The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert is a book that shows the many views of extinction. Through her adventures all over the world, Kolbert explains how we are in the Sixth Extinction with historical discoveries of extinction and current problems of our environment. From the Cuvier to invasive species, Kolbert opens people's eyes and force us to face the truth that the world is dying, right now.
Kolbert is able to write her book as a great force of stories. Kolbert first talks about the history of the concepts of extinction and natural selection. Through Cuvier, the concept of extinction was born with the bones of extinct animals. Through Darwin, the concept of evolution was born when Darwin traveled around the HMS Beagle. Kolbert also talks about the End-Cretaceous extinction and how the Alvrezes were able to find the evidence of a great comet that crashed on Earth. These stories are all very interesting, but many of the tales go downhill from there.
When Elizabeth Kolbert starts to show the different issues in our status quo, it was really from there where I was being taken back. Ocean acidification, dying coral, rainforests and climate change, falling biodiversity, invasive species, and saving species through reproduction are all the problems that the author presents to us. More, it felt like these issues were thrown in my face. The environmental problem that hit me the hardest was ocean acidification. If you asked a random person about climate change, he or she would (or should) know about it. But, if you asked a random person about ocean acidification, I bet that person doesn't know much about it. I already knew a little bit about this topic a bit, but while reading this book, I got a better insight into ocean acidification and all the other issues. Ocean acidification is when the amount of carbon dioxide increases in the ocean, which is a big problem. According to the studies that Kolbert had attended, scientists predict that carbon dioxide is going to decrease the amount of diversity in the ocean. That means that lots of animals are going to die, which is going to impact us. A lot. While all these problems start to increase and ruin the world, there is a bigger issue heading our way.
At the very end of the book, Elizabeth Kolbert makes us face the ugly truth; when Earth dies, we die too. Only a few people are able to recognize this truth. When I read this part, I was surprised that we were also going to be affected badly. I always thought people saved the environment just for the polar bears and penguins. It dawned on me that my future may not be safe because of climate change. It was crazy how many people didn't know this and went on with their daily lives. It feels like everything is wrong.
As a book review, I do recommend this book to anyone who understands it. Even though it might be a long read, Elizabeth Kolbert clears confronts the readers with an issue that leaves us in a state of shock. This book made me want to make a change and open my eyes to the environment around me. Even though The Sixth Extinction is made of stories, it is eye-opening how Kolbert is able to describe each account with great description and explanation. In the end, I hope that people read this book and learn a lot of lessons about our environment and world.
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