Elizabeth Korbert The Sixth Extinction Analysis

In The Sixth Extinction, by Elizabeth Kolbert, the author stresses that if no changes are made to the world in which we live today, that a mass extinction will occur. Kolbert reveals that species are becoming extinct at a rate that is similar to those of preceding mass extinctions. Most importantly, if the destruction and contamination of the natural world continue at the same pace then it will conclude with the end of humanity. Similar to the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago, Kolbert believes that a continual course of modern day life with destroy the earth. The sixth extinction is not something that is coming in the future, it is here now. Many of the earth’s plant and animal species have already gone extinct, including many species …show more content…
One of Kolbert’s main arguments, is how none of the previous extinctions were caused by humanity. The so-called Big Five extinctions included huge events that were mostly geological, like the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. The continual negative affect humanity has had on the earth is the main root for the sixth extinction. As time has gone on, the speed of human-generated extinctions has increased exponentially. A fungus discovered in North America has taken its toll on thousands of amphibians, and a fungus found in Europe has knocked off entire colonies of bats in the eastern United States. Humans made it easy for species to travel across oceans and into new territories where they had no challengers. These animals create problems for species that are already in those territories, and affect the population. During the time that humans have been evolved, problems with the uses of oceans and forest have deteriorated the earth. Pollution in oceans along with climate change and melting of ice caps create dilemmas. Modern technologies do not help these