When is the world coming to an end?
When do you think the world is coming to an end? This is a question that has crossed our minds at one time, and there is no doubt that there are different ways to seek to answer this question. The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert primarily on the first five chapters illustrates the past, current, and even future extinctions that have faced and continue to experience when it comes to extinction of animals, amphibians, plants, and organisms. Additionally, the author calls for an in-depth analysis of understanding the information provided by different scholars about extinctions. The climate changes experienced in the world pose similar dangers that faced different animals, and organisms in the past become extinct, such as different frog species and the act of asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs, ocean acidification, and increase in global warming. The author offers different changes that occurred in the world by incorporating different theories that seek to explain how extinction occurs, which avails to the readers a chance to explore what is valid and what are assumptions or inaccurate information. Kolbert’s argument on extinction highlights the most accurate information current facing the earth from global warming, animal, and organisms extinction reality, which continue to pose a danger in humanity’s contemporary and future existence. The information provided by the author continues to shape the understanding of the existence of sixth extinction, but some information may have become outdated with time. Anthropocene is here with us, and Chapter VIII, the author highlights how the rise in temperature is affecting the forest and trees species n even forcing others to go to extinction.
Recent Science that Confirm Chapters 1-5
Kolbert begins the first five chapters with a description of five mass extinctions that have faced the world for millions of years and the possible causes. The author goes ahead to explain how extinction has a long history where “The most recent—and famous—mass extinction came at the close of the Cretaceous period; it wiped out, in addition to the dinosaurs, the plesiosaurs, the mosasaurs, the ammonites, and the pterosaurs.” (Kolbert 13). The extinction of dinosaurs has been a hot debate with different movies and animation, trying to paint the picture of what was happening before the asteroid effects. The information is correct from a credible source where Chiarenza et al. claims, “Although there is still debate as to whether dinosaurs were already in decline prior to their extinction, their fossil record demonstrates global survival until the terminal Cretaceous and unambiguous absence thereafter”(3). The author’s explanation of the Cretaceous period is a clear depiction of the possibility of extinction, and this places a ground for understanding other extinctions that occurred after this period. The recent studies authenticate that there were valid mass extinctions that occurred over a long time on earth and why she claimed that the sixth extinction is here with us.
Decreasing Sea Ice Cover
Human beings typically tend to separate themselves from nature by focusing on their assumed superiorities, such as complex reasoning and language. Still, in the real sense, humans are just part of nature. Kolbert explains how the forest and trees face major extinctions, which extends even to other aquatic creatures. If one has at least attended class should know that all living and non-living things interrelate one way or another and this is the point that Kolbert is trying to depict when she says “In the Arctic, perennial sea ice covers just half the area it did thirty years ago, and thirty years from now, it may well be gone entirely” (Kolbert 165). The author tries to depict how global warming poses a danger to the survival of species, and its effects are apparent today from the depleting sea ice cover. However, it can be deemed that personal opinions and biasness may overrun Kolbert’s point, and thus it calls for an in-depth analysis to understand if this information is valid today. The information is backed by a peer-reviewed scholars Cvijanovic and Caldeira, who states that “in the case of CO2 quadrupling, ice response leads to an additional 1 to 2 K tropical temperature increase in active ice simulations relative to the zero and prescribed ice simulations” (1175). According to the authors, the rise in global warming is increasingly impacting the tropics species, which is the same information that Kolbert points out, and thus this information is verifiable today. The impact of global warming is increasingly leading to lesser sea ice cover, which poses an extinction danger to many tropics species.
Trees Species Diversity
Kolbert further points out the low number of diversity that is present in the tropical and how this poses even a new danger to the survival of many tree species, which quantify the number of birds or animal species that will survive in the high latitude. A good example is a boreal forest in Canada that contains only species of trees that goes ahead to show that “the variety of life is most impoverished at the poles and richest at low latitudes” (Kolbert 167). The global warming presence poses a danger to the tropics than in low latitude areas, and Kolbert highlights how this can be a path to extinction of many trees, birds, and animal species in the tropics. The species in the tropical areas will be forced to migrate to less suitable areas, and because it is many global species will end up being confined to toxic temperature, which will kill them all. The point is rather vital, and understanding if Kolbert points are authentic, it is essential to look at more current scholarly sources to support this claim. However, even before diving in verifying this point, most of us can agree that the world is changing due to unpredictable weather patterns. The low number of species in the tropics is valid because “e high-latitude forests have characteristic features that set them apart from lower latitude forests, including low tree species diversity, a short growing season, low sun angles and a sparse canopy cover” (Aakala et al. 1041). The information provides by this scholar shows that the tropics suffer from a low number of species than the low latitude areas, which support Kolbert’s argument that the species in the tropics are at a higher chance of extinction than those in warmer areas.
Species Migration
In the first five chapters, Kolbert highlights different periods that marked most of the world’s major mass extinctions and temperature changes, such as late Eocene, which led to the cooling of the world. Today the opposite is happening, and thermal control is a clear depiction of global warming happening. Kolbert points out that earth warming is taking place faster than in the last glaciation, which will force many species or organisms in the tropics to adapt or migrate (177). The author argues using the Darwin theory, which shows that there was a massive continental-scale migration during the Pleistocene due to a change of temperature. The increase in temperature, which is up to ten times, is a clear depiction of the tropics’ impending organisms, including trees and animals. The question that you must be asking yourself is how this information is accurate. I agree that it is essential to verify the information because the earth is continuously changing. According to Schrage, from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the migration did not happen throughout millions of years “But as the global climate began to warm, some species ventured beyond their native habitats to capitalize on better breeding and feeding opportunities afforded by the longer days and insect-rich environments of northern latitudes.” The information is thus valid and today, which shows that Kolbert points still hold ground and can be used to understand how sixth extinction claims are valid. The tropics’ organisms will be forced to migrate or adapt faster, and failure to do this due to the rapid warm temperature witnessed today will lead to many tropics species extinctions.
Imminent Extinctions
The best argument that Kolbert used is the two extreme scenarios in 204 by a group of scientists. They proved that there is a likely hood that the warmer temperature could lead to the extinction of many tropical plants and animals. Moreover, because global warming will likely all communities, a global approach needs to be adopted (Halley, Houtan, and Mautua 27). This is the reason why the scientist came together to seek a solution to increasing climate change. However, the optimistic scenario is the most profound because although organisms could adapt to new areas for survival, “Still, many species ended up with nowhere to go” (Kolbert 183). The pints illustrates that birds or plants during migration to suit there comfortable climate that allows them to thrive may primarily affect their survival. Birds that are the most migratory species in the tropics face many challenges in looking for suitable inhabitants for survival, leading to their extinction. One might think this is a shady assumption only, but the best way to understand Kolbert’s point is to explore more recent studies about the impact of migration on species. Climate change has been blamed for many ecological changes happening globally. This has not exempted tropics species where they are mainly affected
“during the breeding, non-breeding, and migratory periods, depending on the ecology of the organism in question” (Rockwell et al. 724). Thus, it is evident that the warmer the earth gets, the more plants and animals will face imminent danger of extinction due to lack of favorable climate that supports their survival in terms of breeding and foods.
Extinction Assumptions
Undoubtedly, many people in the current world have refuted the assumption that mass extinction occurred at a languid pace as the danger of global warming can easily be seen around the world. The extinction phenomena had been defined as a paradigm shift, but after unearthing different mammals bones in the eighteenth century, the human understanding about the issue has completely changed (Kolbert 105). Kolbert also talked about the issue of carbon dioxide is responsible for major extinctions. This assumption is still present today, where people increasingly realize that carbon emissions are the primary pollutant of air, water, and soil. According to Lackey, the point is valid, and “The Earth’s sixth mass extinction is already underway — and humans are the driving force behind it.” According to the author, the sixth mass is almost here with us, which has been due to human activities. However, the source has failed the credibility test. One can argue that humans are not to be blamed solely, and other factors may also be responsible for the increasing warm temperature. It is thus essential to understand that Anthropocene is dangerous to human beings only, but other species are affected. The temperature frequency and precipitation affecting organisms in tropical and sub-tropical areas may likely cause strong phenology (Sakai and Kitajima 52). The possibility of Kolbert’s points about the temperature rise affecting species in the tropics is valid, and there is a need to look at how we can save these organisms.
Conclusion
The forest and the trees are the primary habitat of many animals, including human beings, and the increasing global warming is posing a risk to this reality. The organisms, especially in the tropics, continue to face imminent danger of extinction due to a rise in warm temperature, which is forcing birds and other animals to shift or adapt to theses unfavorable temperatures. The sad thing is that those organisms who will fail to migrate or adapt are likely to die and thus go to extinction. Therefore, the Sixth extinction is not an assumption because the points that Kolbert highlights seem to be generally valid today, which shows that humanity may be the next victim of mass extinction if climate change issues will not be tackled immediately. It is up to us to come up with new solutions and use the information available such as Kolbert points to forge a way forward to prevent the possible extinction of humanity and other organisms.