The sixth extinction
So, what is the Sixth Extinction? When is it coming and what is its cause? It is happening now, and we, the human race are its cause explains Richard Leakey. This phenomenon Leakey argues, is easily comparable with the big five biological crisis' of geological history, except this one is not being caused by global temperature change, regression of sea level, or asteroid impact. It is being caused by one of Earth's inhabitants. According to Leakey, humanity is poised to become the greatest catastrophic agent since the giant asteroid, which collided with Earth some sixty-five million years ago, wiping out half the worlds species in a geological instant. 'The Sixth Extinction', written by Richard Leakey, ultimately highlights humanity's mishandling of the natural world. Leakey's aim for his book is simply to make people aware of the real situation this planet and its ecosystems are facing, as a direct result of man. The statistics that have been compiled for 'The Sixth Extinction' are alarming. This is evident considering: fifty percent of the Earth's species will have vanished inside the next 100 years; mankind is using almost half of the energy available to sustain life on the planet, and this figure will grow as popula
Since population is a worldwide concern, the moral of the story is, evidently, concern for the future has to be played out in all countries of the world, not merely in the poorer, developing countries as many would think. If such warnings are ignored, over population will cause primary productivity to fall, as space for such productions become non-existent. Leakey makes this contentious point through: "The world's biological diversity would plummet, including the productivity on which human survival depends. (Leakey, 239) The greatest challenge facing humanity in the next century is recognizing the complexities of the natural world including our interdependence with in. In sum, Leakey made the point that while the daily cutting of tropical forests and encroachment on wild habitats is a less dramatic process than an asteroid impact, the end effect is the same. In pursuing our own objectives, we operate as though the natural world can withstand our actions without assuming any harm. As Leakey would argue, we do so at our peril. As a political, economic and social concern, through the continued destruction of the biodiversity in the wake of economic development and prosperity, the world may very well be pushed over a threshold beyond which it might be able to sustain, first, itself, and in the end mankind. Perhaps the most troubling implication established through Leakey's work is that if unrestrained, mankind might not only be the agent of the sixth extinction but also risks being one of its victims. (Leakey, 249) For the most part, 'The Sixth Extinction' revolves around biological, paleontological, and ecological concepts and theories, yet Leakey does hint towards the recognition of some political and economic implications. Richard Leakey maintains that in the next half century
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Approximate Word count = 1217
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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