The Sixth Extinction An Unnatural History

[humble3d]

The Sixth Extinction An Unnatural History

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History is a 2014 non-fiction book written by Elizabeth Kolbert and published by Henry Holt & Company.

The book argues that the Earth is in the midst of a modern, man-made, sixth extinction.

In the book, Kolbert chronicles previous mass extinction events, and compares them to the accelerated, widespread extinctions during our present time.

She also describes specific species extinguished by humans, as well as the ecologies surrounding prehistoric and near-present extinction events. The author received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for the book in 2015.[1]

The target audience is the general reader, and scientific descriptions are rendered in understandable prose.

The writing blends explanations of her treks to remote areas with interviews of scientists, researchers, and guides, without advocating a position, in pursuit of objectivity.

Hence, the sixth mass extinction theme is applied to flora and fauna existing in diverse habitats, such as the Panamanian rainforest, the Great Barrier Reef, the Andes, Bikini Atoll, city zoos, and the author's own backyard.

The book also applies this theme to a number of other habitats and organisms throughout the world.

After researching the current mainstream view of the relevant peer reviewed science, Kolbert estimates flora and fauna loss by the end of the 21st century to be between 20% to 50% "of all living species on earth".

Contents

    1 Anthropocene
    2 Background
    3 Summary of chapters
        3.1 Chapter 1: The Sixth Extinction
        3.2 Chapter 2: The Mastodon's Molars
        3.3 Chapter 3: The Original Penguin
        3.4 Chapter 4: The Luck of the Ammonites
        3.5 Chapter 5: Welcome to the Anthropocene
        3.6 Chapter 6: The Sea Around Us
        3.7 Chapter 7: Dropping Acid
        3.8 Chapter 8: The Forest and the Trees
        3.9 Chapter 9: Islands on Dry Land
        3.10 Chapter 10: The New Pangaea
        3.11 Chapter 11: The Rhino Gets an Ultrasound
        3.12 Chapter 12: The Madness Gene
        3.13 Chapter 13: The Things with Feathers
    4 Sources
    5 Awards and honors
    6 See also
    7 References
    8 External links

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sixth_Extinction:_An_Unnatural_History

 

[Johnathans]

Thank you for sharing !!! Here goes a quotation from the prologue in order to give a taste of the book:

 

"Beginnings, it’s said, are apt to be shadowy. So it is with this story, which starts with the emergence of a new species maybe two hundred thousand years ago. The species does not yet have a name—nothing does—but it has the capacity to name things.

  As with any young species, this one’s position is precarious. Its numbers are small, and its range restricted to a slice of eastern Africa. Slowly its population grows, but quite possibly then it contracts again—some would claim nearly fatally—to just a few thousand pairs.

  The members of the species are not particularly swift or strong or fertile. They are, however, singularly resourceful. Gradually they push into regions with different climates, different predators, and different prey. None of the usual constraints of habitat or geography seem to check them. They cross rivers, plateaus, mountain ranges. In coastal regions, they gather shellfish; farther inland, they hunt mammals. Everywhere they settle, they adapt and innovate. On reaching Europe, they encounter creatures very much like themselves, but stockier and probably brawnier, who have been living on the continent far longer. They interbreed with these creatures and then, by one means or another, kill them off."

 

It actually deserves your spent time reading this essay!!!

[jiski]

Stephen Hawking: Humanity Only Has 100 Years Left on Earth Before Doomsday

In Brief

Stephen Hawking adjusted his doomsday timer for Earth, slashing 900 years from his initial 1,000-year estimate. According to the famous physicist, humanity has a century left to evacuate the planet and become multi-planetary species.

Escaping Earth

Over the past century or so, humanity has accomplished a great deal of innovation. We learned to fly (at least with the help of airplanes), built huge machines, cured diseases, and developed computers, the Internet, and smart devices. At the same time, we’ve caused our fair share of destruction, too: in the form of several wars — two of which were world wars — and, of interest as of late, man-made climate change. Now, renowned physicist Stephen Hawking thinks we have 100 years left before doomsday — and we need to get off Earth long before that comes to pass.

 

This isn’t the first time Hawking has given a doomsday prediction. In recent years, he’s warned about how super artificial intelligence (AI) would end humankind and how contacting extraterrestrial life would go bonkers for humanity. Then in November of last year, he said we have 1,000 years to leave Earth. Now, he’s cut it down to 100 — leaving us to wonder just how bad the past six months have been. They’d arguably have to have been pretty bad for Hawking to drastically cut our time on Earth by 900 years in one fell swoop.

 

The details of Hawking’s latest doomsday warning will be featured in a new BBC documentary airing on June 15 called Expedition New Earth, where he suggests that humanity needs to be a multi-planetary species within the next century in order to survive.

Our Days Are Numbered

Hawking explains that humankind’s days on Earth are already numbered because of climate change, asteroid strikes, epidemics, and overpopulation. The only way to survive? We need to change planets, and fast. A lot could happen in 100 years, and we’ve proven that we’re capable of discovering and developing many things within a century. But could we really go multi-planetary in that timeframe?

 

Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk thinks so, and he’s already outlined plans to make it happen. The destination for humanity in his mind? Mars. And while the Red Planet isn’t exactly that near, neither is it too far. Musk intends to land people to Mars by 2025 and set up a colony by 2033 — which is well within Hawking’s timeline. However, reaching Mars and setting up a stable habitat could take a couple more decades at least. Fortunately, there are others working on it, too: NASA already has a program for getting to Mars, and China’s also working on its own mission to the Red Planet.

 

Source:   https://futurism.com/stephen-hawking-humanity-only-has-100-years-left-on-earth-before-doomsday/