The Sixth Extinction

An Unnatural History

By: Elizabeth Kolbert

Narrated by: Anne Twomey

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

A major audiobook about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes.

Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on Earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In The Sixth Extinction, two-time winner of the National Magazine Award and New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert draws on the work of scores of researchers in half a dozen disciplines, accompanying many of them into the field: geologists who study deep ocean cores, botanists who follow the tree line as it climbs up the Andes, marine biologists who dive off the Great Barrier Reef.

She introduces us to a dozen species, some already gone, others facing extinction, including the Panamian golden frog, staghorn coral, the great auk, and the Sumatran rhino. Through these stories, Kolbert provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in revolutionary Paris up through the present day. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy; as Kolbert observes, it compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.

©2013 Elizabeth Kolbert (P)2013 Simon & Schuster

Engaging, excellent read

It's a somber topic to be sure, but it couldn't be more worthwhile. It's also fascinating, decadently descriptive, and not without hope or perspective. Highly recommend.

Sixth Extinction

When you finish this book you are left thinking is this really the end? This book was beautifully written and I will definitely be reading from this author again.

Brilliant Book

I heard about this book one morning while watching the news and was super excited to see that it was offered on Audible because it covers something I wanted to learn more about. I found myself excited to learn about the history of how we classify extinction and how animals adapted to try and prevent it, and at the same time extremely sad to hear about how it was happening in modern day times. I feel more on top of the news coming out actually because of this book.

The Whole is Less Than Sum of its Parts

Fascinating science fact about the five mass extinctions of the past and the possible ongoing sixth extinction precipitated by human activity, focusing on a series of individual species past and present -- long extinct species like the mastodon, recently extinct species like the auk, and species on the verge of extinction like frogs, bats and rhinos. There is also a great chapter on what killed the dinosaurs that highlights how wrong science can sometimes be, yet nevertheless willing to correct themselves.

While the individual sections are, in a word (to repeat), fascinating, the whole left me empty (not to mention pessimistic and depressed). The point of looking back at the extinctions of the past is to draw parallels and lessons to help us deal with the man-made mass extinction that may currently be in progress (even though one of the conclusions is that the past is not always prologue to the future).

The big problem is that there is compelling evidence here that the mere presence of humans is enough to drive other species to extinction. A band of one hundred competent hunters is shown to be mathematically sufficient for large mammals like the mastodon to be hunted into oblivion. Even before global warming and ocean acidification, pre-industrial development and expansion of human habitats was enough to kill off species through the transmission of harmful fungi, predators, and microbes.

The seeming implication is that the only way to save the earth and its biodiversity is to kill ourselves off. We are the cancer. And even our best efforts to do right by our cohabitants can go horribly awry -- although it remains a hotly contested subject (and not addressed herein), there is the distinct possibility that millions of people have died of malaria due to a DDT ban designed to save the bald eagle and other large bird species.

Author Elizabeth Kolbert relies too much on anecdotal evidence, and omits key issues. I have my own anecdotal evidence about what is going on with bats -- the explosion of flying insects, particularly mosquitoes, in the absence of the bats who controlled their population -- which Kolbert does not address at all, in addition to failing to inform us that the fungus that is killing off bats was introduced by European scientists who failed to recognize the possibility that North American bats were not immune to it like their European counterparts.

A handful of positive scenarios are lightly mentioned in the closing pages -- the potential of human ingenuity to solve climate change (e.g. by introducing sulfates into the atmosphere to counteract warming) -- but the overall message here is simply one of alarm, and that can be as counterproductive as anything, as shown by the (disputed) results of Silent Spring fifty+ years ago (which Kolbert fails to address).

So three and half stars from me, four overall since the lookback at the past is interesting, as is the analysis of individual species both past and present, but three stars for Story because the whole argument doesn't really hold together, not past the alarmist message that we have to force ourselves into extinction to save every other species (OK, that's an exaggeration, but that we should at least change our behavior radically, which may not even help since we are characterized explicitly as an invasive species -- we do need to change our individual and collective behavior, but is a constructive manner, not by being alarmist).

Important story; a bit dry

A lot of interesting history, and detailed stories about extinction occurring all across the globe right now. The reader was terribly boring and the history gets dragged out a bit at times, but overall a decent book.

Humans - Mostly Harmless; *wink*

Perhaps an alternate yet discarded title for the book could have been "mostly harmless". After reading this book, I've realized that humans would love to believe that we're harmless to our world, but when smacked in the face with the truth, we'd settle for mostly harmless.

The truth is that we have been the most prolific species to roam the earth. We affect climate, geography, flora, fauna and yes, even the continents! All the while not necessarily intending to do so, but in the name of curiosity and progress we do.

I loved this book for it's ability to peel off the layers of millions of years of the Earth's history and put it into perspective with a focus on the extinction events that occurred over time. While highlighting the current extinction that humans are in the middle of causing.

To be honest, before reading it,I wasn't sure if I would become depressed, but I actually found it amazingly interesting. It allowed me the unique experience to be able to step outside of humanity and observe us as a species. I now also understand the pressures and laws exerted on all species that occupy the Earth. While we may think we are above all of that, we are all subjected to the same forces as the very species that we cause to become extinct.

I don't know if humans are capable of reversing the current extinction, just because to do so would mean that we've been successful at suppressing our natural tendency to try to control our environment, when all the while, quite ironically, we are marching ourselves ever faster toward that event as a result of our control.

In the end, I marvel at the fact that I can read the playbook of our own extinction, with all the fascination of a great who done it. But please don't judge me for that...
I'm only being human.

Dense but worthwhile

This book is not for the verbally light of hart, there are countless twenty letter words and names that are mentioned once or twice. It is however a great read and something people should take note of.

A scary and necessary read

Pleasantly surprised

Kolbert delivers a compelling narrative on a highly debated topic in manner respectful of others.

A superb read!

This was a superb book, the author is insightful, compassionate and thorough, and gave a moving but unforced account of the 6th extinction. I felt she left the decision on where we as humans stand on this issue to the reader; she presented data and gently gave her view, but tried rather to guide the reader to their own conclusion given the material she provides. I enjoyed this approach, but did wonder if I would have liked a bit more of the controversy about this issue to be discussed. The narrator did a good job, lending feeling and subtlety to the narration. I recommend this book!

IGN rated 9/10

Wonderful book with a hint truth and humor. If you like non-fiction and science related topics this is your go to book. But other than that it really opens your eyes about humanity itself. Made weep a little at the mid-ending till she cracked a joke about rats.