Richard Leakey & Roger Lewin
The Sixth Extinction
Biodiversity and its Survival
Phoenix, London, 1998
ISBN 1-85799-473-6
Monika says:
In his book EXTINCTION Steven Stanley
describes the five big crises of evolution during each of which half of
the life on our planet was destroyed in a short span of time. The last of
those big mass extinctions took place 65 million years ago at the end of
the Mesozoic. Since then there have been several minor waves of
extinctions, the last of which happened (geologically speaking) only a
short while ago at the end of the last ice age. Experts differ on whether
those waves were to be regarded as a mass extinction or just as the ever
present "background extinction". It seems to be clear, however,
that Earth is about to witness the sixth big extinction event. Or have we
just failed to notice that we are already right in the middle of it? The
alarm bells are ringing loudly, but the counter measures leave much to be
desired.
Now you may say that if Earth managed to survive five mass extinctions
and produced the same great variety of species afterwards we don’t have
a problem. Well, the problem is that the extinction events of the past had
"natural" causes, whatever they might have been (sudden changes
of climate, meteorite impacts, volcanic eruptions etc.). But this one is
different because the present dwindling of variety is man-made. For about
8000 years the population of our planet has been on the rise. Man began to
cultivate the earth, raise cattle and build cities using up more and more
space that was lost for other species. Our so-called civilization has its
down sides. Every day species are wiped from the face of our planet and
nobody knows what their interrelation with their respective ecosystem was
and how important they were for its functioning.
How is that possible, you may ask? Science has everything cataloged and
described, and in the 21st Century there can hardly be anything
left for us to discover, right? Our human arrogance will soon guarantee a
rude awakening. Ecosystems are fragile and the human dream of controlling
Nature has not yet come true. We still need our environment in order to
survive and that won’t change for a long time. Once everything is
covered in concrete it will be too late. Man as pride of creation? Most
people like to see themselves this way, but right now it seems that 1500
– 1800 ccm of brain matter is not enough to ensure the survival of our
own species. If world population keeps growing at the rate it does now the
natural resources of our planet will be gone sooner or later and we will
be left with nothing. Not today, not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
But we ought to start thinking in geological dimensions. Life on Earth
flourished for 3.8 billion years without human beings and certainly new
species will be produced when we’re gone. But wouldn’t it be much more
interesting to be there and look evolution over the shoulder?
Richard Leakey, one of the world’s most renowned
paleoanthropologists, presented a book for all people who are interested
in what is going on around us and don’t just think about what car to buy
next. We had better not just consider the small piece of the puzzle that
makes up our own lifespan but look at the whole picture. Otherwise our
species will receive a rather sad entry in the Guinness Book of Earth
History. Leakey is convinced that the key to Earth’s future is hidden in
the past. Only if we understand the past we will be able to master the
future. And Earth’s future should be our own for another two million
years, the average lifespan of a mammal species. |
Any comments? Write us:
Monika Hübner
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