Chapter 5: Welcome to the Anthropocene

     In chapter 5, Kolbert speaks about fossils being classified as living species that were known before the idea of extinction flowered. I discovered in this chapter that during the Ordovician Period there was an abundant amount of marine life but after the period ended, the ocean became vacant. This was later known as the Ordovician extinction, one of the five largest extinctions. Many believe the cause was a glacier, creator of a tilt in oxygen levels and temperatures. Temperature continues to be a cause of extinction in the End-Permian Extinction when global warming and ocean acidification eliminated 90% of the species (p.103). (C) It is crazy how global warming has been a dilemma for years but it still continues to be forgotten. When I thought of temperature, I immediately thought of the Amazon fires. The fires were created by dry weather, wind, and heat. Nevertheless, like Kolbert also states in the chapter, human activity could have also pushed it on. “suggested for the new age that humans have ushered in” (Pg. 107). The Amazon fire was believed to be human-induced and that cattle ranchers, who wanted to clear and utilize the land were the culprit. This makes me think back to the APES theme of environmental problems have a cultural-social context. We must educate ourselves before acting on selfish needs that will affect others.