The expansion of human beings is perhaps unrivaled by any other species. Yet that success threatens to be our downfall. As civilization grows, the wildlife that enables it gets pushed out, and valuable ecosystems are stressed to their breaking point. Worse still, the destruction of biodiversity means the keys that could unlock a path forward for life are lost forever.
How much time do we have to halt the sixth mass extinction before we too drown in its wake? The answer is much, much shorter than you think.
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Chapters
- 05:40 Human Beings and Our Place on Earth
- 09:17 Defining the Anthropocene
- 11:19 The 6th Extinction
- 18:38 The Greatest Threat?
- 21:50 Global Changes are Cyclical?
- 26:08 Ecosystems and their Services
- 29:55 Biodiversity
- 36:30 In Crisis: Insects
- 48:09 Our Gardens
- 59:51 History of Lawns
- 1:07:13 Normalized to Catastrophe
- 1:09:05 Crisis: Amphibians
- 1:12:55 In Crisis: Birds
- 1:18:12 What Can We Do?
Pictures from Andrew's Garden
(courtesy of Moriah King)
Sources
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@misc{afp_2018, title={French countryside sees alarming 'collapse' of bird populations}, url={https://www.thelocal.fr/20180320/french-countryside-sees-collapse-of-bird-populations}, journal={The Local}, publisher={The Local}, author={AFP}, year={2018}, month={Mar}}
@article{bar-on_phillips_milo_2018, title={The biomass distribution on Earth}, volume={115}, url={http://www.pnas.org/content/115/25/6506/tab-article-info}, DOI={10.1073/pnas.1711842115}, number={25}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, author={Bar-On, Yinon M. and Phillips, Rob and Milo, Ron}, year={2018}, month={May}, pages={6506–6511}}
@misc{barkham_2018, title={One in eight bird species threatened with extinction, global study finds}, url={https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/23/one-in-eight-birds-is-threatened-with-extinction-global-study-finds}, journal={The Guardian}, publisher={Guardian News and Media}, author={Barkham, Patrick}, year={2018}, month={Apr}}
@misc{barkham_2018, title={Europe faces 'biodiversity oblivion' after collapse in French birds, experts warn}, url={https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/21/europe-faces-biodiversity-oblivion-after-collapse-in-french-bird-populations}, journal={The Guardian}, publisher={Guardian News and Media}, author={Barkham, Patrick}, year={2018}, month={Mar}}
@misc{bbc_2018, title={Origins of amphibian-killing fungus uncovered}, url={https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44075687}, journal={BBC News}, publisher={BBC}, author={BBC}, year={2018}, month={May}}
@misc{boakes_redding_2018, title={Extinction is a natural process, but it's happening at 1,000 times the normal speed}, url={https://theconversation.com/extinction-is-a-natural-process-but-its-happening-at-1-000-times-the-normal-speed-99191}, journal={The Conversation}, publisher={The Conversation}, author={Boakes, Elizabeth and Redding, David}, year={2018}, month={Jul}}
@misc{briggs_2017, title={Sound of crickets 'could become a thing of the past'}, url={https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38920199}, journal={BBC News}, publisher={BBC}, author={Briggs, Helen}, year={2017}, month={Feb}}
@misc{burke_2017, title={Headwinds caused by warm weather a danger to migratory birds | CBC News}, url={http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/headwinds-caused-by-warm-weather-a-danger-to-migratory-birds-1.4375702}, journal={CBCnews}, publisher={CBC/Radio Canada}, author={Burke, David}, year={2017}, month={Oct}}
@misc{carrington_2014, title={Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years, says WWF}, url={https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/29/earth-lost-50-wildlife-in-40-years-wwf}, journal={The Guardian}, publisher={Guardian News and Media}, author={Carrington, Damian}, year={2014}, month={Sep}}
@misc{carrington_2016, title={How the domestic chicken rose to define the Anthropocene}, url={https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/31/domestic-chicken-anthropocene-humanity-influenced-epoch}, journal={The Guardian}, publisher={Guardian News and Media}, author={Carrington, Damian}, year={2016}, month={Aug}}
@misc{carrington_2017, title={Earth's sixth mass extinction event under way, scientists warn}, url={https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-scientists-warn}, journal={The Guardian}, publisher={Guardian News and Media}, author={Carrington, Damian}, year={2017}, month={Jul}}
@misc{carrington_2018, title={Climate change on track to cause major insect wipeout, scientists warn}, url={https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/17/climate-change-on-track-to-cause-major-insect-wipeout-scientists-warn}, journal={The Guardian}, publisher={Guardian News and Media}, author={Carrington, Damian}, year={2018}, month={May}}
@misc{carrington_2018, title={What is biodiversity and why does it matter to us?}, url={https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/12/what-is-biodiversity-and-why-does-it-matter-to-us}, journal={The Guardian}, publisher={Guardian News and Media}, author={Carrington, Damian}, year={2018}, month={Mar}}
@article{ceballos_ehrlich_dirzo_2017, title={Biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines}, url={http://www.pnas.org/content/114/30/E6089}, DOI={10.1073/pnas.1704949114}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, author={Ceballos, Gerardo and Ehrlich, Paul R. and Dirzo, Rodolfo}, year={2017}, month={Jul}, pages={201704949}}
@misc{conniff_2013, title={Tracking the Causes of Sharp Decline of the Monarch Butterfly}, url={https://e360.yale.edu/features/tracking_the_causes_of_sharp__decline_of_the_monarch_butterfly}, journal={Yale E360}, author={Conniff, Richard}, year={2013}, month={Apr}}
@misc{d'costa_2017, title={The American Obsession with Lawns}, url={https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/the-american-obsession-with-lawns/}, journal={Scientific American Blog Network}, author={D'Costa, Krystal}, year={2017}, month={May}}
@article{dirzo_young_galetti_ceballos_isaac_collen_2014, title={Defaunation in the Anthropocene}, volume={345}, url={http://science.sciencemag.org/content/345/6195/401}, DOI={10.1126/science.1251817}, number={6195}, journal={Science}, author={Dirzo, R. and Young, H. S. and Galetti, M. and Ceballos, G. and Isaac, N. J. B. and Collen, B.}, year={2014}, pages={401–406}}
@misc{dwyer_2018, title={Climate change could put food supply for migratory birds at risk}, url={https://news.globallandscapesforum.org/27404/climate-change-could-put-food-supply-for-migratory-birds-at-risk/}, journal={Landscape News}, author={Dwyer, Augusta}, year={2018}, month={May}}
@misc{foley_2017, title={Modern heart transplants owe their origins to a fungus found in the dirt}, url={https://qz.com/1144322/modern-heart-transplants-owe-their-origins-to-a-fungus-found-in-the-dirt/}, journal={Quartz}, publisher={Quartz}, author={Foley, Katherine Ellen}, year={2017}, month={Dec}}
@misc{gilbert_2018, title={Top UN panel paints bleak picture of world's ecosystems}, url={https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-03891-1}, journal={Nature News}, publisher={Nature Publishing Group}, author={Gilbert, Natasha}, year={2018}, month={Mar}}
@misc{greshko_2018, title={Ground Zero of Amphibian 'Apocalypse' Finally Found}, url={https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/05/amphibians-decline-frogs-chytrid-fungi-bd-animals-science/}, journal={National Geographic}, publisher={National Geographic Society}, author={Greshko, Michael}, year={2018}, month={May}}
@misc{kassam_2018, title={Last caribou in lower 48 US states all but extinct: 'The herd is functionally lost'}, url={https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/19/caribou-south-selkirk-us-canada-extinction}, journal={The Guardian}, publisher={Guardian News and Media}, author={Kassam, Ashifa}, year={2018}, month={Apr}}
@book{kolbert_2015, place={London}, title={The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History}, publisher={Bloomsbury}, author={Kolbert, Elizabeth}, year={2015}}
@article{lovejoy_nobre_2018, title={Amazon Tipping Point}, volume={4}, url={http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/2/eaat2340}, DOI={10.1126/sciadv.aat2340}, number={2}, journal={Science Advances}, author={Lovejoy, Thomas E. and Nobre, Carlos}, year={2018}, month={Feb}}
@misc{mccarthy_sanchez_2018, title={The World Is Becoming Uninhabitable for Animals}, url={https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/world-is-becoming-uninhabitable-for-animals/}, journal={Global Citizen}, author={McCarthy, Joe and Sanchez, Erica}, year={2018}, month={May}}
@misc{mccarthy_2018, title={Britain has lost half its wildlife. Now's the time to shout about it | Michael McCarthy}, url={https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/26/wildlife-modern-farming-insects-birds}, journal={The Guardian}, publisher={Guardian News and Media}, author={McCarthy, Michael}, year={2018}, month={Mar}}
@misc{mckie_2018, title={Where have all our insects gone?}, url={https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/17/where-have-insects-gone-climate-change-population-decline?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Post_on_Reddit}, journal={The Guardian}, publisher={Guardian News and Media}, author={McKie, Robin}, year={2018}, month={Jun}}
@misc{mckie_2018, title={Eerie silence falls on Shetland cliffs that once echoed to seabirds' cries}, url={https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/03/shetland-seabirds-climate-change-catastrophe-terns-kittiwakes-puffins}, journal={The Guardian}, publisher={Guardian News and Media}, author={McKie, Robin}, year={2018}, month={Jun}}
@article{midgley_2018, title={Narrowing pathways to a sustainable future}, volume={360}, url={http://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6390/714}, DOI={10.1126/science.aat6671}, number={6390}, journal={Science}, author={Midgley, Guy}, year={2018}, month={May}, pages={714–715}}
@misc{mosbergen_2016, title={This Is What Extinction Sounds Like}, url={https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-krause-soundscape-ecology-extinction_us_5746a423e4b0dacf7ad3fe0a}, journal={The Huffington Post}, publisher={TheHuffingtonPost.com}, author={Mosbergen, Dominique}, year={2016}, month={May}}
@misc{ramirez_2017, title={Buggy Harris Lecture details all the ways humans need insects}, url={https://blogs.umsl.edu/news/2017/03/26/may-berenbaum/}, journal={UMSL Daily}, author={Ramirez, Marisol}, year={2017}, month={Mar}}
@misc{rosane_2018, title={Humans and Big Ag Livestock Now Account for 96 Percent of Mammal Biomass}, url={https://www.ecowatch.com/biomass-humans-animals-2571413930.html}, journal={EcoWatch}, publisher={EcoWatch}, author={Rosane, Olivia}, year={2018}, month={May}}
@misc{rossman_2017, title={A third of the nation's honeybee colonies died last year. Why you should care}, url={https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/26/third-nations-honeybee-colonies-died-last-year-why-you-should-care/348418001/}, journal={USA Today}, publisher={Gannett Satellite Information Network}, author={Rossman, Sean}, year={2017}, month={May}}
@misc{santangeli_lehikoinen_2018, title={As climate is warming up, more bird nests are destroyed in Finnish farmland | University of Helsinki}, url={https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/society-economy/as-climate-is-warming-up-more-bird-nests-are-destroyed-in-finnish-farmland}, journal={HILIFE}, publisher={Research Unit for Variation, Contacts and Change in English (VARIENG), University of Helsinki}, author={Santangeli, Andrea and Lehikoinen, Aleksi}, year={2018}, month={Jan}}
@misc{schlanger_2018, title={Keeping warming to 1.5°C instead of 2°C would save most animals from climate change}, url={https://qz.com/1280872/keeping-warming-to-1-5c-instead-of-2c-would-save-most-animals-from-climate-change/}, journal={Quartz}, publisher={Quartz}, author={Schlanger, Zoë}, year={2018}, month={May}}
@misc{schwagerl_2016, title={What's Causing the Sharp Decline in Insects, and Why It Matters}, url={https://e360.yale.edu/features/insect_numbers_declining_why_it_matters}, journal={Yale E360}, author={Schwagerl, Christin}, year={2016}, month={Jul}}
@misc{sepehr_mccarthy_sanchez_2018, title={Humanity Has Killed 83% of All Wild Mammals and Half of All Plants: Study}, url={https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/humans-destroyed-83-of-wildlife-report/}, journal={Global Citizen}, author={Sepehr, Jana and McCarthy, Joe and Sanchez, Erica}, year={2018}, month={May}}
@misc{shultz_2017, title={Wind turbines inspired by insect wings are 35% more efficient}, url={http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/02/wind-turbines-inspired-insect-wings-are-35-more-efficient}, journal={Science | AAAS}, publisher={American Association for the Advancement of Science}, author={Shultz, David}, year={2017}, month={Feb}}
@misc{slezak_2018, title={The Australian birds and mammals 'more likely than not' to become extinct}, url={http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-24/scientists-calculate-extinction-risk-australian-birds-mammals/9687952}, journal={ABC News}, publisher={Australian Broadcasting Corporation}, author={Slezak, Michael}, year={2018}, month={Apr}}
@misc{stager_2018, title={The Silence of the Bugs}, url={https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/26/opinion/sunday/insects-bugs-naturalists-scientists.html?nytmobile=0}, journal={The New York Times}, publisher={The New York Times}, author={Stager, Curt}, year={2018}, month={May}}
@article{wake_vredenburg_2008, title={Are we in the midst of the sixth mass extinction? A view from the world of amphibians}, volume={105}, url={https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK214887/}, DOI={10.1073/pnas.0801921105}, number={Supplement 1}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, author={Wake, David B. and Vredenburg, Vance T.}, year={2008}, month={Feb}, pages={11466–11473}}
@article{warren_price_graham_forstenhaeusler_vanderwal_2018, title={The projected effect on insects, vertebrates, and plants of limiting global warming to 1.5°C rather than 2°C}, volume={360}, url={http://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6390/791}, DOI={10.1126/science.aar3646}, number={6390}, journal={Science}, author={Warren, R. and Price, J. and Graham, E. and Forstenhaeusler, N. and Vanderwal, J.}, year={2018}, month={May}, pages={791–795}}
@misc{watts_2018, title={World's great forests could lose half of all wildlife as planet warms – report}, url={https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/14/worlds-great-forests-could-lose-half-of-all-wildlife-as-planet-warms-report?CMP=twt_gu}, journal={The Guardian}, publisher={Guardian News and Media}, author={Watts, Jonathan}, year={2018}, month={Mar}}
@misc{weber_2016, title={1.5 billion birds missing from North American skies, 'alarming' report finds}, url={https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/09/14/15-billion-birds-missing-from-north-american-skies-alarming-report-finds.html}, journal={thestar.com}, publisher={Toronto Star}, author={Weber, Bob}, year={2016}, month={Sep}}
@misc{wecker_2018, title={The world is losing vital forests quicker than ever}, url={https://www.dw.com/en/the-world-is-losing-vital-forests-quicker-than-ever/a-44404176}, journal={DW.COM}, author={Wecker, Katharina}, year={2018}, month={Jun}}
@misc{yoon_1996, title={Forget the Tropics, Pharmaceuticals May Lie in Nearby Woods}, url={https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/05/science/forget-the-tropics-pharmaceuticals-may-lie-in-nearby-woods.html}, journal={The New York Times}, publisher={The New York Times}, author={Yoon, Carol Kaesuk}, year={1996}, month={Nov}}