If we domesticate the majority of the planet nothing substantial will evolve without us controlling it. We have replaced a large percentage of wild organic biomass with us and our pets and cattle and farms.

Sentimental fluff?

To be human is to have emotions, being sentimental is one type of emotion you can feel. Especially if you feel like Earth is currently being overrun and destroyed by humanity at breakneck speeds. To feel emotional about this OK, as long as you also stay grounded and realistic.

But we should not hide our emotions, it's possible to be both emotional and rational.

The fluff is the stuff only those who are aware of what's happening, of what happened (not just of the scientific things), can experience. Earth, we are trashing it, not up for debate, not anymore. Probably not trashing it as much as we could, but more than enough, which is obvious as a nose in a face. When confronted to the cold embrace of those who can't see and feel anything of the sort, some can only resort to their sentiments, the _sentimental stuff_ as you frame it, which can only follow the drama, never preceding it.

Just like arriving onto a crime scene and yelling at the crying survivors to shut up, without any consideration for the crime committed before, or any of its consequences.

Extinction rates can be measured and modeled. What’s unscientific about that?

Life isn't just about science, contrary to popular belief. In fact, you can do better science by making the mind-body connection to the unseen and unverified. Knowing that something exists outside of scientific understanding while grounding yourself to reality strengthens awareness and removes mental positions/projections which are barriers to real science.