The Sixth Extinction Elizabeth Korbert Summary

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

In chapter 11 of The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert finds herself at the Cincinnati Zoo where she is told by Dr. Terri Roth that the Sumatran rhinos are going extinct. This also explains Dr. Roth’s numerous attempts to inseminate Suci, a Sumatran rhinoceros, artificially, but ultimately fails. Kolbert proceeds to talk about the history of the Sumatran rhinoceros, which were very common in the Himalayas, Borneo, and Sumatra. Apparently, a small number of rhinos were sent to American zoos in hopes of reproducing in captivity. Unfortunately, the animals’ diet consisted dry hay, when—contrary to popular belief--green leaves are a staple in the rhinos’ nutrition.

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

American journalist Elizabeth Kolbert authored The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History in 2014. This is a non-fictional account of what Kolbert had named "the sixth extinction": an extinction event caused by humans similar to ones that destroyed earlier forms of life, like the dinosaurs and megafauna.

In the book The Sixth Extinction written by Elizabeth Kolbert there are a lot of examples that are going on in the world today and also examples of things that started when the first human being was around. This book talks about how we are in the sixth mass extinction, and that is caused by humans. Overall the book goes chapter by chapter and talks about the different mass extinctions there have been, and how they were caused, but also the book talks about different species that have gone extinct and the reasons why. For example the book talks about golden frogs that are located in Panama and how they were seen everywhere located in El Valle de Anton, but they suddenly started disappearing. They were disappearing because of a chytrid fungis cause by humans, when humans travel they were bring this fungis to different places, this ended up killing the frogs (Chapter 1, Kolbert). That is just one example, but throughout the book Kolbert talks about different extinctions like this and what caused them.

The main conflict from Legend by Marie Lu is external; man vs. society. This conflict was not resolved in the story because not only was Day on the streets again hiding from the government, but June was, too! Furthermore, the government killed off many people such as John, Day’s mother, Metias, and a plethora of other people from the town. A song that complements the conflict is “E For Extinction” by Thousand Foot Krutch. The lyrics say, “When we move, we camouflage ourselves. We stand in the shadows waiting. We live for this and nothing more. We are what you created.” This is like how Day and Tess hide and try to go on with their lives because of how the Republic made it for them. Also, the lyrics are, “And I won’t surrender quietly. Step

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.

On a day to day basis most people take for granite the lives we get to live, along with putting to much value on the extra things such as materialistic items. Also, the majority of humans are too invested in their personal lives or with themselves that they do not look at the big picture of how what we are doing now will effect us later. As humans are routines in our lives can bring us harm, and within time a we may become the sixth extinction. I believe we threaten human existence as a species and it can eventually lead to destroying our own comfortable lives we have created for ourselves.

In a summary, Kolbert explains the extinctions of a variety of different major animal species that became extinct. She also explains that if trends in the environment continue that the biggest extinction in history will occur soon. If global warming, deforestation, and glaciers continue to melt she says that more and more species will continue to become extinct. She explains how humans need to be more conservative and careful with what they’re doing to prevent extinction.

Instructions: Answer the following questions regarding your reading. Be as brief as possible but as detailed as needed to show me your understanding of the book and the question. Type your answers below each question and leave with me after final exam. Late submissions will be penalized 25% per day.

There have been five major mass extinction on earth triggered by a distinguishable event, but in The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Elizabeth Kolbert writes of the narrative of the sixth extinction caused directly by human impact. The book identifies the effects of human activity on how, over humans history on earth, the natural world has been affected. Every environmental impact stems into three basic groups of global problems to nature: Pollution, Habitat loss and Invasive Species. Kolbert explains that each impact can be traced back to one source, human industrial development. With each impact various types of life in the natural world are affected. Deforestation, urbanization, and sea level rise contribute to habitat loss worldwide. When humans began to travel they also brought invasive species and disease along with them; as boats only became bigger more and more invasive species travel. This reverse engineering of the planet species, brings new species that don’t have any natural predators, thus having an easier time driving native species out to endangerment or extinction. The different outcomes that come from human pollution is separated throughout the book, but the idea remains constant; with the development of human culture, pollution has drastically impacted a vast extent of species habitats and their environment.

Humans have caused another extinction, one that could possibly take us down in the process, species are exponentially going extinct because of habitat loss, species exportation, and invasive species bullying native species. On the other hand, scientists are trying to safe guard native species, keep animals in captivity whether it be for the animals well-being or for research, and widespread invasion. In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting “What Everglades Pythons and Other Invasive Species are Trying to Tell Us,” by Julia Whitty and “The Sixth Extinction,” by Jeff Corwin.

The scale and pace of change is dramatic; for example, the extinction of species is occurring at around 100-fold pre-human rates4. The population sizes of vertebrate species have, on average, declined by half over the last 45 years5. More than 2.3 million km2 of primary forest has been felled since 20006. About

It’s clear that a great extinction is coming from the evidence of the destruction of other species around us. The choices made by the human race have too often negatively affected the surrounding species. Tracy Wilson, the site director for HowStuffWorks.com, in an article for Animal Planet, states that

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