The Sixth Extinction Elizabeth Korbert Analysis

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.

In chapter three of The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert describes how the Great Auk went extinct. The Great Auk is considered “the original penguin.” Sadly, they became extinct in the 1800s. They were found in North Atlantic; were it is cold. The Great Auks were killed by poachers. The poachers killed them for food, feathers, and even used them to keep their fires stoked to keep them warm. “You take a kettle with you into which you put a Penguin or two, you kindle a fire under it, and this fire is absolutely made of the unfortunate Penguins themselves.” So the questions are: “How do animals, such as corals, survive in an ever-changing environment?” and “How do humans play a role in increasing or causing

As Earths average temperature increases every year, the discussion of climate change has become a significant topic in the scientific community. Human activities such as powering factories, running automobiles or something as simple as burning wood for heat, emit dangerous greenhouse gases. What makes these greenhouse gases so detrimental is that they absorb the heat radiating off of Earth and keep it in the lower atmosphere creating a “blanket” of warmth around the Earth’s surface. This causes a drastic increase in the Earths average temperature. Due to the rise in temperature, the polar caps have been melting faster than ever, this is dangerous not only because of the risk of floods and sea level increase but ocean water will become less saline and ecosystems will be destroyed, impacting humans just as much as marine life. In the article, Understand faulty thinking to tackle climate change by George Marshall, Marshall states that most people in our world today do not care about climate change because it will not affect them, “Which points to the real problem: climate change is exceptionally amorphous, … no deadlines, no geographic location, no single cause or solution.” (Marshall 2014). Because the author makes it clear that climate change is indeed a great plight, and fails to be acknowledged by people, it is a significant matter that should be discussed

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History details the continued loss of biodiversity that has occurred since the rise of mankind. Elizabeth Kolbert claims that we are now in the midst of a sixth mass extinction, and that, if precautionary measures are not taken, the loss of biodiversity would be catastrophic. Chapter one begins by describing the golden frogs in the town of El Valle de Antón, and how they were beginning to disappear. The frogs disappeared due to a fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This fungus has spread around the world at a lightning-quick rate, killing all sorts of amphibious organisms at an unnatural rate. The cause of the rapid spreading of the fungus has been theorized to be due to humans inadvertently spreading

Chapter 12 of the book The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert is all about the differences between Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalenis) and modern humans (Homo sapiens). Most of the differences were explained clearly and concisely, but one was very contradictory. Could Neanderthals see beauty? I believe that yes, they could, just perhaps not in the exact same way that modern humans do. They could see the beauty of nature, the beauty of living things, like animals flowers, trees, and each other.

The book I choose The Sixth Extinction, is by a woman who is a journalist for The New Yorker. So when I did my search, articles by her were the first that presented themselves. I have to admit, I cheated a little bit in that I used the first three news links that were not by her.

Elizabeth Kolbert, a journalist, took her curiosity of science and traveled all around the world to see just how the lives of different varieties of species deal with predators, habitat changes, climate changes, etc. Just some of the places Kolbert visited were the United States, Panama, France, the island of Ischia, One Tree Island, and many, many more. Extinction, the disappearance of a particular species, is a crucial topic in this particular book. Many species over the whole entire world, are quickly declining in numbers. Humans have a vital responsibility for some of these species going extinct, and we need to advertise what we are doing to animals world wide so we aren’t a source of the majority of extinctions.

Global warming is the greatest issue facing our planet and it has been acknowledged and discussed by many scientists throughout the world, yet ignored and unresolved. It has created a catastrophe and has produced immutable destruction to the environment and society. For years, global warming was a scientific theory that was not taken seriously, except by scientists, but now many are being aware that the temperature of the earth is increasing due to negligent acts of society. Society has now started considering it as a significant issue that may endanger their surrounding atmosphere and their lives. "Easter 's End" by Jared Diamond discusses the vanishing of Easter Island 's forest by the society that once lived there and which has now been left as a mysterious and isolated Island. Similarly, Margaret Wood 's "The Weather Where We Are," tackles climate change and how it is effecting the Arctic, due to the absent-minded acts of humans. Moreover, "Is it Warm in Here" by David Ignatius conveys the importance of environmental changes like global warming and its effects on the planet. The similarity that all these articles include, is that society destroys itself, yet chooses to ignore it until it is too late. Global warming represents a crucial threat to all living things on earth and it is all because of society.

Chapter 2: In chapter two of The Sixth Extinction the book explains how extinction is one of the first scientific concepts that children learn in school. Also, it talks about how children in the modern times know more about extinction than scientists did hundreds of years ago. Scientists first theorized the concept of extinction in the late 18th century. In this chapter the book also talked about how a naturalist named Georges Cuvier studied the fossils of an extinct animal called the American Mastodon, or Mammut Americanum, and decided that this creature, like many others, must have all died in the past. In his lifetime, many of Cuvier’s ideas about extinction were harshly criticized, but now, hundreds of years later, Cuvier is praised for

Global warming has become such a prevalent topic in world politics and news. I chose the book Eaarth by Bill McKibben because global warming is becoming a large problem, and if left unheeded, global warming will destroy our environment and present brutal obstacles for our grandkids and future generations. In his book Eaarth, Bill McKibben urges us to seriously examine global warming to solve this perplexing difficulty. By increasing awareness on this threatening development, we may be able to solve this problem.

The novel, written by renowned journalist Elizabeth Kolbert, is very informative and influential. The novel is imperative to the twenty-first century and this generation because most of our population does not understand the significance of climate

Climate change is a rising issue of importance in our day and age, and one that is threatening our global society on many levels. It has become a wicked problem throughout the years. A wicked problem does not have a definitive definition due to large uncertainties. Atmospheric and oceanic concentrations of climate change have been consistently rising over time, and threaten to have immense human wellbeing, scientific and economic impacts in the future if the globe neglects to achieve reasonable emission levels. There is no one solution for a wicked problem.

Former President of the United States, Barack Obama, once said that “No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change.” In fact, scientific evidence for climate change is undeniable and the effects of climate change are beginning to be felt all around the world (“Global Climate Change”). Furthermore, evidence to support these claims for climate change can be found anywhere from the tops of mountains to ice cores drawn from the bottom of the earth. For these reasons, the causes, effects, and solutions of climate change need to be understood, so that all people of the next generation still have a suitable habitat to live in.

One of the more interesting and scary events in climate changes are the mass extinctions that they associated with. Currently we are undergoing the sixth great mass extinction event in our planet's history. While several of these events were due to volcano activity or asteroid strikes, others were due a change in Earth's climate. It is estimated that the Earth is losing species to extinction at 1,000 to 10,000 times the natural rate (The Extinction Crisis, n.d). The primary driver for this extinction event are humans. Several factors are involved, but climate change is a major one. Past extinctions cannot be solely linked to global warming, but planetary warming is strongly associated with those mass extinctions. The Permian extinction coincided

Thesis Statement: Global warming is a growing concern of scientists and researchers who believe that it is a serious problem for our planet. The concerns and research have also been questioned and have even been called myths. Millions of people find themselves affected by these weather pattern changes and are concerned for their futures. Activists on both sides of the argument are very passionate and not afraid to attack each other in every way they can. There are many questions that are still not answered, however, we continue to see drastic weather changes to Earth. We must go beyond the arguments and learn as much as we can to stop what could possibly lead to the destruction of our planet, our way of life and our future.