Sixth Extinction Essay

Words: 670
Pages: 3

When I was choosing my summer reading book I was not thrilled about reading a Non- Fiction book just because fiction books are what I've always had an interest in the most. While I was going through the list of books, I was drawn to the book The Sixth Extinction for one main reason. I spotted two words, Climate Change. These two words convinced me to grab my keys and drive to Barnes and Noble and pick up a copy of Elizabeth Kolbert's novel for myself. The topic Climate Change has always interested me due to the fact that I've always loved the outdoors. Learning about this topic and ways to prevent the spread of global warming intrigued me because this book could expand my knowledge and therefore expand others knowledge on this topic. I was …show more content…
Kolbert says, "Since the start of the industrial revolution, humans have burned through enough fossil fuels to add some 365 billion metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere. Deforestation has contributed another 180 billion tons. As a result of all this , the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air today is higher than any other point in the last eight hundred thousand years. It is expected that such an increase will produce an eventual average global temperature rise of between three and a half and seven altering events, including the disappearance of most remaining glaciers, the inundation of low lying islands and costal cities, and the melting of the arctic ice cap. But this is only half the story " (Kolbert 113). In recent news, the administration has shrunk Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase- Escalante by 85% in order to sell some of the national monuments land to private owners. The president modified the land size of both national monuments in hopes of potentially exploiting the land to oil and gas industries. Public land is being threatened because of the potential profit that could be made from exploiting the lands resources. Kolbert mentions that ever since the Industrial Revolution a drastic amount of carbon has been released into the atmosphere and if we don't begin taking precautions , the world could be permanently damaged. The president may temporarily be making a profit on fossil fuels but is permanently destroying the planet as a