The Sixth Extinction: Chapter 6

     In Chapter 6, Kolbert travels to Castello Aragonese in order to investigate the CO2 levels of the surrounding waters. Kolbert meets marine biologists Hall-Spencer and Buia. They take her scuba diving and show her green bubbles rising from the vents in the sea floor which indicates that there’s no life. The CO2 sea vents of the ocean have crumbled the shells of many sea creatures, endangering their survival. The extinction of the sea life is caused by the Industrial Revolution. Humans have burned large amounts of fossil fuels which added billions of tons of carbon to the atmosphere. We’ve also cut down many trees, further increasing the amount of carbon in the air. Kolbert goes on to say that humans can expect the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere to double which can cause the  average world temperature to increase by seven degrees Fahrenheit, melting the world’s glaciers and changing the marine environment. The changes in temperature and sea level trigger changes for the world’s ecosystems with events like ocean acidification. Ocean acidification is dangerous because it deprives large animals of nutrition, interferes with photosynthesis, and wipes out existing ecosystems. One group of creatures that will be particularly harmed by acidification is calcifiers, or creatures that build themselves calcium shells. CO2 emissions are particularly deadly for ocean life because oceans absorb about a third of the carbon dioxide that humans pump into the atmosphere. Kolbert comes up with the conclusion that acidification probably played a large role in at least two of the big five mass-extinctions, and it will probably play a major role in the sixth.

     The theme that most resonated with this chapter was technology and population growth have enabled humans to increase both the rate and scale of their impact on the environment. On page 113 it states, “Since the start of the industrial revolution, humans have burned through enough fossil fuels-coal, oil,and natural gas- to add some 365 billion metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere.” (R) As the population was increasing there was an increase in living standards. It led to the decrease in natural resources because as technology was advancing throughout the years, inventions like the light bulb, air conditioner, the refrigerator, electricity, the phone, and factories needed lots of energy from coal and oil. Because of this the use of chemicals and fuel in homes/factories resulted in increased air and water pollution and an increased use of fossil fuels.The increased pollution and deforestation for urbanization is causing many species to become endangered and extinct and this connects to the paradigm of mass extinction because pollution is essentially a catastrophe. If us humans aren't taking care of the environment and trying other ways to get energy and creating less pollution, other species and us will be in danger of going into mass extinction.

By: Mousumi Dhar