"The Sixth Extinction" Chapter 8

Kolbert starts off by detailing how underappreciated trees are to people because they appear to be so common in our everyday lives. Kolbert does this because she came to the realization on how significant trees truly are when she was in eastern Peru surrounded with nothing but scrub-meaning no trees in sight. Personally, trees are extremely important to me (other than providing me with oxygen) because every time I am going through a tough time, I take nature walks. These nature walks help me to relax and admire the beauty of the nature that surrounds my home.

Kolbert meets with Miles Silman, in the city of Cuzco in Peru where they study different tree plots that each are at a different elevation, hence a different average annual temperature; in other words, each plot represents a distinct forest community. Undeniably, forests and the tropics each have an abundant amount of diverse organisms that depend on these environments for survival. An explanation for this is that “organic development and abundance of vitality gradually increase from the poles towards the equator.” (Kolbert, 152) Take the Amazon Rainforest, for example, it is located in Brazil, right where part of the equator is located. The Amazon Rainforest is home to thousands of species; however, there was a huge fire because of deforestation and intentional fires done by humans. Just like Kolbert was discussing in the beginning, trees have to be more appreciated because they are crucial for our survival and also people should admire their history more. This proves how global warming is going to affect each plot and tropics around the world in many detrimental ways, and it already has been. The question I have been left with is: How come the Notre Dame Cathedral fire received more attention and media coverage as opposed to the Amazon Rainforest fire? Does race have anything to do with this or is it more about people not comprehending the importance of the rainforest to science and diversity?

Many people attempt to lessen the degree of climate change threat by stating that “... as temperatures, climbed, creatures were able to colonize any new areas that met the climate conditions they were adapted to.” (Kolbert, 167) It is convenient to make this statement so that humans would continue to take part in climate change; however, the severity of factors such as deforestation is quite clear. Just because some animals were able to migrate and adapt to new environments, does not mean that all of them have this ability.