Book contents
- Extinctions
- Reviews
- Extinctions
- Copyright page
- Epigraph
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Further Reading
- Introduction
- 1 The Anthropocene and the Earth System
- 2 A Short Detour: The Fossil Record and the Geological Time Scale
- 3 The Origin of Animals and the Emergence of the Earth System
- 4 Documenting Ancient Biodiversity
- 5 Mass Extinctions: The Basics
- 6 Causes of the End-Permian and End-Cretaceous Extinction Events
- 7 Time Heals All: Recovering from a Mass Extinction
- 8 The Late Quaternary Megafaunal Extinctions
- 9 Surviving the Anthropocene
- Book part
- Further Reading
- Index
9 - Surviving the Anthropocene
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 September 2021
- Extinctions
- Reviews
- Extinctions
- Copyright page
- Epigraph
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Further Reading
- Introduction
- 1 The Anthropocene and the Earth System
- 2 A Short Detour: The Fossil Record and the Geological Time Scale
- 3 The Origin of Animals and the Emergence of the Earth System
- 4 Documenting Ancient Biodiversity
- 5 Mass Extinctions: The Basics
- 6 Causes of the End-Permian and End-Cretaceous Extinction Events
- 7 Time Heals All: Recovering from a Mass Extinction
- 8 The Late Quaternary Megafaunal Extinctions
- 9 Surviving the Anthropocene
- Book part
- Further Reading
- Index
Summary
The final chapter brings all the book’s threads together. It explores the similarities and differences between the Anthropocene defaunation and the ancient mass extinctions. It investigates how much time we have before we reach the extinction levels of the Big Five mass extinctions. It has been suggested that we should just let the defaunation run its course; but the consequences of that course of action appear dire. But all Is not lost. The fossil record shows that the Earth System is resilient, and if we quickly act to remove the climatic forcings we are creating, we have time to turn the situation around and avoid sliding into another full-blown mass extinction.
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- ExtinctionsLiving and Dying in the Margin of Error, pp. 193 - 210Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
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