This species does not yet have a name-nothing does-but it has the ability to name things.” As Kolbert writes in her prologue, the story beings with “the emergence of a new species maybe two hundred thousand years ago. As Kolbert writes, “If extinction is a morbid topic, mass extinction is, well, massively so…I try to convey both sides: the excitement of what’s being learned as well as the horror of it.”Īnd while the science Kolbert brings us in The Sixth Extinction is indeed exciting, the ultimate effect of humans on the planet is horrific. In first half of the book, Kolbert covers species that are already gone-the mastodon, the great auk-and while this is fascinating reading, what’s even more compelling is the second half, which deals with the current crises facing the planet. “What this history reveals, in its ups and downs” Kolbert writes, “is that life is extremely resilient but not infinitely so.” Elizabeth Kolbert’s wonderful book The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History outlines the human impact on the globe by following researchers who are studying not only the past but today’s resources and species currently at risk, from the oceans to the rainforests. The planet has survived five mass extinctions, but it’s the sixth that we should be worried about.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |