Species Extinction

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Species Extinction The Extinction of Species ............................................................................................................................ 3 Web of life unravelling, wildlife biologist says ........................................................................................ 3 Nations risk economic collapse and loss of culture if it does not protect the natural world .................... 3 The thing about extinction ..................................................................................................................... 3 Speeding Towards Biosphere Collapse ................................................................................................ 3 NASA video showing climate shift 1880 through 2012 .......................................................................... 4 In 1964, Isaac Asimov Imagined the World in 2014 Embedded video .................................................. 4 Dr. Andrew Weaver - Climate Scientist on the Tar Sands ...................................................................... 5 The sixth extinction - Elizabeth Kolbert ................................................................................................. 5 Nasa-funded study: industrial civilisation headed for 'irreversible collapse'? ......................................... 5 Stanford biologist warns of early stages of Earth's 6th mass extinction event ....................................... 6 Defaunation in the Anthropocene .......................................................................................................... 6 Salt-Water Fish Extinction Seen By 2048 ............................................................................................. 6 The Nature of Things - Jellyfish Rule! ................................................................................................... 7 Earth 'entering new extinction phase' - US study .................................................................................. 7 New report suggests Earth on the brink of a great extinction ................................................................ 7 NASA Study Concludes When Civilization Will End, And It's Not Looking Good for Us ........................ 7 Human and nature dynamics (HANDY): Modeling inequality and use of resources in the collapse or sustainability of societies ...................................................................................................................... 7 Indicators of Ecological Collapse .......................................................................................................... 8 Last Hours Climate Change documentary from The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann ........................ 8 The study - Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services ............................................. 9 Humans an Invasive Species Heading for a 'Crash,' Study Says .......................................................... 9 20 Percent of Plant Species Could Go Extinct ...................................................................................... 9 First Mammal Goes Extinct Due to Human-Caused Climate Change ................................................... 9 Crocodiles and Palm Trees in the Arctic? New Report Suggests Yes. .................................................. 9 Are We Looking At A Mass Extinction Event? ..................................................................................... 10 Thom Hartmann, The Big Picture - Are We Looking At A Mass Extinction Event? ............................. 10 Humans Are Driving 'Unprecedented' Mass Extinction in Oceans ...................................................... 10 The Earth's Sixth Mass Extinction May Be Underway ......................................................................... 11 ‘By 2050 half the forms of life we know will be gone’ – conservation biologist Embedded video ......... 11 Welcome to the Anthropocene ............................................................................................................ 12 World wildlife 'falls by 58% in 40 years' ............................................................................................... 12 World Wildlife Fund Living Planet Report 2016 ................................................................................... 12 Sixth mass extinction? Two-thirds of wildlife may be gone by 2020: WWF ......................................... 12 Blame for Extinction Spreads to Methane Gas ................................................................................... 13 Primates facing 'extinction crisis' ......................................................................................................... 13 Species’ traits influenced their response to recent climate change ..................................................... 14 Climate-Related Local Extinctions Are Already Widespread among Plant and Animal Species .......... 14 Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction ................... 14 Biologists think 50% of species will be facing extinction by the end of the century ............................. 15 Era of ‘Biological Annihilation’ Is Underway, Scientists Warn .............................................................. 15 The Extinction Event Gains Momentum .............................................................................................. 16 The Sixth Extinction: Climate Change May Wipe Out a Third of World's Parasites ............................ 16 Canada's threatened species declining despite federal protection ...................................................... 17 The chance of 'catastrophic' climate change completely wiping out humanity by 2100 is now 1-in-20 17 The study: New Climate Risk Classification Created to Account for Potential “Existential” Threats .... 17 Canada is actually running short of bugs ............................................................................................ 18 Warning of 'ecological Armageddon' after dramatic plunge in insect numbers .................................... 18 More than 15,000 scientists from 184 countries issue 'warning to humanity' ...................................... 19 First U.S. Bumblebee Officially Listed as Endangered ........................................................................ 19 Industrial farming is driving the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth, says leading academic ............ 20 Salt-Water Fish Extinction Seen By 2048 ........................................................................................... 20 Bee gone: Scientists turn to technology as declining bee numbers threaten global food security ....... 20 1 15,000 Scientists From 184 Countries Are Warning Humankind We Are Screwed ............................. 21 World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: .............................................................................................. 21 Area of Global Dead Zones Doubling Every 10 Years ......................................................................... 21 We just went through 2018's Earth resources in only 7 months .......................................................... 22 Unless It Changes, Capitalism Will Starve Humanity By 2050 ............................................................ 22 Biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines ....................................................................................................................................... 23 Frogs Are Disappearing. What Does That Mean? ............................................................................... 23 Mammal diversity will take millions of years to recover from the current biodiversity crisis ................. 23 Humanity has wiped out 60% of animal populations since 1970, report finds ..................................... 24 Earth Has Seen CO2 Spike Before. It Didn’t End Well. ....................................................................... 24 Building blocks of ocean food web in rapid decline as plankton productivity plunges ......................... 25 Living Planet Report 2018 - WWF ....................................................................................................... 25 More than 50 Australian plant species face extinction within decade .................................................. 26 Washington authorities to put Cooke Aquaculture’s salmon farms under “strongest water quality protections we can put in place” ......................................................................................................... 26 Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence cod could be extinct by mid-century: report ........................................ 27 Salt-Water Fish Extinction Seen By 2048 ........................................................................................... 27 SongbirdSOS - The Nature of Things with David Suzuki .................................................................... 27 Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature' .................................................................. 28 World's food supply under 'severe threat' from loss of biodiversity ..................................................... 28 Destruction of nature threatens humanity 'at least as much as' climate change, warns UN - 29 Apr 2019 .................................................................................................................................................... 29 Plant extinction
Recommended publications
  • Racing Extinction
    Racing Extinction Directed by Academy Award® winner Louie Psihoyos And the team behind THE COVE RACING EXTINCTION will have a worldwide broadcast premiere on The Discovery Channel December 2nd. Publicity Materials Are Available at: www.racingextinction.com Running Time: 94 minutes Press Contacts: Discovery Channel: Sunshine Sachs Jackie Lamaj NY/LA/National Office: 212.548.5607 Office: 212.691.2800 Email: [email protected] Tiffany Malloy Email: [email protected] Jacque Seaman Vulcan Productions: Email: [email protected] Julia Pacetti Office: 718.399.0400 Email: [email protected] 1 RACING EXTINCTION Synopsis Short Synopsis Oscar®-winning director Louie Psihoyos (THE COVE) assembles a team of artists and activists on an undercover operation to expose the hidden world of endangered species and the race to protect them against mass extinction. Spanning the globe to infiltrate the world’s most dangerous black markets and using high tech tactics to document the link between carbon emissions and species extinction, RACING EXTINCTION reveals stunning, never-before seen images that truly change the way we see the world. Long Synopsis Scientists predict that humanity’s footprint on the planet may cause the loss of 50% of all species by the end of the century. They believe we have entered the sixth major extinction in Earth’s history, following the fifth great extinction which took out the dinosaurs. Our era is called the Anthropocene, or “Age of Man,” because evidence shows that humanity has sparked a cataclysmic change of the world’s natural environment and animal life. Yet, we are the only ones who can stop the change we have created.
    [Show full text]
  • 88Th Oscars® Nominations Announced
    MEDIA CONTACT Natalie Kojen [email protected] January 14, 2016 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 88TH OSCARS® NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED LOS ANGELES, CA — Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Guillermo del Toro, John Krasinski and Ang Lee announced the 88th Academy Awards® nominations today (January 14). Del Toro and Lee announced the nominees in 11 categories at 5:30 a.m. PT, followed by Boone Isaacs and Krasinski for the remaining 13 categories at 5:38 a.m. PT, at the live news conference attended by more than 400 international media representatives. For a complete list of nominees, visit the official Oscars® website, www.oscar.com. Academy members from each of the 17 branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominees are selected by a vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees. Official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin for members on Saturday, January 23, at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings also will be held at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area. Active members of the Academy are eligible to vote for the winners in all 24 categories. To access the complete nominations press kit, visit www.oscars.org/press/press-kits. The 88th Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m.
    [Show full text]
  • Using Phylochronology to Reveal Cryptic Population Histories: Review and Synthesis of 29 Ancient DNA Studies
    Molecular Ecology (2009) 18, 1310–1330 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04092.x INVITEDBlackwell Publishing Ltd REVIEW Using phylochronology to reveal cryptic population histories: review and synthesis of 29 ancient DNA studies UMA RAMAKRISHNAN* and ELIZABETH A. HADLY† *National Centre for Biological Sciences, TIFR, GKVK Campus, Bangalore 560065, India, †Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020, USA Abstract The evolutionary history of a population involves changes in size, movements and selection pressures through time. Reconstruction of population history based on modern genetic data tends to be averaged over time or to be biased by generally reflecting only recent or extreme events, leaving many population historic processes undetected. Temporal genetic data present opportunities to reveal more complex population histories and provide important insights into what processes have influenced modern genetic diversity. Here we provide a synopsis of methods available for the analysis of ancient genetic data. We review 29 ancient DNA studies, summarizing the analytical methods and general conclusions for each study. Using the serial coalescent and a model-testing approach, we then re-analyse data from two species represented by these data sets in a common interpretive framework. Our analyses show that phylochronologic data can reveal more about population history than modern data alone, thus revealing ‘cryptic’ population processes, and enable us to determine whether simple or complex models best explain the data. Our re-analyses point to the need for novel methods that consider gene flow, multiple populations and population size in reconstruction of population history. We conclude that population genetic samples over large temporal and geographical scales, when analysed using more complex models and the serial coalescent, are critical to understand past population dynamics and provide important tools for reconstructing the evolutionary process.
    [Show full text]
  • Stanford Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve Annual Report 2017-18
    Annual Report 2017 - 2018 Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve No 1 Table of Contents Directors’ Report............................................................3 Research......................................................................4 Publications................................................................6 Education and Outreach................................................8 Conservation Highlights................................................9 Congratulations........................................................10 Financials..................................................................11 Infrastructure............................................................12 Advisory Groups and Staff............................................13 Directors’ Report This year has been a busy and exciting one at Jasper Ridge. Our usual high-quality research, education, outreach, and conservation activities have continued apace, but in addition a two-year effort to identify the needs of our community—including students, faculty, staff, alumni, docents, national and international field-station researchers and educators, Stanford upper administrators, and local residents—has resulted in a strategic plan to help guide us through the next decade. The planning process affirmed our long- standing mission and also crystallized a vision for Jasper Ridge and pledge to all those who use our remarkable facility. Our Mission—To contribute to the understanding of the Earth’s natural systems through research, education, and protection of the preserve’s
    [Show full text]
  • Reminder List of Productions Eligible for the 88Th Academy Awards
    REMINDER LIST OF PRODUCTIONS ELIGIBLE FOR THE 88TH ACADEMY AWARDS ADULT BEGINNERS Actors: Nick Kroll. Bobby Cannavale. Matthew Paddock. Caleb Paddock. Joel McHale. Jason Mantzoukas. Mike Birbiglia. Bobby Moynihan. Actresses: Rose Byrne. Jane Krakowski. AFTER WORDS Actors: Óscar Jaenada. Actresses: Marcia Gay Harden. Jenna Ortega. THE AGE OF ADALINE Actors: Michiel Huisman. Harrison Ford. Actresses: Blake Lively. Kathy Baker. Ellen Burstyn. ALLELUIA Actors: Laurent Lucas. Actresses: Lola Dueñas. ALOFT Actors: Cillian Murphy. Zen McGrath. Winta McGrath. Peter McRobbie. Ian Tracey. William Shimell. Andy Murray. Actresses: Jennifer Connelly. Mélanie Laurent. Oona Chaplin. ALOHA Actors: Bradley Cooper. Bill Murray. John Krasinski. Danny McBride. Alec Baldwin. Bill Camp. Actresses: Emma Stone. Rachel McAdams. ALTERED MINDS Actors: Judd Hirsch. Ryan O'Nan. C. S. Lee. Joseph Lyle Taylor. Actresses: Caroline Lagerfelt. Jaime Ray Newman. ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE ROAD CHIP Actors: Jason Lee. Tony Hale. Josh Green. Flula Borg. Eddie Steeples. Justin Long. Matthew Gray Gubler. Jesse McCartney. José D. Xuconoxtli, Jr.. Actresses: Kimberly Williams-Paisley. Bella Thorne. Uzo Aduba. Retta. Kaley Cuoco. Anna Faris. Christina Applegate. Jennifer Coolidge. Jesica Ahlberg. Denitra Isler. 88th Academy Awards Page 1 of 32 AMERICAN ULTRA Actors: Jesse Eisenberg. Topher Grace. Walton Goggins. John Leguizamo. Bill Pullman. Tony Hale. Actresses: Kristen Stewart. Connie Britton. AMY ANOMALISA Actors: Tom Noonan. David Thewlis. Actresses: Jennifer Jason Leigh. ANT-MAN Actors: Paul Rudd. Corey Stoll. Bobby Cannavale. Michael Peña. Tip "T.I." Harris. Anthony Mackie. Wood Harris. David Dastmalchian. Martin Donovan. Michael Douglas. Actresses: Evangeline Lilly. Judy Greer. Abby Ryder Fortson. Hayley Atwell. ARDOR Actors: Gael García Bernal. Claudio Tolcachir.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Curriculum Vitae Ripan S. Malhi Department of Anthropology
    Curriculum Vitae Ripan S. Malhi Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 209E Davenport Hall, 607 Matthews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801. [email protected]. Education Ph.D. Anthropology, University of California, Davis, 2001. Dissertation: Investigating prehistoric population movements in North America using ancient and modern mtDNA. M.A. Anthropology, University of California, Davis, 1998. B.S. Anthropology, Minor in Biological Science, University of California, Davis, 1994. Current Appointments (Academic and Service) August 2017 to present - Full Professor in Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign. August 2018 to present – Chair, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology Committee on Diversity. August 2015 to present – Co-Director of the Increasing Diversity in Evolutionary Anthropological Sciences (IDEAS) program. American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA). January 2015 to present – Associate Editor of American Journal of Physical Anthropology. September 2013 to present – Executive Editor of Human Biology. August 2011 to present – Director of Summer internship for INdigenous peoples in Genomics (SING) U.S.A. Program. Summer program to train indigenous students in genomic research. Past Appointments and Research January 2015-2017 – Co-Chair Committee on Diversity (COD). American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA). August 2011-2017 Associate Professor in Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign. August 2006 – 2011 Assistant Professor in Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign. June 2005-June 2006 - Research Director, Trace Genetics, Inc (A DNAPrint Genomics Company). Job duties included develop new products and services, manage scientific 1 and customer service staff, create and manage budgets, perform scientific research and publish in peer-review journals. November 2002-June 2005 – Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Trace Genetics, Inc.
    [Show full text]
  • Curriculum Vitae Christopher J
    C. J. Bell Curriculum Vitae Christopher J. Bell 10 January, 2012 Professor The University of Texas at Austin Department of Geological Sciences 1 University Station C1100 Austin, TX 78712-0254 (512) 471-7301 [email protected] Date and Place of Birth: 12 March, 1966; Marietta, Georgia, U.S.A. Education University of California, Berkeley, California. Department of Integrative Biology. Ph.D., 1997. Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona. Quaternary Studies Program. M.S., 1990. The College of William and Mary in Virginia, Williamsburg, Virginia. Department of Geology. B.S., 1988. Professional Appointments - Current Sep., 2010 – present: Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin. April, 2007 – present: Research Associate, Department of Terrestrial Vertebrates, Western Australian Museum, Perth, Western Australia. Professional Appointments - Historical Sep., 2003 – Sept. 2010 : Associate Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin. September, 1997 - August, 2003: Assistant Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin. January, 1997 - May, 1997: Graduate Student Instructor, ‘Natural History of the Vertebrates,’ Department of Integrative Biology, U.C. Berkeley. August - December, 1996: Curatorial Assistant, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, U.C. Berkeley. June - August, 1996: Graduate Student Curatorial Assistant, Museum of Paleontology, U.C. Berkeley. August - December, 1995: Graduate Student Instructor, ‘Morphology of the Vertebrate Skeleton,’ Department of Integrative Biology, U.C. Berkeley. June - August, 1995: Move Coordinator, Museum of Paleontology, U.C. Berkeley. January - May, 1995: Graduate Student Instructor, ‘The Age of Mammals,’ Department of Integrative Biology, U.C. Berkeley. 1 C. J. Bell August - December, 1994: Research Assistant to A. D. Barnosky, Porcupine Cave Project, Museum of Paleontology, U.
    [Show full text]
  • The 88Th Annual Academy Awards Nominations the Oscars Will Be Presented on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles
    The 88th annual Academy Awards nominations The Oscars will be presented on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles Best Picture: Best Foreign Language Film: q "The Big Short" q "Embrace of the Serpent" (Colombia) q "Bridge of Spies" q "Mustang" (France) q "Brooklyn" q "Son of Saul" (Hungary) q "Mad Max: Fury Road" q "Theeb" (Jordan) q "The Martian" q "A War" (Denmark) q "The Revenant" q "Room" Best Adapted Screenplay: q "Spotlight" q "The Big Short" q "Brooklyn" Best Director: q "Carol" q Adam McKay, "The Big Short" q "The Martian" q George Miller, "Mad Max: Fury Road" q "Room" q Alejandro G. Iñárritu, "The Revenant" q Lenny Abrahamson, "Room" Best Original Screenplay: q Tom McCarthy, "Spotlight" q "Bridge of Spies" q "Ex Machina" Best Actor: q "Inside Out" q Bryan Cranston, "Trumbo" q "Spotlight" q Matt Damon, "The Martian" q "Straight Outta Compton" q Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant" q Michael Fassbender, "Steve Jobs" Best Animated Feature Film q Eddie Redmayne, "The Danish Girl" q "Anomalisa" q "Boy and the World" Best Actress: q "Inside Out" q Cate Blanchett, "Carol" q "Shaun the Sheep Movie" q Brie Larson, "Room" q "When Marnie Was There" q Jennifer Lawrence, "Joy" q Charlotte Rampling, "45 Years" Best Cinematography: q Saoirse Ronan, "Brooklyn" q "Carol" q "The Hateful Eight" Best Supporting Actor: q "Mad Max: Fury Road" q Christian Bale, "The Big Short" q "The Revenant" q Tom Hardy, "The Revenant" q "Sicario" q Mark Ruffalo, "Spotlight" q Mark Rylance, "Bridge of Spies" Best Costume Design: q Sylvester Stallone,
    [Show full text]
  • The Anthropocene and the Environmental Humanities: Extending the Conversation
    University of Wollongong Research Online Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities 2014 The Anthropocene and the environmental humanities: Extending the conversation Noel Castree University of Wollongong, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/sspapers Part of the Education Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Castree, Noel, "The Anthropocene and the environmental humanities: Extending the conversation" (2014). Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers. 1389. https://ro.uow.edu.au/sspapers/1389 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] The Anthropocene and the environmental humanities: Extending the conversation Abstract "The Anthropocene" is now a buzzword in international geoscience circles and commanding the attention of various social scientists and humanists. Once a trickle, I review what is now a growing stream of publications authored by humanists about the Holocene's proclaimed end. I argue that these publications evidence environmental humanists as playing two roles with respect to the geoscientific claims they are reacting to: the roles of "inventor-discloser" or "deconstructor-critic." Despite their importance and their differences, as currently performed these roles hold environmental humanists at a distance from those geoscientists currently trying to popularise the Anthropocene proposition and a set of related grand ideas (like "planetary boundaries"). This is unfortunate because geoscience-like other branches of science- tends to enjoy a higher profile in ek y decision-making arenas than do humanities subjects. The same can be said of particular social science fields, such as environmental economics.
    [Show full text]
  • Pacific Currents | Spring 2016 in This Issue
    Spring 2016 member magazine of the aquarium of the pacific & Focus on Sustainability (2015) CE N CIE AULEY ET AL, S AULEY C C M , SAYOSTUDIO.COM/ R NICOLLE R. FULLE NICOLLE Human impacts on nature have increased over time, but to date we have had more of an impact on land than in the ocean. ANIMALS HROUGHOUT HUMAN HISTORY, our activity has had an In the terrestrial portion, visitors will encounter a habitat modeled impact on terrestrial animals, those that live on land. With after a freshwater stream. These ecosystems are among the most T the rise of agriculture and the Industrial Revolution, human seriously threatened by pollution, land development, the introduc- activity had an increasing impact on the natural world. This tion of non-native invasive species, and other activity. The animals has resulted in extinctions of numerous species and has permanently displayed in this exhibit will include local stream fishes, newts, and changed the shape and make-up of land environments. We are poised salamanders, as well as invasive species like crayfish. Next, an exhibit to have the same effect on the ocean, but are at a crucial point—if we housing juvenile American alligators will provide an example of an act now, we can avoid mass extinctions and limit permanent changes endangered species success story. to the ocean. This was among the findings of a paper published in the As visitors move into the aquatic side of the gallery, they will see an journal Science in January 2015 (Marine defaunation: Animal loss in the exhibit modeled after a coral reef.
    [Show full text]
  • UCMP Joins Campanile Centennial Celebration with a Spotlight on Mckittrick Tar Seep Fossils FEB 2015
    Newsletter of the University of California Museum of Paleontology UCMP NEWS FEB 2015 UCMP well represented at the 2014 SVP and GSA meetings In the fall of 2014, UCMP was a major presence at the annual meetings of two pro- fessional societies, the Geological Society of America (GSA) and the Society of Ver- tebrate Paleontology (SVP). Student atten- dance at the conferences was close to an all time high, thanks in part to the generosity of UCMP donors whose support helps to fund travel grants and awards earned by students. Eighteen UCMPers presented at the GSA th Sarah Tulga meeting—the Society’s 126 —in Vancou- Melissa Mast, one of UCMP’s undergraduate curatorial assistants, with a selection of McKittrick ver, British Columbia, Canada, on October fossils taken from the Campanile for cleaning and curation. 19–22. Members of four different labs at- tended the meeting including the Padian Labs’ Ashley Poust, Sara ElShafie, Liz Fer- UCMP joins Campanile centennial rer, and recent graduate Sarah Tulga (talk). Undergraduate student Eric Holt from the celebration with a spotlight on Barnosky Lab presented a poster. From the Finnegan Lab were Seth McKittrick tar seep fossils Finnegan (talk and co-author on two others) The Campanile will celebrate an important from the Institute of Museum and Library and grad students Emily Orzechowski (talk milestone in 2015—the 100th anniversary Services (IMLS) will help shine new light on and co-author on a poster) and Caitlin Boas of the bell tower (formally know as Sather fossils from a lesser known but stratigraphi- (poster and co-author on two others).
    [Show full text]
  • The Sixth Extinction: an Unnatural History
    The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History is a 2014 non- The Sixth Extinction: An fiction book written by Elizabeth Kolbert and published by Henry Unnatural History Holt and Company. The book argues that the Earth is in the midst of a modern, man-made, sixth extinction. In the book, Kolbert chronicles previous mass extinction events, and compares them to the accelerated, widespread extinctions during our present time. She also describes specific species extinguished by humans, as well as the ecologies surrounding prehistoric and near-present extinction events. The author received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for the book in 2015.[1] The target audience is the general reader, and scientific descriptions are rendered in understandable prose. The writing blends explanations of her treks to remote areas with interviews of scientists, researchers, and guides, without advocating a position, in pursuit of objectivity. Hence, the sixth mass extinction theme is applied to flora and fauna existing in diverse habitats, such as the Panamanian rainforest, the Great Barrier Reef, the Andes, Bikini Atoll, city zoos, and the author's own backyard. The book also applies this theme to a number of other Author Elizabeth Kolbert habitats and organisms throughout the world. After researching Country United States · United the current mainstream view of the relevant peer reviewed Kingdom science, Kolbert estimates flora and fauna loss by the end of the 21st century to be between 20 and 50 percent "of
    [Show full text]