November 12, 2014 - 16:47
The quote by Alroy which says that " [humans] are capable of driving virtually any large mammal species extinct, even though they are also capable of going to great lengths to guarantee that they do not" perfectly summarizes this chapter. Kolbert discusses in a true journalistic manner, the two possible explanations for the extinction of large mammals or megafauna. One possibility is climate change and the other is the human effect. While various scientists seem to have varying views on the matter, it is quite clear that humans directly or indirectly did play a large role in the extinction of these species. After all, these extinctions took place over periods of time as large as several thousands of years, and it would have been impossible to know or realize (given the resources available at the time) that certain species are experiencing extinction.
However, the entire first section of the chapter discusses the fact that humans are in fact, making massive efforts to prevent more species from going extinct. Kolbert describes the extent to which scientists had gone to ensure that the Sumatran rhino does not go extinct, and it is truly a remarkable achievement. However, the question remains whether what a handful of humans is doing now is sufficient to counteract the effects of centuries of actions that led to the extinction of so many species in the past.