Reading a book can be an opportunity to “travel”
to different time periods and regions of the world. The Sixth Extinction is a non-fiction
book that offers that kind of opportunity. For example, it
goes back 300 million years ago, to the Permian period, and to the Cretaceous
period, 100 million years ago. The book also visits the recent past and examines the present by exploring various regions such as the fragmented
Amazon rainforest, a fast-warming slope in the Andes and the outer reaches of
the Great Barrier Reef.
Elizabeth Kolbert’s book tracks the extinction
of some species and examines the decline of others.
To put everything in context, let’s focus
for a moment on the Homo sapiens species, which is our own species. Homo
sapiens emerged around two hundred thousand years ago, and it has done to the
planet what no other species has done: “Having discovered subterranean reserves
of energy, humans began to change the composition of the atmosphere. This
alters the climate and the chemistry of the oceans. Some animals and plants
adjust by moving, but thousands of species succumb gradually and become extinct
as a consequence of human actions.”
I
happened to be reading this book when I learned that hundreds of dolphins,seabirds and sea lions were washing up dead on the West Coast of the UnitedStates of America.
The Vancouver Sun report revealed that the dolphins, seabirds and sea lions appeared sick or dead on the shore due to a neurotoxin called domoic acid. The toxin is produced by algae blooms proliferating in excess due to climate change and global warming. The neurotoxin is present in the fish they feed on, causing the massive number of deaths.
Since the start of the industrial
Revolution humans have burned through enough fossil fuels—coal, oil and natural
gas—to add 365 billion metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere. Deforestation
has contributed another 180 billion tons. Each year we throw up another nine billion
tons or so, an amount that has been increasing six percent annually.
“By burning through coal and oil deposits
humans are putting carbon back into the air that has been sequestered for
millions of years.”
One third of the carbon dioxide that humans
have pumped into the air gets absorbed by the oceans causing ocean
acidification. The rapidity at which the carbon dioxide is released by human actions does not give the system time to adapt and the speed is happening at
unprecedented levels.
Ocean acidification
I don't understand why ocean acidification is constantly ignored. I appreciate how Elizabeth Kolbert's highlights this issue.
Ocean acidification has been referred to as global warming’s “equally evil twin.” It has multiple effects; one of the effects is that it compromises the integrity of coral reefs. The survival of millions of marine animals depends on coral reefs, so if coral reefs are affected, millions of marine animals are affected too.
According to Dr. Ken Caldeira, if carbon dioxide emission trends continue at this rate, corals will not survive this century.
The only quibble I have about Elizabeth Kolbert’s Sixth Extinction is that her writing style is convoluted at times and some of her ramblings dilute the important facts she shares. On the other hand, she offers metaphors to facilitate the understanding of complex concepts for people who lack training in science. I think some of those metaphors may be useful to make the book more accessible to people who have no clue, although I doubt that her writing style will appeal to such people. The fact that seventy-five million voters in the United States of America chose a climate denier over a competent person indicates that too many people have no clue, and the United States of America is positioned in second place in terms of carbon emissions.
Favorite parts
My favorite parts of The Sixth Extinction are the chapters on the following topics:
- the golden frogs in Panama
-Ocean
acidification
-Neanderthal
extinction
Conclusion
I highly recommend The Sixth Extinction. I hope the book will be integrated into the school curricula. I think it should be used as an invitation to watch what is happening around us. Educating citizens on the need to vote for politicians who take climate change seriously is an important step, but it is not the only one, so let’s raise awareness on the need to understand the topic and to address it in every way we can.
Our survival depends on it.
Relevant
links:
https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/09/can-the-economy-afford-not-to-fight-climate-change/
https://usa.oceana.org/effects-ocean-acidification-corals/
https://davidsuzuki.org/story/ignoring-climate-change-is-just-too-expensive/
https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/29/us/alligator-alcatraz-protests-immigration-florida-hnk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94m-c_c885E
The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl