By Huck Fairman
Well-known journalist, Elizabeth Kolbert, author of book, “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History,” and other related articles and excerpts in “The New Yorker Magazine,” recently came to Princeton University.
Her talk began with a brief introduction to her view now of the book and then a question and answer presentation with Dr. Stephen Pacala, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology who has worked on Climate Change, Population Ecology, and the interactions between the Earth’s several spheres – oceans, atmosphere and biospheres.
Kolbert began by acknowledging her indebtedness, as a journalist, to many scientists, including a number in the audience. She also revealed that now she could add, with the knowledge and insight gained since the 2014 publishing of the book, another 10 chapters.
She then raised the question: with all of the changes man is producing on the planet, including warming, sea level rise, ocean acidification, population growth, etc., is extinction important? Her answer was that while there are many different drivers of change impacting the world, the range of species, from insects to Impalas, provides a necessary ecological balancing that sustains environments. And if those species disappear, as their habitats change or disappear, the balancing will also disappear, threatening our own viability.
But why, she posed as a hypothetical question, focus so much of the book on the distant past? Her answer was in part light-hearted: she thought it would relieve anxiety about the many current threats to our existence if she focused on the long-ago. But she also said that it is instructive to understand that extinctions have occurred before and to understand why.
Finally she confided that she has found the current extinctions to be deeply personal, as she has walked through our various, local environments. At the same time, she reminds herself to maintain an objectively intellectual approach to the changes she finds.
At this point, Dr. Pacala posed several questions for discussion. Among them was: does a writer have social responsibility?
Kolbert’s reply was that while she may feel a sense of responsibility, the solutions she offers are not hers but those of scientists. And to judge their effectiveness is something she must rely on others to do.
When asked which environmental organizations are good ones, she answered that there are many, including those of indigenous peoples, on the ground, working to preserve their ways of life.
Another question was: are efforts to bring back species from near extinction both possible and worthwhile? She replied that there were not yet clear conclusions about this. While there have been instances where alternative fertilization appears to have worked, there are others where the progeny have died unexpectedly. And it is not always clear why. One likely problem with this approach to saving species is the lack of genetic diversity. Indeed, she warned, remnant populations already have little genetic diversity, reducing their chances of survival. But also, in animal agriculture, there is again a lack of diversity, leaving animals susceptible to disease, or unanticipated weaknesses.
One questioner in the audience asked her how best to approach students, informing them without frightening them into paralysis. She replied that ideally students should not be instructed or guided by fear or hopelessness, which, yes, could constrict their responses. Instead, with all the cross-currents at large, around the world, clarity, communication, and flexibility are needed.
In answering another question, Kolbert observed that human civilization now suffers from a lack of connectedness with the natural world, reducing its knowledge of, sensitivity to, and ability to respond to problems as they arise.
What is needed is an atmosphere where the best solutions can be debated and put into practice.
Another questioner asked how invisible species can be discovered and protected. Already, Kolbert informed the audience, there has been a crash in insect populations, which may impact other species and upset ecological balances and our own well-being.) Her answer was that we need to set aside considerable land and water preserves in order to insure species viability, and our own.
As her book so thoroughly described, not only are animal populations around the world under threat of extinction, but entire environments, with their interweaving of life forms, face the same threats. And these changes are occurring in the oceans’ great reefs, across drying segments of Asia and Africa, throughout the Amazonian, Panamanian, and in our Western forests. (New Jersey has recently experienced record rain levels.) The conditions and losses she described indeed indicate we are facing a sixth extinction – only now, many are aware of these changes, and know what must be done to have any chance of heading off that extinction.
