Over the Past 580 Million Years, How Has Biodiversity Changed

Question

Over the past 580 million years, how has biodiversity changed?
A) It has smoothly and steadily increased.
B) It has smoothly and steadily increased until the past 100 years or so.
C) It has generally increased but with punctuations in the pattern.
D) It has rapidly increased until it started to rapidly decrease in the past 100 years or so.

Accepted Answer

Over the past 580 million years, biodiversity has generally increased but with punctuations in the pattern. There have been times of rapid diversification followed by mass extinctions, which have contributed to fluctuations in overall biodiversity. In the past 100 years, there has been a rapid decline in biodiversity due to human activities such as habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change.