so yes, i'm saying that almost everyone, including even "experts in the field", has drastically underestimated both problem severity and shortness of the time-frame.
and extinction is just part of the problem. because the extinction of apex predators means that other species in the food-chain get overpopulated, causing more problems, then undergoing crash/boom cycles, thereby upsetting the delicate balanced ecosystem on which we depend so much.
(not that it was "delicate" before, it wasn't, but once we've thrown it so far out of whack, it'll be very hard to achieve the delicate touch needed to restore balance, especially as we'll lack time, desire, and frame of mind. we'll just wildly swing, from one to the other extreme.)
and that's just out with the big-enough-to-see animals. dynamics in the virus-world, with the now-acknowledged looming uselessness of antibiotics, will be even worse. and that will impact human life much more squarely than an extinction of the lions and tigers and bears, oh my.
this crap will happen sooner than we believed, and will snowball much more rapidly than we thought, plus there will be all kinds of ugly "surprises" in store for us.
for instance, how long do you think the bees will last? and when they're gone, what happens to our food supplies? how long will we remain civilized when food grows short? and just how long do you think we can live with no food?
i was being conservative when i said "10-20 years", since people would think i am nuts if i said "7-11 years", but -- once the shit starts to hit the fan -- the time-frame will not be best measured by _decades_, but by _months_.
mark my words.
i hope i'm wrong. i really really really hope i'm wrong.
but that's my prediction.
-bowerbird