A new study, conducted by Gerardo Ceballos, an ecology professor at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, found that hundreds of species are disappearing at a faster-than-expected rate.
The Sixth Extinction - an Unnatural History under the book genre immersive, Science, Society
At least five times, a biological catastrophe has engulfed Earth killing off the vast majority of species. As scientists say we’re in a sixth mass extinction, what can we learn from the past?
Yes, humans are probably to blame for the Earth’s sixth mass extinction event, which is wiping out species at a rate 53 times greater than normal.
Data visualizations are all the rage these days. Here's a sampler of science-based ones to feed both your brain and your eyes.
Human-caused extinctions are leaving a mark on the planet. Scientists have ideas about how to prevent them.
For everything on Earth, there has been a season: A time for continents to meet, a time for them to break apart, a time for warming and a time for cooling, a time for life to thrive and species to multiply … and a time for them to get obliterated by global catastrophes. Scientists generally recognize five major extinction events when, in very short order (on a geological timescale, anyway), much of life on Earth was utterly stomped into the fossil record. Here’s a look at the five major extinction events of epochs past, and a glimpse at the sixth one we might be causing right now.
Animal populations all over the planet are declining so rapidly that a process of "biological annihilation" is now ongoing. That will devastate ecosystems.
We are entering the first mass extinction since the dinosaurs disappeared 65 million years ago
Highlights WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZEONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST A major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes Over the last half-billion years, there have been Five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. About the Author: Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer at The New Yorker. 336 Pages Science, Environmental Science Description Book Synopsis WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST A major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes Over the last half-billion years, there have been Five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human. Review Quotes "[The Sixth Extinction] is a wonderful book, and it makes very clear that big, abrupt changes can happen; they're not outside the realm of possibility. They have happened before, they can happen again." --President Barack Obama "Riveting . . . It is not possible to overstate the importance of Kolbert's book." --San Francisco Chronicle "Arresting . . . Ms. Kolbert shows in these pages that she can write with elegiac poetry about the vanishing creatures of this planet, but the real power of her book resides in the hard science and historical context she delivers here, documenting the mounting losses that human beings are leaving in their wake." --The New York Times "Surprisingly breezy, entirely engrossing, and frequently entertaining . . . Kolbert is a masterful, thought-provoking reporter." --The Boston Globe "Your view of the world will be fundamentally changed. . . . Kolbert is an astute observer, excellent explainer, and superb synthesizer, and even manages to find humor in her subject matter." --The Seattle Times "Powerful . . . An invaluable contribution to our understanding." --Al Gore, The New York Times Book Review "Natural scientists posit that there have been five extinction events in the Earth's history (think of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs), and Kolbert makes a compelling case that human activity is leading to the sixth." --Bill Gates "[Kolbert] makes a page-turner out of even the most sober and scientifically demanding aspects of extinction." --New York Magazine "Ms. Kolbert's lively account is thought-provoking." --The Wall Street Journal "[Kolbert] grounds her stories in rigorous science and memorable characters past and present, building a case that a mass extinction is underway, whether we want to admit it or not." --Discover Magazine "Throughout her extensive and passionately collected research, Kolbert offers a highly readable, enlightening report on the global and historical impact of humans . . . a highly significant eye-opener rich in facts and enjoyment." --Kirkus (starred review) "The factoids Kolbert tosses off about nature's incredible variety--a frog that carries eggs in its stomach and gives birth through its mouth, a wood stork that cools off by defecating on its own legs--makes it heartbreakingly clear, without any heavy-handed sermonizing from the author, just how much we lose when an animal goes extinct. In the same way, her intrepid reporting from far-off places--Panama, Iceland, Italy, Scotland, Peru, the Amazonian rain forest of Brazil, and the remote one tree Island, off the coast of Australia--gives us a sense of the earth's vastness and beauty." --Bookforum "Kolbert accomplishes an amazing feat in her latest book, which superbly blends the depressing facts associated with rampant species extinctions and impending ecosystem collapse with stellar writing to produce a text that is accessible, witty, scientifically accurate, and impossible to put down." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Rendered with rare, resolute, and resounding clarity, Kolbert's compelling and enlightening report forthrightly addresses the most significant topic of our lives." --Booklist (starred review) "An epic, riveting story of our species that reads like a scientific thriller--only more terrifying because it is real. Like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction is destined to become one of the most important and defining books of our time." --David Grann, author of The Lost City of Z "I tore through Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction with a mix of awe and terror. Her long view of extinction excited my joy in life's diversity -- even as she made me aware how many species are currently at risk." --Dava Sobel, author of Longitude and Galileo's Daughter "With her usual lucid and lovely prose, Elizabeth Kolbert lays out the sad and gripping facts of our moment on earth: that we've become a geological force, driving vast swaths of creation over the brink. A remarkable addition to the literature of our haunted epoch." --Bill McKibben, author Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist "Elizabeth Kolbert's cautionary tale, The Sixth Extinction, offers us a cogent overview of a harrowing biological challenge. The reporting is exceptional, the contextualizing exemplary. Kolbert stands at the forefront of what it means to be a socially responsible American writer today." --Barry Lopez, author of Arctic Dreams "The sixth mass extinction is the biggest story on Earth, period, and Elizabeth Kolbert tells it with imagination, rigor, deep reporting, and a capacious curiosity about all the wondrous creatures and ecosystems that exist, or have existed, on our planet. The result is an important book full of love and loss." --David Quammen, author of The Song of the Dodo and Spillover "Elizabeth Kolbert writes with an aching beauty of the impact of our species on all the other forms of life known in this cold universe. The perspective is at once awe-inspiring, humbling and deeply necessary." --T.C. Boyle, author of San Miguel About the Author Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer at The New Yorker. She is the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change. She lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts, with her husband and children.
300,000 years ago, there were lots of different species of human. Now it’s only us – and we’re probably the reason why.
Vulnerable species will go extinct as a result of deforestation and climate change Between 1970 and 2014 16704 populations representing 4005 wildlife species declined by 60 percent The sixth mass extinction may occur in around 2100
Many scientists say it's clear that Earth is entering its sixth mass-extinction, meaning three-quarters of all species could disappear in the coming centuries.
There have been five mass extinction events in 450 million years, some say we're entering the sixth.
But will still kill more species than before.
“As scientists we have a responsibility to be accurate about such comparisons.”
300,000 years ago, there were lots of different species of human. Now it’s only us – and we’re probably the reason why.
Human activity has put extinction into overdrive, a new study shows
Mathematical formula based on previous mass die-offs suggests the Earth is set to cross a 'threshold of catastrophe' by about the end of this century because of fossil fuels
A group of scientists have concluded a historic die-off is indeed under way, and humans will be among the threatened species.
We have become quite used to pronouncements of doom, from scientists predicting the sixth mass extinction due to the measurable effects of climate change, and from religionists declaring the apocalypse due to a surfeit of sin.
How we define the age we live in depends entirely on the frame we choose to view it through. On one timescale we're just getting settled into the 21st century; zoom out and we're deeply entrenched in the Anthropocene. We might be waking to the dawn of an enlightened, interconnected new era or teetering on the brink of a sixth mass extinction. Neuzeit, which German electro-acoustic composer J. Peter Schwalm views through his new duo outing with the Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen, is generally taken to refer to the modern era that began in the 16th century and witnessed the rise of Western Civilization. Schwalm chooses to take the term on it's face, however; the fusion of \"new\" and \"time\" he defines as a period marked by sudden and drastic change. To borrow another word from the German, it ably yet dauntingly captures the zeitgeist of our tumultuous moment, one in which political upheaval, global pandemic and catastrophic climate change seem poised to usher in an uncertain new existence.
The signs of death are everywhere, if you look.
There have been five mass extinction events of biodiversity throughout the planet's history, but all have been attributed to natural phenomena
Animals worldwide are going extinct at an average rate that is 114 times higher than it would be without human interference, a new study finds.
The planet has experienced five previous mass extinction events, the last one occurring 65.5 million years ago which wiped out the dinosaurs from existence. Experts now believe we’re in the midst of a sixth mass extinction.
At least five times, a biological catastrophe has engulfed Earth killing off the vast majority of species. As scientists say we’re in a sixth mass extinction, what can we learn from the past?
In three human lifetimes, the world could be a radically different place. But it's not too late the help most vulnerable animals on our planet.
The passenger pigeon, the Tasmanian tiger, and the Baiji (Yangtze river dolphin) are among the most recognized casualties of what many experts refer to as the sixth mass extinction. This is a consequence of human activities leading to the vanishing of vertebrate animal species at rates hundreds of t
A study from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) found that hundreds of land animals could go extinct in the next 20 years.
A look at the 5 major mass extinction events throughout the history of life on Earth, and possibly a sixth event.
The signs of death are everywhere, if you look.
By 2100, oceans may hold enough carbon to launch mass extermination of species in future millennia.
Researchers talk of ‘biological annihilation’ as study reveals billions of populations of animals have been lost in recent decades
A study from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) found that hundreds of land animals could go extinct in the next 20 years.
“As scientists we have a responsibility to be accurate about such comparisons.”
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWS 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALISTA major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes Over the last…
