from the Maya and others. They tell us about a cycle of seven disasters that separate world eras. Regularly recurring disasters can certainly not been caused by asteroid impacts or volcanic eruptions. The only possible cause can be another celestial body, most likely a planet, that orbits our sun in an eccentric orbit. Then it is near the sun for only a short period and after the crossing it disappears into the universe for a long time. Planet 9 exists, but seems to be invisible. These disasters cause a huge tidal wave of seawater that is pulled over the earth. At the end it covers the earth with a layer of mud, a mix of sand, clay, lime, fossils from sea and land animals and meteors. They also create a cycle of civilizations. To learn much more about the cycle of recurring floods and its timeline, the recreation of civilizations and ancient high technology, read the eBook: "Planet 9 = Nibiru". You can read it nicely on any computer, tablet or smartphone. Search for: invisible nibiru 9

  • @willaimr.kirkland8170
    @willaimr.kirkland81704 жыл бұрын

    When you use Al Gore as a source, you lost my attention. Yep.

  • @GKrishnametube

    @GKrishnametube

    4 жыл бұрын

    Mr Kirkland, please print your words and leave them for your grandchildren. Your words sadden me. Please reconsider your position. Forget Al Gore; find other sources you trust.

  • @bazzadebear8012
    @bazzadebear80123 жыл бұрын

    Al Gore!!! I'm out of here.

  • @ragereset2795

    @ragereset2795

    Жыл бұрын

    Good riddance

  • @corrosionoc69
    @corrosionoc695 жыл бұрын

    Blah blah

  • @Badge1122
    @Badge11222 жыл бұрын

    Are you getting rich by scareing people?? Stop it.

  • @sooofull
    @sooofull4 жыл бұрын

    Sorry found this talk very boring not really Ted material.