Not only is it observable, but extinction rates are incredibly fast. Reading this book is imperative to understand how much humanity effects the world around us. Extinction is easily recognizable because of its uniqueness compared to survival of species. Extinction “takes place very rarely, more rarely than even speciation, and it occurs at what’s known as the background extinction rate” (15 Kolbert). In other words, extinction should not be as easily recognizable as it is presently. Only five times in the history of the world has mass extinction happened (this is a considerably rare occurrence when the age of the world is accounted for). At the rate of extinction occurring now, it is assumed the sixth extinction is taking
Not only is it observable, but extinction rates are incredibly fast. Reading this book is imperative to understand how much humanity effects the world around us. Extinction is easily recognizable because of its uniqueness compared to survival of species. Extinction “takes place very rarely, more rarely than even speciation, and it occurs at what’s known as the background extinction rate” (15 Kolbert). In other words, extinction should not be as easily recognizable as it is presently. Only five times in the history of the world has mass extinction happened (this is a considerably rare occurrence when the age of the world is accounted for). At the rate of extinction occurring now, it is assumed the sixth extinction is taking