“The current extinction has its own novel cause: not an asteroid or a massive volcanic eruption but "one weedy species.”
Kolbert explores the phenomena of natural extinctions and how the world is on the verge of a sixth one. The five extinctions that have occurred so far have been a cause of asteroids and natural eruptions but with the sixth one, Homo sapiens is at fault. Human behavior and activities have and are still affecting the ecological systems at a higher rate than it is unnatural in comparison. The rate at which humans are changing the ecosystem through advancementS is too fast for most species to adapt. Therefore Kolbert highlights the species and organisms that have already gone extinct or are reducing in numbers rapidly. Furthermore the loss of flora and fauna at a rapid rate due to human behavior and activities.
“Though it might be nice to imagine there once was a time when man lived in harmony with nature, it’s not clear that he ever really did.”
In the past centuries, the occurrence of natural extinctions was not a universally accepted fact and Kolbert observes that denialism persists in the modern age. While scientists have acknowledged the occurrence of five extinctions that wiped most life on earth before, modern society is skeptical of another one. However, she insists that the interaction between geology, ecology, and evolution has never been in complete harmony. Because natural extinctions have always taken place occasionally though far apart. Kolbert asserts that a sixth one will be different from the rest because it has been unnaturally accelerated by human behavior.
“One of the defining features of the Anthropocene is that the world is changing in ways that compel species to move, and another is that it’s changing in ways that create barriers—roads, clear-cuts, cities—that prevent them from doing so.”
Kolbert affirms that the current extinction event is because the ecologies are working against itself. While human activities that cause habitat loss and the environment unsuitable, the potential of relocation to suitable habitats is also restricted. The organisms for instance the Panamanian golden frogs are dying due to habitat loss from deadly fungi in their habitats. Therefore while there might be suitable habitats for them to relocate modern advancement has created barriers for such movements. Human activities continue to interrupt the ecological system that would otherwise find its way to correct itself.
