Tuesday 11 March 2014

Elizabeth Kolbert: 'The whole world is becoming a kind of zoo'

The American environmental journalist on how humanity is wiping out our fellow creatures… and one species she'd choose to bring back

Interview by Andrew Anthony

The Observer, Sunday 9 March 2014

Elizabeth Kolbert is the author of The Sixth Extinction, which argues that a catastrophe that may be as significant as the one that wiped out the dinosaurs is under way around us. But whereas the previous five mass extinctions were caused by natural phenomena, Kolbert shows us that this one is manmade. One third of all reef-building corals, a third of all freshwater molluscs, a third of sharks and rays, a quarter of all mammals, a fifth of all reptiles, and a sixth of all birds, says Kolbert, "are heading towards oblivion".

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
by Elizabeth Kolbert

When did you first hear the phrase the Sixth Extinction, and how did it become the subject of your book?


No comments:

Post a Comment

You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!

Related Posts with Thumbnails

ShareThis