Biological Annihilation: A Planet in Loss Mode. By Subhankar Banerjee
It’s now estimated that 40% of all bird species are in decline
globally and one of every eight is threatened with extinction... If you’ve been paying
attention to what’s happening to the nonhuman life forms with which we share
this planet, you’ve likely heard the term 'the Sixth Extinction.' If not, look
it up. After all, a superb environmental reporter, Elizabeth Kolbert, has
already gotten a Pulitzer Prize for writing a book with that title.
The
Sixth Extinction / Conservative groups spend up to $1bn
a year to fight action on climate change
Whether the sixth mass
species extinction of Earth’s history is already (or not quite yet) underway
may still be debatable, but it’s clear enough that something’s going on,
something that may prove even more devastating than a mass of species
extinctions: the full-scale winnowing of vast populations of the planet’s
invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants. Think of it, to introduce an even
broader term, as a wave of “biological annihilation” that includes possible
species extinctions on a mass scale, but also massive species die-offs and
various kinds of massacres.
Someday, such a
planetary winnowing may prove to be the most tragic of all the grim stories of
human history now playing out on this planet, even if to date it’s gotten far
less attention than the dangers of climate change. In the end, it may
prove more difficult to mitigate than global warming. Decarbonizing the
global economy, however hard, won’t be harder or more improbable than the kind
of wholesale restructuring of modern life and institutions that would prevent
species annihilation from continuing. With that in mind,
come along with me on a topsy-turvy journey through the animal and plant
kingdoms to learn a bit more about the most consequential global challenge of
our time... read more:
