The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History

Elizabeth Kolbert is an American journalist, author, and staff writer at the New Yorker. This book won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 2015.In the American Museum of Natural History's Hall of Biodiversity, a plaque reads: "Right now we are in the midst of the 6th Extinction, this time caused solely by humanity's transformation of the ecological landscape." Kolbert observed, "There's a dark synergy between fragmentation and global warming, just as there is between global warming and ocean acidification, and between global warming and invasive species, and between invasive species and fragmentation." Drawing on several researcher's works combined with field observation, she highlights (a) amphibian loss, particularly frogs; (b) Mastodon and large animal extinction which introduced the idea of extinction and the study of stratigraphy; (c) the loss of the great auk bird; (d) ammonites and the "preservation potential," (e) the perpetuation of giant rats; (f) increasing carbon dioxide concentrations and associated ocean acidification; (g) coral reef loss; (h) forest and tree fragmentation and diversity loss; (i) species mobility and loss (movement toward cooler, more suitable locations); (j) introduction of new virus, fungus, and invasive species; (k) large species mammal loss; and (l) history of the neandertals. Human mobilities along with the introduction of species has served to introduce problems, invasive species, and disease. Kolbert explores disappearances, change, and what is happening on the planet. In part her purpose is to trace the evolution of "extinction" as a construct, first articulated by Georges Cuvier, Charles Lyell, Charles Darwin and others. Her tone is descriptive, no easy answers are presented. In the end, Kolbert asserted, "Humans remain dependent on the earth's biological and geochemical systems."This book provides broad exposure to global changes happening on the planet. She presents a hopeful tone in her recognition that when people do focus their attention, positive change is possible. One fun footnote: She provided a mnemonic for remembering the geologic periods: Camels Often Sit Down Carefully, Perhaps Their Joints Creak (Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous.)

Yes, human-caused extinction is upon us in full force. As science journalist extraordinaire Elizabeth Kolbert tells it, we humans have been killing whatever we could whenever we could since the beginning of our tenure here on earth. First the mastodons, the giant sloths, the great flightless birds, the woolly rhino, then the whales, the gorillas, the tigers, the buffalo, etc. The first cause was ignorance. Primitive humans just didn’t know that they were destroying the source of their subsistence until they had to move on. Today we know the truth.And that truth is there is nowhere to move on to. This book is a detailed and fascinating delineation of just what we are doing to the planet and how. From the fishes in the sea to the polar bears on the ice: all fall down. Why? Willful ignorance, stupidity, and the devil take tomorrow.(But it might be said, so what if we kill off all sorts of creatures great and small? We don’t need them. We have our pigs and cows and chickens. We grow corn and soy. Yes, the little foxes are cute and the lions magnificent. But we have zoos and preserves. After you’ve seen a few elephants you don’t need to see vast herds of them.)This is the view of many people in high places in government and at the helms of giant corporations whose main concern is staying in power and improving the bottom line. But here’s the rub: with the extraordinary rate of the current extinction what we might be left with is nearly sterile oceans, stunted scrub forests, destroyed ecologies and starving humans at one another’s throats. Combine that with global warming and desperate leaders flinging nuclear bombs around, and yes, Chicken Little, the sky is falling.Okay, rant over with. Let me say a few things about this splendid book that is so readable and so full of information, humor and the kind of passion that lights up the pages. Kolbert combines research, interviews and fieldwork into a very readable, vivid and informative narrative that is so good that…well, she won the Pulitzer Prize for this book in 2015.Some notes and quotes:“The reason this book is being written by a hairy biped, rather than a scaly one, has more to do with dinosaurian misfortune than with any particular mammalian virtue.” (p. 91)“Warming today is taking place at least ten times faster than it did at the end of the last glaciation, and at the end of those glaciations that preceded it. To keep up, organisms will have to migrate, or otherwise adapt, at least ten times more quickly.” (p. 162)Kolbert notes that during the Pleistocene (2.5 million years ago to about 11,700 years ago) “…temperatures were significantly lower than they are now…,” mainly because the glacial periods tended to be longer than the interglacial periods. What this means is that most life forms are probably not going to be able to deal with the heat “...since temperatures never got much warmer than they are right now.” In other words, we are experiencing an accelerated catastrophe. (p.171)Kolbert describes the red-legged honeycreeper as “the most beautiful bird I have ever seen.” (p. 178) So naturally I had to Google it. It is indeed beautiful. The reader might want to take a look. It’s very blue with some neat black trim and those incongruous red legs!Kolbert observes that we are creating a New Pangaea because our global transport systems are sending plants and animals all around the globe. Instead of the continents moving closer together the plants and animals are moving closer together as on a single continent. (p. 208)A joke: after the journal “Nature” published proof of the existence of the Denisovan hominids because of a DNA-rich finger found in southern Siberia, there came a newspaper headline: “Giving Accepted Prehistoric History the Finger.” (p. 253)As to the “controversy” over what killed off the megafauna in e.g., North and South America, in Siberia, in Australia, Kolbert minces no words and comes down strong on the likely suspect—us. And as for the Neanderthal, ditto. See chapters XI and XII.She writes: “Before humans finally did in the Neanderthals, they had sex with them.” She notes that “most people today are slightly—up to four percent—Neanderthal.” (p. 238) Personally, according to “23 and Me,” I am 3.8% Neanderthal. --Dennis Littrell, author of “Understanding Evolution and Ourselves”

In some ways, I found this book distressing and in other ways it is hopeful. Frankly, there is an inevitability to it that paints humankind as the somewhat purposeful and somewhat accidental causation of what is fairly clearly a sixth mass extinction. The limits of this mass extinction are not clearly spelled out as it is simply not known yet. It is a thought provoking book that any reasonable person should take heed of.I considered giving this book a three star rating as it starts fairly slowly and the author's antecedonal writing style seems to make the book sort of a "bottoms up" tale. That is to say, it starts from specific examples and moves toward a bigger picture rather than the usual converse structure of most science books. This was a little troublesome to me as it seemed the author spent too much time on her personal travels and experiences before getting to the premise of the book.Nonetheless, when all was said and done, the author weaved a reasonable case for the proposition that mankind is ushering in a sixth mass extinction on Earth. She does this without being preachy, shrill, or overly dramatic. Indeed, she spends some time pointing out hopeful scenarios in this literal world of change.It is a worthy addition to the library of anyone interested in Earth science. It is not as good as some books on past extinctions and their causes (such as Benton's, When Life Nearly Died), but it is interesting and fairly even handed in approach and execution.

There is mention of the Darwin frog as extinct. Just by coincidence, back in november I saw it very alive in Futangue, Lake District, Chile. At least 8 of them in our trip. We did sanitized our shoes and the frogs were handled by our guide with gloves. It seems that in the other locallity they have disappeared.

A really interesting perspective on the ups and downs of life on earth. Step bye step the book examines the evidence for each of the elements of the climate crisis and summarises the challenges ahead. Worth reading.

Starannie i ładnie wydane.

Gran libro-resumen sobre la gran crisis ecológica que vivimos en el planeta desde la explosión poblacional de H.sapiens. Tremendamente duro, pero a la vez apasionante. Un chute de realismo, nada mágico, una patada a nuestra especie conformista y alienada. En mi caso acabé el libro pensando "joder, hagamos algo para parar esto!". Pero también hay riesgo de acabar pensando que ya no hay nada que hacer para salvarnos...

I grew up in a Sub Urban area with lot of vegetation around. As I grew up, the place was just being swallowed up by more and more houses. One of the hassles of vegetation was that we used to get lot of uninvited guests to our home - weird insects, bats, worms and scary Snakes. One of the key lessons I was taught as a kid was what to do to protect myself from Snakes. I vividly remember a few six foot long venomous Vipers that we spotted in home. Today, the area has completely become an Urban jungle. Snakes have disappeared with more houses. We are happy with the fact that we need not worry about those snakes. But what has happened to those snakes? How has the loss of habitat affected them? What about other harmless insects and bats? A few endemic species could have disappeared. All because of us - Human Beings. This book, 'The Sixth Extinction' is exactly about this. How Human Beings are causing the sixth major extinction event of the world and how it is happening right in front of our eyes.I was looking for a book in the last minute before my flight. I randomly came across this book on Amazon and decided to give it a shot. One thing I worried was that the book would turn out to be one of those preachy materials on the ill effects of Global Warming. This book by Elizabeth Kolbert is exactly that, but the author conveys it with a well strung research, tales and subtlety. Being a Journalist, the author has done justice to the job by spending a lot of time with fossil collectors, museum directors, biologists and conservationists to bring home the point of how we (Human Beings) are destroying the planet.While unsurprisingly, the major cause of the Sixth Extinction is Global Warming, the author also points out to other strong factors that weigh in - Fragmentation of Habitats due to developing Urban Clusters and Forced movement of Species across continents, both knowingly and accidentally.The author starts the book with how various species of Frogs have started disappearing in the recent years across Latin America. Frogs have been one of the resilient species on the face of earth. They have survived for the past 250 million years. Now, they have suddenly started disappearing. After a lot of research, it has been identified that Chytrid Fungus causes this. Chytrid Fungus is not a native found in Latin America. Humans have introduced it somehow and they have started playing havoc. These species that causes havoc are known as Invasive Species. Evolution would have equipped the frogs to save itself from known dangers, but then it never came across this Fungus in the past millions of years. Across the years as humans started travelling, we have introduced so many of these species.What I really loved about the book was the abundance of information provided - 1. How Fossils were identified and unearthed in the 19th century and the efforts of Georges Cuvier and Charles Darwin identifying the fossils and establishing the first theories on Extinction of Species. 2. The relationship between increasing latitude and increasing number of species. While in the poles, there is nearly no diversity, there is abundance of diversity near the equator given the favorable climate. 3. How Global Warming is making the Ocean more and more acidic - Water absorbs excess Carbon Di Oxide to form Carbonic Acid. This in turn affects the calcification process required to form Coral Reefs which are the base of Ocean Life. 4. How it is not only animals that move, but also trees with change in temperatures. Some trees expand itself at a rapid rate through pollination and in the process negates the space for less invasive species. 5. How the chances of a species survival reduces with reducing habitat and fragmentation. Certain species are endemic to Islands and they often disappear soon. The same happen with increasing Urbanization.It has been established that we are not the only Human Species that has lived in this planet - one of the key human species that has lived alongside us is Neanderthals. It has been established that on an average nearly 4% of our DNA contains Neanderthal DNA. It has also been established that Human Beings or Homo Sapiens in specific were the main cause of Neanderthals extinction. After a long struggle, Neanderthal's DNA has been established. They are almost same as that of us. But over the years, some change has happened that has made us so dangerous. Some tiny little Gene has made us so superior to the rest of the species - that we have even killed our sister species. So, the author wonders what is this 'Mad Gene' that causes that change.The author finally concludes with a positive note by capturing some of the super human efforts taken by conservationists to protect the few endangered species and says our hope is that. While, we have singly killed all those species, we also go in great length to protect the remaining species. Countries like Australia and New Zealand have strict Biosecurity laws to protect their native species. If the Mad Gene signifies despair, the same Mad Gene signifies Hope as well.On the flip side, I found that the author had used too many Biological names for the Species which became too tough to follow at a point. I would rate this as one of the best books I have read about our planet and the species that live on it. Having read Yuval Noah Harrari's 'Sapiens' augmented this book very well, as Sapiens had established how we became the conquering deadly species that we are.If you have a little iota of guilt that we cause to the environment, this book is a must read!