Essay TWO based on The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
Essay TWO based on The Sixth Extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction by Elizabeth Kolbert
Order Description
The Sixth Extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction as Man’s Long-Lastin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing Legacy
In her book The Six Extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction, Elizabeth Kolbert argues that humanity is solely
responsible for the “sixth extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction.” Humanity stands on the edge of the knife; one step
backward will likely spell doom. Kolbert is no prophet of doom. Scientists all over the world are
currently monitorin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing the sixth extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction, deemed to be one of the most devastatin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing mass
extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inctions sin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ince the time of the din" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inosaurs. Accordin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ingly, this is humanity’s long lastin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing legacy –
a legacy characterized main" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inly by biodiversity loss and ecological imbalance caused by man’s
in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">insatiable greed, climate change, and the proliferation of climate-alterin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">industrial systems.
Thus, in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the book, the author chronicles the fate of several species in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the wake of the sixth
extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction. These in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">include the Panamanian golden frog, the great auk, ammonites, the brown bat,
and the Sumatran rhin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ino.
More than a decade ago, Panama was once home to the Panamanian golden frogs. They
were practically everywhere, in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the streets, in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the woods, and even in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in gardens. However, within" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in a
couple of years, the frogs started to disappear. Scientists have concluded that the in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">introduction of
the Chytrid fungus was solely responsible for the disappearance of the frogs. Of course, the
Chytrid could not travel on its own. There is evidence to suggest that humans were solely
responsible for in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">introducin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing this in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">invasive species to Panama. The “extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction” of the Panamanian
golden frog was therefore man-made.
Sharon Maselli:
This is a great start to an in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">introduction, but it is lackin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing an argument. If you want to discuss the species you list, how do their extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inctions prove human
responsibility? And why should your reader be concerned? Do you have a suggestion for what should be done in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in order to combat human in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">influence/responsibility for species
extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction? Is your argument that there is nothin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing we can do? And if so, why not?
The same case can be said with the Sumatran rhin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ino. Before the turn of the 20th century,
the Sumatran rhin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ino was once considered to be a pest. There were literally thousands of rhin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inos in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in
the jungles of Sumatra. Due to excessive loggin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing, the rhin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ino’s habitat became essentially
fragmented. By 1900, barely a few hundred survived in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the wild. Although a captive breedin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing
program was implemented, only a few dozen rhin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inos survive to this day. Again" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in, this is a man-
made in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">induced extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction event.
Evidently, even coral reefs are disappearin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing at an in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">increasin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing rate all over the world. It is
in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">interestin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing to note that sin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ince the Industrial Revolution, enough fossil fuels have been consumed
and burned, emittin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing more than half a trillion tons of CO2 over the past 300 years or so.
Unknown to many, these emissions fin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ind their way in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">into the sea. Higher CO2 emissions translate
to higher acidity. If CO2 emissions remain" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in at their current levels, the oceans will be 150% acidic
by 2100 that it was at the start of the Industrial Revolution. At the present surface pH, a small
proportion of the world’s coral reefs are dyin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing each year. Again" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in, in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the case of coral reefs, its
gradual disappearance is man-made rather than natural.
Of course, the disappearance of some species was not due primarily to the Industrial
Revolution and the perpetual rise in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in carbon emissions. The disappearance of the great auk, a
flightless bird native to the Northern Hemisphere, was due to excessive human huntin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing. Early
settlers used the bird for a variety of purposes, as fish bait, fuel, and stuffin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing material. Similarly,
the disappearance of the ammonites was primarily due to the KT extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction event which also
wiped out the din" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inosaurs. The dust created by the asteroid impact proved lethal, as it raised the
ocean acidity to unprecedented levels.
For the author, although the sixth extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction is man’s lastin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing legacy, there is still hope.
Humans are livin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in a time of very elevated extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction rates. How human will respond to this
challenge will ultimately defin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ine its character as a species. And as of the present time, people
around the world are exertin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing immense effort to avert this disaster.
PLEASE READ THIS COMMENTS THE INSTRUCTOR SAID PLEASE FOLLOW THIS INSTRUCTIONS ONLY FOR REVISING THE ESSAY PLEASE;
This is a great start to an in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">introduction, but it is lackin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing an argument. If you want to discuss the species you list, how do their extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inctions prove human
responsibility? And why should your reader be concerned? Do you have a suggestion for what should be done in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in order to combat human in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">influence/responsibility for species
extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction? Is your argument that there is nothin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing we can do? And if so, why not?
This is a well-written overview of Kolbert's own arguments, but lacks an argument that is unique. See my suggestions above for developin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing an argument. Once you do, I
would suggest limitin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing the list of human-caused extin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inction (this could theoretically be proved in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in one paragraph) and dedicate the rest of the body to supportin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing your
own unique argument.