https://christiandivers.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/blog/

The above is a link to my personal website. The following is a direct copy and paste from that link:

Recently, a couple of articles have been posted about the next mass extinction event to occur. The interesting thing to me is that these predictions, which say that the Earth's sixth mass extinction has already begun, isn't based on global warming or climate change. It's based on a decline in biodiversity. As a matter of fact, the article, posted here, says specifically that the calculated estimates on how quickly species are going extinct are not taking climate change into account.

You can see how nature was causing species to go extinct at a steady rate up until the 1600's or so. The industrial revolution started in 1790. Granted, correlation does not equal causation, but it seems to line up in my opinion.

The real question, for me, though, is what can we do to slow it, if anything? I mean, there isn't anything we can do to stop it, honestly. Death is just a natural part of life and as the world changes and climates and ecosystems change, biodiversity is bound to adjust. But, what can we do to slow it?

Well, first of all, I do believe that it is our responsibility, as Christians, to be good stewards of the natural resources that God has blessed us with. I do not believe that nature is here for us to exploit, but for us to care for and utilize responsibly. Having said that, I think that as Christians and scuba divers, we can focus on the portion of the environment that we know, love, and interact with on a somewhat regular basis - oceans, rivers, and lakes.

So, in light of this, I am going to start doing some research on organizing a "beach cleanup" thing. The nearest ocean to me is 3 hours away, so I will attempt to focus first on the Savannah River that is nearby, or Clark's Hill (Strom Thurman) Lake. If you're interested in joining me, then please, use the contact form to let me know and I'll get in touch with you about it. If you aren't in my local area, then please, organize a cleanup in your own local community. It doesn't even have to be a waterway, if you're not near one, because all roads eventually lead back to the ocean.

Doing some beach cleanups is nice and all, but unless we band together on a global scale, then it's not really going to make a huge impact - certainly not one on the scale that we need to start pushing this back. So, instead of re-inventing the wheel, another thing that we can do as scuba divers is to get involved in movements like PADI's Project Aware. Here are a few links that are specifically targeting a new sea creatures:

• Sharks In Peril
• Manta Rays At Risk

There are definitely other scuba organizations out there doing similar things, though, too. NAUI has their own Green Diver Initiative, for starters. Feel free to search around to see if your certifying organization has anything going on. The bottom line is that we need to get involved.

Resources

• Dyke, James. "Earth's Sixth Mass Extinction Has Begun, New Study Confirms." IFLScience. IFL Science, 19 June 2015. Web. 21 June 2015. <http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/earth-s-sixth-mass-extinction-has-begun-new-study-confirms>.
• "Eastern Puma Declared Extinct, Removed From Endangered Species List."Planet Experts. Center For Biological Diversity, 17 June 2015. Web. 21 June 2015. <http://www.planetexperts.com/eastern-puma-declared-extinct-removed-from-endangered-species-list/>.
• "The Earth Stands on the Brink of Its Sixth Mass Extinction and the Fault Is Ours." The Guardian. N.p., 21 June 2015. Web. 21 June 2015. <http://gu.com/p/4axmt/sbl>.
• Vaughn, Adam. "Humans Creating Sixth Great Extinction of Animal Species, Say Scientists." The Guardian. N.p., 19 June 2015. Web. 21 June 2015. <http://gu.com/p/4ax8d/sbl>.