Life Without People Kolbert

Large amounts of iridium – a chemical element that is not a part of the Earth’s crust composition – were originally found in rocks of Europe and United States, and have been found everywhere ever since. Iridium, common in meteorites, is a testable evidence of the disaster hypothesis. Gould continues that the Cretaceous debacle, which is one of five episodes of mass dying, occurred at the same time as the large comet might have smashed into the Earth. The author believes this is not merely a coincidence, rather, it is a proof of the cause-effect relationship. The demise of a wide range of habitats along with the extinction of dinosaurs gives an inestimable advantage to the disaster theory over other claims, the author adds. The comet struck the Earth, and habitats, from terrestrial to marine, died with geological suddenness. Finally, this hypothesis has had an impact on the study of an atomic war and its consequences. A nuclear war, Gould says, may cause a huge drop in temperatures and result in the extinction of humanity. Testable evidence, study, development, contribution – all this makes good science.

Overall the book was a good read and touched on some various topics that are discussed in our class.

“The End of Nature,” by Bill McKibben is a startling book of non-fiction depicting the future in store for the environment and humans. His somber yet hopeful approach allows readers to sense the real intensity of this situation of mass environmental changes whilst remaining expectant of the advancements in the

Being informed about what is going on around the world, for example how the sixth mass extinction has and is occurring, is exactly what Elizabeth Kolbert teaches in the book The Sixth Extinction. I can honestly say that I did not know that there were all these mechanisms of extinction going on. The mechanisms that Kolbert addresses in this book are invasive species, catastrophe, human overexploitation of resources, ocean acidification, and habitat fragmentation.

Gerta Keller, professor of geosciences at Princeton University, has recently conducted research on the Chicxulub asteroid in which she analyzed new core samples taken from the asteroid site (Botzer 2004). These samples indicate that the impact that occurred at Chicxulub actually predated the mass extinction of the dinosaurs, which occurred at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary about sixty-five million years ago. Keller claims that the Chicxulub impact occurred approximately 300,000 years before the extinction (Keller 2004). Although previous researchers estimated that the Chicxulub asteroid was the cause of the extinctions, there had always been doubts about the exact age and size of the crater, and about the origin of the “mega tsunami deposits” that were located within the crater (Keller 2004). The focus of Keller’s recent research was on finding some answers to these questions. To do so she analyzed Cretaceous limestone, dolomite, and anhydrite deposits as the site of the Chicxulub crater (Keller 2004).

The article, The Mammoth Cometh, uses many appeals and techniques to relay the importance of de-extinction, especially in relation to Novak's passion, the passenger pigeon. Pathos are effectively used to in giving us (the audience) a personal connection with Ben Novak as the author takes us on hikes as a boy throughout the badlands near his home, “exploring a vast petrified forest,” in North Dakota. “Novak frequently came across vertebrae, phalanges and rib fragments of extinct crocodiles,” and other animals. With such a childhood it’s no wonder that at 13, Novak pledged his life to the resurrection of extinct animals. A few years later he ‘fell in love at first sight’ with passenger pigeons and has since dedicated his life to their cause. The burning passion he has for these extinct animals can't help but inspire us. He is described as “overcome by awe, sadness and the birds’ physical beauty,” and has visited 339 preserved passenger pigeons. His solid determination in the revival and restoration of these birds is also unbelievable, trying first to become a part of a lab already sequencing passenger pigeon DNA and then, when he was not accepted, writing more than 30 times to an institute to receive a sample of a bird’s tissue to do it himself. Ultimately, he was able to partner with the other lab, but the owner expressed that she was worried “his zeal might interfere with his ability to do serious science.”

Dinosaurs ruled the earth for over 65 million years and thankfully for the human race, they became extinct. Ultimately, only a major catastrophe could completely wipe out an entire species, let alone an entity of dinosaurs and the debacle on the causes of dinosaur extinction have flooded the minds of paleontologists for centuries. Geologist and zoologist Stephen Jay Gould published “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs,” to compare scientific and speculative causes of dinosaur decimation. Personally, I found this passage very informational and enjoyed reading it. Gould provides three theories that capture the reader’s curiosity, allowing room for pondering in one’s mind.

In this book, Kolbert travels to many places to find out what is happening with global warming. Quite often she ran into the same fear at the places she went, the fear for loss before the next generation. When she went to Alaska, many people were fleeing from their homes because the sea ice surrounding them, creating a buffer zone for storms, was melting and that was causing houses to just be swept away.

In Stephen Jay Gould’s “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs”, Gould investigates three possible theories hypothesizing the reason behind the extinction of dinosaurs. The first theory suggests that dinosaurs became extinct due to a rise in temperature, which caused sperm to die, leading to the sterilization of male dinosaurs. The second hypothesis offer that many dinosaurs consumed bitter plants that contained psychoactive agents which their lives could not detoxify out of their systems. The last speculation about the dinosaur’s extinction is that a large cloud of dust formed in the atmosphere after an asteroid hit Earth’s surface. This dust cloud blocked out the sunlight, causing temperatures to drop and made photosynthesis impossible. Gould uses these three theories to lead to his central claim that science isn’t just about making fascinating claims, but should have a well developed hypothesis.

The threat of climate change, animal extinction, and others of the sort are topics that are scattered everywhere. Yet even in the face of such serious conditions, we do nothing. Racing Extinction addresses issues, huge, earth-shattering, apocalypse-bringing issues. In the wake of our own ignorance and greed, the human need to ever expand and builder higher, farther, and better, we extinguish entire species in the very world we live in. After watching

The book tells that the storm knocks out all the power to the island and to all the electrical gates. This is a major problem for the scientists. This puts their safety in jeopardy. There is now nothing protecting the people from the dinosaurs because there is no power going through the electric fences. This is when all hell breaks loose. The dinosaurs realize that they are not being restrained any more and break loose. They are roaming about the island while the scientists scramble to get the power back on through a generator. During all the chaos the dinosaurs have already taken out five people out of the team of ten.

As I recall, the author doesn 't describe anything about the disaster or tell us why the earth is in that dreadful condition. However, this opens a mystery and fear to the unknown to the reader because

As the story ends, we are left with the tagline, ‘when the dinosaurs ruled the earth'. Human-animal conflict is clearly brought out, while human use technology to ensure rule over animals, dinosaurs use their might to attack human.

During his time, Aldo Leopold was a conservationist who believed in the longevity of the land and that we should protect it, even if we must protect the land from ourselves. While this was an unpopular opinion, realizing that the land and animals naturally work together in a symbiotic relationship to protect one another was very apparent to Leopold. He believed that humans should be doing our best to lessen our impact on the environment. Time has caught up with Leopold’s ideologies and it is time that our efforts and contributions to the earth did too.

This final blow would have sent earth into a nuclear winter. According to this theory, dust caused by the asteroid collision disrupted plant growth by blocking out the sunlight needed for photosynthesis for nearly a year. A chain reaction occurred as plants died off, so did the herbivores relying on the plants, and then the carnivores that relied on the herbivores. Around 75% of species became extinct, including dinosaurs, mammals, giant marine lizards, fish, birds, and insects. Meanwhile, seawater flooded around 40% of the world’s continents ("Mass Extinctions").