The Role of Mass Extinction in The Sixth Extinction

In her book “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History,” Elizabeth Kolbert gives evidence that human activities are leading to what scientists refer to as the sixth mass extinction. The book examines the role of human-made climate change in causing the sixth mass extinction, which will eliminate about 20 to 50% of all the living species on the planet within the century. Over the past half a billion years, the world has experienced five mass extinctions which made the diversity of the earth to suddenly and dramatically reduce. Similar to the asteroid impact that led to the loss of the dinosaurs, scientists continue to monitor the sixth extinction. Presumably, the sixth extinction will have devastating effects on the planet with human actions being the catalyst. The author draws on the work of other researchers, and while accompanying them into the field, the author highlights the changes taking place around us with various animals such as the Panamanian golden frog, Staghorn coral, and Sumatran rhino. Through such stories, the author gives an account of the extinction taking place and traces the evolution of the extinction. The role of this paper, therefore, will be to use the book ”The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History” to help understand the extent and the rate of species extinction and using the article ”The Really Big One”try to expound on the most probable cause of the extinction. Indeed, when destruction occurs, the earth does not only lose the endangered species, but it loses every species connect to the endangered species.

Earth is in the midst of tremendous changes in its diversity. Unlike in the past years where the events of mass extinctions took place as a result of events like asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions, the current crisis is almost entirely by human actions (Hance). Indeed, because the rate of change in the atmosphere is increasing and the extinction of one species can create an ecological imbalance leading more extinctions to unravel, it is necessary for species resilience giving them the scope to withstand the stress. According to Kolbert, extinction is most probably the first scientific idea that kids grapple with as often parents give their kids toy dinosaurs to play with, and such kids sometimes understand that the small creatures represent a colossal animal (25). While people might find it hard to accept the idea that species once lived on earth and that extinction led to their loss, scientists could not envision a force powerful enough to exterminate all life forms common in those ages.

Indeed, in the article ”The Really Big One” by Kathryn Schulz, the author highlights that scientists have discovered a fault line in the Pacific Ocean which has been responsible for the large-magnitude earthquakes in the past centuries (Schulz). The scientists found the fault line when they were studying the ”ghost forest” along Washington Coast, and they came up with the conclusion that it led to the extinction of almost all trees between 1699 and 1700 because of inundated salt water (Schulz  Para 20). The scientists thus believe that this fault line can trigger a set of earthquakes, which will be the worst natural disaster wiping out species. Indeed, earthquakes can have devastating impacts on those animals concentrated along the tectonic plates, and this can trigger many secondary effects which can disturb an animal’s habitat. While mass extinctions take place because of climate change, massive volcanic eruptions, or a combination of these events, earthquakes can have devastating effects on animal and plant species because of the resulting tsunami.

Scientists have reasons to believe that there will come a time when the backstop will make the North American plate to rebound like a spring and this will lead to seismic waves between 8.7 and 9.2 (Schulz). The ripple effects of such an earthquake include; the collapsing of caves, the fall of trees, and cliffs to crumble. For instance, if during an earthquake a section of the coastline along the tectonic plate breaks away from the shoreline, then it can take away all the plants and animals along leading to loss of species. Besides the damage from the massive earthquake, minutes after the quake an enormous wave arising from the movement and landslides along the coast causes more damage. For instance, in the 9.1 earthquakes off the coast of Japan in 2011, it led to the loss of life and displacement of animals (Schulz). During a quake, animals can become badly hurt or injured, and it can also lead to the destruction of their natural habitats.

In recent years, scientists have come across the fossils of extinct mammals, for instance, the mastodon molars and this has established extinction as a fact (Hance). While the Mastodons are distantly related to elephants, the changes in climate drove them to extinction. Further, the disappearance of the mastodon coincided with the arrival of early humans, which led to the assumption that humans hunted them to extinction (Kolbert). As a result, scientists warn that just as the Mastodons became extinct, the planet is on the brink of a sixth mass extinction because of a mixture of climate change, pollution, and habitat destruction. While scientists acknowledge the effects of human action in causing the next mass extinction and the occurrence of earthquakes along fault lines, human activities can also cause earthquakes (Kolbert). Such earthquakes depend on the type of human activity. Overall, there are different ways that human can cause earthquakes and it is essential to keep in mind the effect these human actions can have on the environment. 

Evidently, scientists believe that with more than seven billion people on earth, human activity has influenced nature and the extinction of some wildlife (Hance). Based on the fossil remains, only five eras have reduced the population of living beings on earth to warrant a label of mass destruction. The man-made damages, for instance, pollution, climate disruption, and the interactions among these factors have affected the diversity on the planet, which is driving species to become extinct at an alarming rate (Hance). The diversity is essential for human survival as the different organisms provide people with all the types of services they need for their survival. The new findings made by scientists highlight the potential of humans to erase the majority of the resources that humans rely on survival.

Scientists argue that the impending mass extinction will be different from past extinction and this stem from the impact of humans who came to the scene some thousands of years ago (Kolbert). Therefore, humans should recognize that their effect is game-changing and people should become stewards of nature rather than assume their actions are just natural. The impacts of the sixth mass extinction would be catastrophic widespread and irreversible. According to Kolbert, it took millions of years for the planet to recover after the previous extinctions (88). However, the future changes driven by human action can lead to a fundamental change in the shape of the earth with the rise of microbes or the shift from bacteria to multicellular organisms. Presently, humans have wreaked havoc on the existing ecological communities, and sometimes this has led to the extinction of some animal species. Further, humans are the top predators both on land and sea thus using the majority of planet’s primary production for their human purposes. Humans have remodeled the global environment dramatically to serve their needs, which is more than in any of the previous mass extinctions. Therefore, scientists stress the role humans have played in transforming the planet in such a way that if humans were to become extinct the impact on the environment would become noticeable.

Conclusion

Evidently, people have changed the world, and Kolbert has vividly presented arguments of the current crisis. However, in spite of the evidence that humanity is the primary driver of the sixth extinction, humans have not adopted measures to solve this challenge. The response taken by humans and the climate crisis is dependent on our relationship to the environment. The anomalies identified by Kolbert should not be ignored as such what humans are doing to cause the sixth mass extinction is wrong. Therefore, humans should accelerate the transition to a more sustainable world, and this can lead to the conservation of some of the endangered species. The book ”The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History,” thus calls upon humans to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.

Works Cited

Gore, Al. “Without A Trace.”Nytimes.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 28 Nov. 2018.

Hance, Jeremy. “How Humans Are Driving The Sixth Mass Extinction.”the Guardian. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 Nov. 2018.

Kolbert, Elizabeth. The Sixth Extinction. London: Bloomsbury, 2014. Print.

Schulz, Kathryn. “The Earthquake That Will Devastate the Pacific Northwest.”The New Yorker. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 Nov. 2018.