Anthony Barnosky studies a tidal pool at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Moss Beach, CA.

Is There A Way To Avoid Another Mass Extinction?

The Leonard Lopate Show | Nov 26, 2014

Five times in Earth’s past, life has been nearly extinguished, the vast majority of plants and animals annihilated in a geologic instant. University of California, Berkeley Paleontologist Anthony Barnosky suspects that the wheels may already be in motion to trigger the sixth mass extinction. Only this time, instead of volcanoes or asteroids, humans are the trigger. As humans reduce habitat for other species and alter the atmosphere, we are pushing plants and animals toward extinction around 12 times faster than normal rates. In Dodging Extinction: Power, Food, Money, and the Future of Life on Earth, Barnosky says that it is not too late to halt that trend. He is the contributor and expert in the new documentary “Mass Extinction– Life At The Brink” which airs on Smithsonian Channel on Monday, December 1 at 9:00 pm ET.

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