The Sixth Extinction: Patterns Of Life And The ...
The earth is now entering its sixth mass extinction event.4 Similar in magnitude but different in cause from those that came before, this one has been triggered by humans. The natural rate of extinction is estimated to be 1-5 species per year. The current rate is 1,000 to 10,000 times faster, approaching one species per hour. A recent report by the World Wildlife Fund revealed that worldwide, population declines of mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles have averaged 60% in the last 40 years.4 Even if we return to pre-human rates of extinction, recovery of the loss of mammalian diversity would require millions of years of evolution.5
The Sixth Extinction: Patterns of Life and the ...
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZEONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALISTA major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyesOver the last half-billion years, there have been Five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.
"The hope is that folks will be able to extrapolate beyond the individual stories they've been seeing about orcas or monarchs or bees or bats or caribou or whatever," says Collin O'Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. He adds that the new report could help people "see that this is a systemic threat that could potentially cause the sixth extinction even, if we don't act quickly." 041b061a72