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@LaD_Hallo By every definition we already are well into a mass extinction event.
For some background we are currently 100x to 10,000x the background extinction rate (typically its 0.1 to 1 species per million per year, and we are currently seeing 100 to 1000 extinctions per million per year). The proper units for this is E/MSY so we are seeing 100 to 1000 E/MSY right now compared to a background of 0.1 to 1 E/MSY.
If we compare that to the rate during the big-5 mass extinctions it is as high, or significantly higher. The late devonian extinction rate (the slowest) was 70 E/MSY, meanwhile the end-permian extinction rate (the highest of the 5) was ~300 E/MSY.
Yes we are **well** within a mass extinction, and if we do not correct things immediately after 100 years at the current rate we will see the same overall extinction as these mass extinction events.
No it is extrapolated from the ones we know about to estimate the overall value to include species we dont. Which is why its an estimate with a rather wide range of values.
@freemo @LaD_Hallo The current elevated extinction rate is based only on the species we know about, isn't that right?