DOES IT MATTER

-RICHARD LEAKEY
 About the author
 Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (born 19 December 1944) is
a Kenyan palaeoanthropologist , conservationist and politician.
 He is the professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook University, New York. He
is also the founder of Wildlife Direct, a registered charitable organization to
provide support to conservationists in Africa.
 He was responsible for extensive fossil finds related to human evolution and
who campaigned publicly for responsible management of the environment
in East Africa.
 His most famous book is The Sixth Extinction (1995) coauthored with
 Roger Lewin.
 Summary
 The essay Does it Matter? is the last of the 14 chapters in Leakey’s book, The
Sixth Extinction.
 Life on earth is at present undergoing a mass extinction- the sixth in the
history of the planet. Human beings are accelerating this with their reckless
exploitation of nature and through their irresponsible management and
wastage of precious resources.
 Humans, according to the American biologist, Paul Ehrlich are not alarmed
at the collapse of the biodiversity. Leakey compares it with an example like if
a giant asteroid is spotted on a collision course with Earth, people will not be
concerned as there is no proof of mass extinction after an asteroid attack
before and everything else is just speculations and guesswork.
 It doesn’t matter to us if the biodiversity is disturbed or half of earth’s species
were to be pushed into oblivion because none of this is affecting them
directly.
 Summary
 In chapter 8 his book, Leakey talks about the value of biodiversity, and
identified three important areas: economic, ecosystem services and
aesthetic.
 If animals and plants are a potential source of new materials, new foods, and
new medicines, then the loss of species affects all the above mentioned
sources.
 All the plants and animals in the ecosystem are interdependent. They are
part of an interacting network in sustaining the chemistry of the atmosphere
and the soil. The loss of any of the species in this network would reduce the
efficacy of the whole Ecosystem.
 Each and every species in the world must be saved, especially at the cost of
maintaining human welfare. We risk eroding the human soul if we allow the
erosion of the richness of the world of nature around us.
 Summary
 According to Julian Simon, recent scientific and technical advances-
especially ‘seed banks and genetic engineering’ have diminished the
importance of maintaining species in our natural environment.
 At present we are happy with the material resources from the natural world,
but will we be able to feed, cloth and supply energy to an ever growing
population for the next seven billion years is a question of concern.
 Science and technology have increased our comforts, but these comforts may
blind us to the reality of global environment.
 Everything on earth has its own importance from filaments of fungi
nurturing the health of plant rootlets to the global chemical cycles of water,
oxygen and carbon dioxide.
 If we move on this pace, unrestrained, homo sapiens might not only be the
agent of the sixth extension but also risks being one of its victims.
 Summary
 We must therefore turn to the fossil record of life, for it alone can inform us
of the dynamics of living systems beyond our current experience and
imagination.
 The most immediate message is that major catastrophic collapses of
biological diversity will occur. These crisis can be rapid, irreversible and
unpredictable.
 The daily cutting of tropical forests and encroachment on wild habitats is a
less dramatic process than asteroid impact, but in the end the effect is the
same. Mass extinction will occur.
 In fulfilling our own needs, we treat the world of nature as if it can withstand
each of our assaults without harm, but we do so at our peril.
 The death of a species is the termination of a continuous chain of genetic
links that reaches back billions of years.
 Summary
 Each time human action results in the extinction of a species, each of us
collectively bear the responsibility.
 According to anti-alarmist, species’ lives are limited, lasting between one
and ten million years on average (larger creatures have shorter life spans than
the less conspicuous creatures).
 They say that attempts to save species, may be wasting time, effort and
money but Stephen Jay defends this view point with an example of not
curing a childhood infection because all humans are ultimately mortal.
 The second major message of fossil record is that evolution is a dynamic and
powerfully creative process. Leakey says after one mass destruction "one
rapidly fills the void left after mass extinction". That's how it works.
 Mass extinction are virtually instantaneous. Either they occur suddenly
within few years as an impact of asteroid impact or takes a few million years
from Earth-bound causes.
 Summary
 But the recovery after such extinctions are basically slow as it takes between
five to twenty five million years.
 Homo sapiens has been on Earth for around 150000 years. We might look
forward to a further million years, unless our capacity for destruction
hastens our end.
 At some point of time in earth’s future, there might be a giant asteroid attack
which may cause extinction of majority of species including our own. If by
any chance, homo sapiens survive its impact, the survival would be
shattered.
 If there is one certainty we can derive from life’s flow, it is that one day we
will be no more but the earth and its inhabitants will go on without us.
 Still there are some who believe that we will overcome our extinction by
recourse to space travel or colonization of other planets which are flights of
fancy born of arrogant belief that humans are superior to all.
 Summary
 We owe to ourselves, to our children, and to our children’s children not to
foul our nest, not to degrade the wondrous diversity of life upon which we
depend for our survival and our soul.
 It is our duty to protect the lives of all of earth's species.
 The sixth extinction is similar to previous biological catastrophes in many
ways. The most vulnerable species are those whose geographical distribution
is limited, those in and near the tropics and those with large body size.
 We, humans, special though in many ways, are just like any other species on
earth. We share the world with them. It is our duty to protect, not harm
them. It is our duty, not because we are superiors but because in a
fundamental sense homo sapiens is on an equal footing with each and every
other species here on earth.
 Summary
 Earth operates as an interactive whole and we are just a part of that whole.
 The next greatest challenge for the century is halting the destruction of
natural resources. The rich countries have to help out the poor or less
developed countries for a permanent solution.
 For all the big five extinctions the reasons are not proved, but for the sixth
extinction, we do know the culprit. We are.
 Additional Points
 THE SIXTH EXTINCTION- It is otherwise called Anthropocene extinction
and is an ongoing extinction of species as a result of human activities.
THANK YOU
Made by- LUNA STINO