'Decade or two for Earth'

The Earth is on the brink of a "mass extinction event" that could be equivalent in scale to the one that killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, a landmark study by international scientists has concluded.

Researchers warned that deforestation, climate change and overfishing had driven extinction rates to 1000 times their normal level, Reuters reported.

Duke University biologist and conservation expert Stuart Pimm said that "time is running out" to avert mass extinction.

"When you look at the range of unsustainable things we are doing to the planet - changing the atmosphere, global warming, massively depleting fisheries, driving species to extinction - we realise we have a decade or two," said Pimm.

The study compared historical extinction rates with contemporary data from around the world.

The report notes that, with the right intervention, the crisis could yet be averted.