"The Sixth Extinction" Chapter 7

In this chapter, Kolbert visits One Tree Island, located off the coast of Australia that is found at the southernmost part of the Great Barrier Reef. She went there to study the impact that carbon dioxide has had on the coral reef and its organisms. Within the island, is The One Tree Island Research Station that would “manipulate CO2 levels on a patch of reef” (Kolbert, 131) that would help them make conclusions about the interactions of the reef as a whole. Additionally, Ken Caldeira , an atmospheric scientist, was in charge of the research team and hoped to collect water samples to determine how calcification rates within the coral reefs had changed since the nineteen-seventies. Unsurprisingly, scientists figured out that coral reefs did care about the state of saturation found in the water. Specifically, “... all of the world’s major reefs could be found in water with an aragonite saturation state between four and five.” (Kolbert, 137) Because there is a specific number to the saturation state, it can be assumed that the coral reefs are able to sense the calcification that surrounds it, causing it to grow even more at those levels. Unfortunately, many have predicted that by 2060, the saturation level would not be above 3.5 in any area, bringing an issue to the stability and survival of coral reefs.

If coral reefs disappear, then an entire ecosystem may disappear with it because so many organisms rely on coral reefs for food and survival. With human activity, it seems inevitable that the reefs will continue to be in danger due to deforestation, overfishing, and other factors. The devastating effects have already been seen because “...coral cover in the Caribbean has in recent decades declined by close to eighty percent.” (Kolbert, 141) Past mass extinctions and catastrophes that occurred millions of years ago all had one significant factor in common: humans did not exist during those eras. The immediate decline of wildlife and coral reefs are interconnected with human existence because another factor that is causing these negative effects “...is climate change-ocean acidification’s equally evil twin.” (Kolbert, 141) It is notable that the author used the term “equally evil twin” twice in this chapter which emphasizes how carbon dioxide levels are a present threat to every organism. The only reason that carbon dioxide levels have dramatically increased is because of human activity; in other words, humans are the main culprits when it comes to climate change and global warming. With all of these pieces of evidence, why is it that there are still many people (Trump administration) that do not believe climate change is real? This question undeniably relates to the APES theme: Environmental problems have a cultural and social context. Understanding the role of humans in climate change is important when it comes to presenting solutions to the issue. However, if the leader of a country does not believe in this problem, fixing the issue is out of the question.