Book Review: The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

I just finished reading this book about a week ago and felt that it was quite a good and informative read so I decided to dedicate a post to it.

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert is a collection of essays with myriad themes. Most of the book is written based on interviews with scientists and their findings. These themes range from the Chytrid fungus affecting frogs to the megafauna extinction to the ammonites and graptolites. However, they all centre on the common topic of conservation and extinctions. She asserts that, based on the estimated current rate of extinction, we are in the midst of a mass extinction event. This is done by looking into the historical extinctions and how extinctions and mass extinctions eventually got accepted into science. Most of the book revolves around the impacts of humans on the environment such as the introduction of rats and the white-nose syndrome causing fungus in bats and hunting of megafauna around the world. While on the whole, the book is rather gloomy, it is also strangely comforting to read about the rather extreme steps some people have taken unto themselves to save the critically endangered species.

Without going too much into the details of the book, I found it really interesting and easy to read. It was clearly written with the general public in mind as the underlying science is explained in layman terms. While I acknowledge that it is a short book, I feel that certain issues were oversimplified. For instance, in the chapters on ocean acidification, she shows the impacts that it can have on the marine ecosystem. What is lacking (to me) is how we can do something to alleviate the problem. Another example would be when she showed the extreme steps humans have taken to save highly endangered species like the California condor. It once again lacks the action that laypeople can take. However, this does not detract from her argument about the current rate of extinction.

Overall, I believe that this book can serve as a gateway for greater environmental/conservation awareness in the general public and encouraging them to play a more active role in conservation.

On a related note: I find it a little funny that the cover of the edition I read has what I believe is a yellow banded poison dart frog which is currently listed as Least Concern under the IUCN Red List.