In the 5th century B.C., Herodotus tells us, the king of Persia decided to attack the Greeks. All his advisors applauded except a certain Artabanus who pointed to 2 problems: the land and the sea. 2500 years later, a different form of attack is taking place: the expansion of the human species as a whole and the takeover by our species of the surface of the Earth. This is a process very different from a military invasion but the results may be far more devastating. Like Artabanus 2500 years ago, Elizabeth Kolbert points to the land and the sea.
Describe Kolbert’s organization of chapters in The Sixth Extinction. Describe the threats to creatures living on land. Describe the threats to creatures living in the sea. What part of The Sixth Extinction best explains to you the overall crisis which our species is causing? Is there any way in which Kolbert fails to make her case?