Three U.S. universities have issued a report warning that the Earth has entered a new period of extinction. The study by the universities of Stanford, Princeton and Berkeley stated that vertebrates were disappearing at a rate 114 times faster than normals and conclude that humans could be among the first casualties.

“We are now entering the sixth great mass extinction event,” said Gerardo Ceballos, one of the study’s authors, refering to the last such event 65 million years ago when dinosaurs were wiped out – possibly by a large meteor striking the earth. “If it is allowed to continue, life would take many millions of years to recover and our species itself would likely disappear early on.”

The report found that more than 400 vertebrates had disappeared since 1900. Usually, such a loss would take place over a period of more than 10,000 years. Climate change, pollution and deforestation were causing damaging effects on ecosystems. The report predicts that benefits such as pollination by bees could be lost within three human generations.

“We are sawing off the limb that we are sitting on,” said Paul Ehrlick. “There are examples of species all over the world that are essentially the walking dead.”

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