Frank Valoy- Prologue

Elizabeth Kolbert starts the Prologue by talking about the early stages of species and how they find ways to adapt to different environments in areas that they move into. As Kolbert explains this, she mentions that these species will encounter larger animals in the different areas that they migrate to and how these larger animals will already have the advantage of being adapted in this new area.

After this, Kolbert brings up the idea of extinction and how us humans are a contributing factor. Humans are considered a contributing factor because just like any other species, humans need resources to survive. For survival, humans tend to chop down many trees in forest areas, destroying the habitats of animals living in those places. This causes an increased rate of extinction because these animals will have to move somewhere else since their habitats were destroyed and in extreme cases, they won’t have enough time to adapt to their new “home”.

This is when Kolbert mentions the term “Sixth Extinction” and she explains to the reader how she organizes her book: she demonstrates and defines this term by talking about different species that soon became extinct in each chapter. Also, she tells the reader that the first half of the book talks more about the past and the second half of the book refers more to the present.

A quote in the Prologue that I found interesting states, “Vast forests are razed. Humans do this deliberately, in order to feed themselves. Less deliberately, they shift organisms from one continent to another, reassembling the biosphere” (Pg. 2). (E) Based on Kolbert’s claim, humans don’t intentionally destroy the habitats of other animals, causing them to migrate to other environments and eventually to become extinct. I agree with her claim to a moderate extent because throughout history, humans negatively altered the environment through urbanization with the intent to better their lives and for survival. However, humans are becoming more aware of the negative impacts of their actions, but some aren’t trying to make a difference. (C) For instance, many people today know that littering isn’t good for the environment, but some still choose to either ignore this idea or do it themselves. As most people know, littering pollutes the ocean and can even kill marine species. This quote connects to the theme “Humans alter natural systems” because humans tend to change the natural way of life of other species to benefit themselves with resources through processes like deforestation.

(C) This summer I traveled with Global Glimpse to Ecuador for 16 days. On the day when we hiked the mountain Chimborazo, a lot of us were contemplating whether or not we should pack bug spray. One of the program coordinators told us that we don't need to because mosquitoes won't be able to survive at such a high altitude. I can connect this to the prologue because it relates to how animals are able to better adapt to some environments than others. Below, you can see a picture of how high we were in altitude and a picture of Chimborazo.