The Sixth Extinction

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This Pulitzer Prize-winner charts a harrowing path for Earth's current inhabitants and asks all of us to take notice.

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The Bottom Line

Over the past half billion years, there have been five mass extinctions on Earth. The next one will be the first caused by human beings

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I. Introduction

New Yorker writer and National Geographic contributor Elizabeth Kolbert traveled the world to examine the role of man-made climate change in causing what biologists call the sixth mass extinction — plant and animal loss so extensive that as much as 50% of all living species will be wiped out within this century.

Combining scientific research, history, theory and keen observation, Kolbert lays out clear evidence that humans may be on the brink of a great catastrophe. Her report is at once fascinating and appalling — and we ignore it at our own peril.

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II. Discovering Extinction

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III. The Big Five Extinctions

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IV. Man as Invasive Species

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V. The Cataclysmic Impact of … Human Beings

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VI. The Planet of Lost Species

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VII. The Devastation of the World’s Coral Reefs

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