Natural Science CLEP Prep Practice Exam

Human activities can contribute to global extinctions by causing environmental changes such as climate change, pollution, habitat destruction, overexploitation of resources, and introduction of invasive species. Natural extinctions, on the other hand, are caused by natural processes such as natural disasters or changes in the Earth's climate. Local extinctions are specific to a certain area and can be caused by human activities as well, but they do not have as widespread an effect on species as global extinctions. Abrupt extinctions, while they can be influenced by human activities, are more commonly caused by sudden catastrophic events such as asteroid impacts or major volcanic eruptions. Therefore, the most accurate answer to the question is global extinctions caused by human activities.