“The biggest bursts of speciation that we know about in the history of the earth are soon after great cataclysms, like the extinction of the dinosaurs, which create new opportunities, and all sorts of new forms spring up... So, quite often, the reasons for creativity depend on accidents or disasters that prevent the normal habits being carried out.” KnowsReasonEarthFormOpportunityCreativityDependsHabitNormalSpringAccidentsDisasterExtinctionDinosaursNew OpportunitySpeciation Author:Rupert Sheldrake
“Earth, earthriding your merry-go-roundtoward extinction,right to the rootsthickening the oceans like gravy,festering in your caves,you are becoming a latrine.” EarthBecomingOceanCavesExtinctionMerryGravyFestering Author:Anne Sexton
“In the beginning, there were bacteria.... [A] nearly universal assumption is that all subsequent life descended from the original life form through a continuous chain of ancestor-descendant pairs. This assumption looks good because all living organisms share biochemical traits. It is conceivable, of course, that life originated more than once on the early earth but that all except one life form died out early, leaving a single lineage as the ancestor of life as we know it. If this did happen, it was the first important species extinction.” IfsKnowsFirstsLooksImportantHappensEarthFormCoursesShareUniversalDiedOriginalsSpeciesLeavingChainsAssumptionPairsAncestorTraitsOrganismsExtinctionDescendantsBacteriaLineageLiving OrganismsSpecies Extinction Author:David M. Raup
“The diversity of life on Earth, generally, is astonishing. But despite those large numbers, it's also important to recognize that every species, one way or another, is vulnerable to extinction. And in our time on Earth... our impact on the diversity of life has been profound.” WayHas BeensImportantEarthNumbersDiversityImpactProfoundSpeciesDespiteVulnerableOne WayOur TimeExtinctionAstonishingLarge NumbersTime On EarthDiversity Of LifeOur Time On Earth Author:Sylvia Earle
“So why don't we make ourselves the last generation on earth? If we would all agree to have ourselves sterilized then no sacrifices would be required - we could party our way into extinction!” IfsWayWould BeEarthLastsPartyGenerationsSacrificeAgreePopulationExtinctionPopulation Control Book:Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter Source: Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter