  urlLink Wired News: Mass Extinction Not Inevitable : "Two new studies published this week in Science that show steep declines in bird, butterfly and plant populations across Great Britain provide the strongest proof yet that we are in the midst of the sixth great extinction of life. " The article is a short interview with Stuart Pimm, a conservation biologist at Duke University. Pimm goes on to say: "Actually I am optimistic about slowing the rate of extinctions. These are not unmanageable problems. " It is a short article; worth the read. Click on the link and check it out. 
