Racing Extinction

Climate change has been an ongoing situation throughout history, although some still cannot comprehend the effects we have had on earth. All together we are leaving our earth and everything on it to die, sometimes slowly, but other time too fast for us to do something about it. In The Sixth Extinction, the author, Elizabeth Kolbert, finds a way to inform a large audience about the current and past problems involving climate change and how our time is going into another extinction, the sixth extinction.

The book was very in depth and she thoroughly explained her claims through facts and data. Her claims successfully explain the patterns of life on Earth through numerous studies and she explains the dangers of extinction. The author concludes her work with the fact that humans are dependent on Earth’s biological and geochemical systems. Her work will continue to teach future readers the danger of human lifestyles if necessary actions toward sustainability are not taken. If humans continue to live their harmful lifestyles, then they will continue to danger wildlife species, the environment, and their own

Unlike mass extinctions before this, “Unlike past mass extinctions, caused by events like asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions, and natural climate shifts, the current crisis is almost entirely caused by us — humans.” The earth is currently experiencing its sixth mass extinction caused by human behaviour and this can be seen by assessing modern extinction rates due to human activity, human overpopulation and man-made climate

During Late Pleistocene a megafaunal mass extinction took place. It’s still debated whether humans are to blame for this, since this megafaunal extinction happened after the arrival of humans or if climate change is entirely to blame. Fossil evidence has been of great help in finding what factors might’ve caused this extinction. This mass extinction that took place is related to the Anthropocene because if humans were the main cause, humans need to be more careful now because their actions may lead to more extinctions. The observations made were the types of species that went extinct with climate change, and what humans did to contribute to this mass extinction.

For as long as the earth has existed, it has gone through remarkable things, and through it all it has been able to be sustained. First, it was the asteroid, now it is humans. Biologists claim we are in the age of the sixth extinction; predominantly caused by humans. In this essay, I will be going over how the destruction of the ecosystem pertains to the sixth extinction caused by industrialization, movement of species, and human population growth.

The widely debated sixth extinction event, the Holocene extinction, is a man-made “weapon” of mass destruction that has caused over 1000 extinct species in the past 500 years (Brannen). A mixture of deforestation, climate change, and other human-impacted effects has made species die off 10 to 100 times faster than the usual background species extinction (Brannen). Well known creatures such as the Dodo Bird, Passenger Pidgeon, Tasmanian Wolf, and Golden Toad have all died due to the lack of care humans have shown for the natural world. Smithsonian paleontologist Doug Erwin, however, still maintains that the Holocene extinction is fake. Though humans have accelerated the extinction of some species and negatively impacted the environment, the actual amount of recent extinctions is almost insignificant. Compared to over half of all species dying off, a few thousand lost animals make nearly no mark in the fossil record (Brannen). Most animals and plants are not, or do not die in ways, suitable for fossilization. This makes the fossil record extremely incomplete. Some scientists estimate that the fossil record shows less than one percent of species that have actually lived. This means that only a truly massive extinction could cause a noticeable change in the record, so the Holocene extinction is most likely not occurring. Still, Erwin cautions us to watch our impact on the Earth and make sure

Earth is an impressive planet. It existed long before the humans came to dominate its lands, and continue to exist—although for how much longer is up for debate—and function despite the unending damage and turmoil caused by those living on it; the human race subjugated the lands and waters, built homes and spread wastes, and created chaos and mayhem to what was once serene and beautiful.

The tale of the human race and our connection to the ecosystem can be viewed as an unfolding adventure shrouded in mysterious occurrences. The impacts of the overall climatic change have signaled danger for a long time, and it is clear that there is a global crisis facing us. One would wonder where we are headed and if the earth will be able to sustain life in the next century. Global warming continues to manifest itself to us every day through rapid changes occurring to the climate system. Some of us still hide from reality and hold on to the notion that climate change is just, but another scientific

Kolbert’s argues that our alterations towards the environment have not had the best results. Kolbert presumes that the we are currently stuck in the middle of the next wave of mass extinction. Extinction is seen as a natural occurrence which acts in repetition as a part of the evolutionary cycle. Now the big question is “How can we prevent history from reoccurring, how can I assure my position and not be apart of the next extinction?”

Imagine yourself heading to the grocery store to buy groceries. You head inside the small store and look around for the milk in the coolers. Except there isn’t any milk on those shelves. You continue to look around for meat, eggs, and cheese. All gone. Of course, for now, this is just a simulation but it could turn into a harsh reality faster than you think. For the past 200 years, human behavior threatens to push our planet into the sixth mass extinction of life through rapid deforestation, pollution, over-population, and many other deadly reasons; if not enough effort is put towards stopping this massive extinction then the human race does not have much time left. With the mass extinction on the rise, there will not be any meat, eggs, cheese, and milk on the shelves but we may not been even around to take those products off of those shelves…

The current rate of extinction is 100 times higher than the naturally occurring rate, and that is only including known species. There are still many undiscovered species in the far reaches of our forests and in the darkest depths of our oceans. Since 1900, 468 more vertebrates have gone extinct than should have, according to the calculated natural rate of extinction (Kaplan 15). It is estimated that at this current rate of extinction, three-quarters of species could completely disappear from the face of the Earth within the next several hundred years. (Drake 4). This sixth mass extinction could soon be comparable to the extinction of the

The Earth is dying. That is what environmentalists say all the time today. It shows up on the news now and then but proceeds to quickly disappear from people’s thoughts and minds. The experts warn and warn, but no one seems to listen. People are more concerned with cat videos than with the health of the one habitable planet they have. From a young age, people are told to think about the future, theirs, and this planet’s. Yet only a few people really do and actually care. The human population has grown uninhibited around the world and must decrease if the planet is to stay habitable.

Planet Earth, has been around for nearly 4.543 billion years, and we humans have only been on it creating civilizations for only 6,000 years. However, we’ve managed to destroy it piece by piece, century by century. With each and every new and amazing technology of the future come with a deadly price, even the meal that you ate a while ago, or maybe are eating right now has lead just a little bit more to world destruction. Important topics like global warming, over population, over food production, sea levels rising, coral reefs dying, and our forests nearly going extinct all branches from one thing societies mistakes and ignorance. The massive growth of over population over the past couple of centuries has to been

Since before the industrial evolutions humans have been pumping green house gasses—carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons— into the atmosphere however, it wasn’t until recently that the amounts being produced are shoving the Earth into a sixth extinction. While the causes of this upcoming extinction are constantly debated on it has earned itself the name Holocene extinction. This name is derived from the theory that humans are the main contributors to this extinction. To investigate the cause Elizabeth Kolbert, and American journalist and professor at Williams College, took the world on a wild and saddening journey on the human contribution to this looming extinction in her novel, The Sixth Extinction; An Unnatural History. Not only does Kolbert’s book explain how humans have contributed to global warming and its effects on life on land but also ocean acidification and how life under the sea has changed over the years.

The burning of fossil fuels, and the use of environmentally harmful warfare, sprays or other substances have caused many issues environmentally, and it’s no surprise so many environmental issues have begun to surface. For instance, the average global temperature has risen roughly 1.33 ̊ F, which has caused a plethora of issues in and of itself, the air is becoming more and more dangerous to breath, and the water more dangerous to drink. There are health issues arising, and species dying off. All of this is occurring because of the human race’s negative pull on the environment. Humanity isn’t totally to blame, as the effects of these actions were not known in the beginning, but it is known how negatively these actions effect the environment. this is why it is necessary to do something about it.