DK THE ECOLOGY BOOK

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THE LIVING EARTH 199

See also: Evolution by natural selection 24–31 ■ Global warming 202–203 Receding glaciers
■ The Keeling Curve 240–241 ■ Ozone depletion 260–261 ■ Spring creep 274–279 and bird migration

glaciers in 1840. The same year, he Glaciers converge on Piz Argient, When the last glacial period
visited geologist William Buckland a mountain in the Swiss Alps. Like began to end, around 26,500
in Scotland to investigate glacial others in the Alps, these glaciers were years ago, Earth was much
features there, prompting Scottish once much more extensive than they colder than it is today. Much
glaciologist James Forbes to begin are now, and they continue to shrink. of North America and northern
similar research in the French Alps. Eurasia was covered with ice
Aerial surveys in the 1920s and sheets. The environment was
Some quarters, such as the 1930s confirmed the extent of their so harsh that most birds
Catholic Church, still argued that vast ice sheets—now defined tended to live in subtropical
glacial striations had been caused as areas of glacier ice exceeding and tropical regions where
by a great flood or that large silt and 19,300 sq miles (50,000 sq km); ice there was more food.
rock deposits had been transported caps, such as Iceland’s Vatnajökull,
by icebergs swept along by the flood. are smaller. As temperatures began
From the 1860s, however, there was rising, the ice sheets started
wide support for Agassiz’s glaciation Further evidence revealed that to shrink, uncovering a new
theory and the idea that glaciers in there had not been one single ice landscape. Ice-free ground
the Swiss Alps and Norway had age, but at least five major ice ages and short, wet summers were
once extended much further. It was in Earth’s long history. The most ideal for insects, and birds
also accepted that a sheet of ice recent, the Quaternary Ice Age, began to move in, too, to
had once spread across Europe, and began 2.58 million years ago and is take advantage of this food
south from the Arctic through much ongoing. In the last 750,000 years, supply. When days got shorter
of North America, with catastrophic there have been eight ice advances in fall, some birds stayed on
implications for plants and animals. (glacial periods) and retreats for the winter, but others
(interglacial periods). During the last returned south.
By the late 1800s and early glacial period, which ended 10,000–
1900s, as more expeditions to both 15,000 years ago, ice sheets were up The distances flown by
Greenland and Antarctica were to 2½ miles (4 km) thick, and the sea birds returning to their homes
undertaken, it became known that level was 390 ft (120 m) lower. ■ grew longer as the ice sheets
both areas were still covered in ice. retreated farther, eventually
developing into long-distance
spring and fall migrations
between the tropics and
northern latitudes. Common
birds that undertake the
journey include swallows,
warblers, and cuckoos.

A male Baltimore oriole perches
on a tree fern in Costa Rica. The
species flies north to breed in
March and returns to the tropics
in August or September.

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200

OTTHHNEETRBHEOEIUSMNANDPOATTRHOYILNMIGANREK

BIOGEOGRAPHY

IN CONTEXT T he places where animals In the 18th century, as explorers
and plants live often vary recorded the plants and animals
KEY FIGURE in a regular manner along they saw, a picture of geographic
Alfred Russel Wallace geographic gradients of latitude, change had begun to emerge. On
(1823–1913) elevation, and habitat type. The the great 1831–36 expedition of
study of this variation is known HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin saw
BEFORE as biogeography. One branch species of birds on the Falkland
1831–36 Darwin’s studies (phytogeography) examines the Islands that did not live on
on the voyage of HMS Beagle distribution of plants, whereas mainland South America, giant
confirm that many animals the other (zoogeography) analyzes tortoises that were unique to the
living in one area are not found the distribution of animals. British Galapagos Islands, and marsupials
in similar habitats elsewhere. naturalist and biologist Alfred such as Australia’s kangaroos. New
Russel Wallace is widely regarded pieces of the biogeographic jigsaw
AFTER as the “father of biogeography.” were falling into place.
1874 British zoologist Philip
Sclater categorizes birds by Zoogeographic regions of the world
zoogeographic regions.
NEARCTIC PALEARCTIC
1876 Alfred Russel Wallace
publishes The Geographical AFROTROPICS INDOMALAYA
Distribution of Animals—the WALLACE’S LINE
first extensive publication NEOTROPICS
on biogeography. AUSTRALASIA

1975 Hungarian biogeographer Wallace’s six zoogeographic regions began with the
Miklos Udvardy proposes line he proposed in 1859 to mark the division of fauna
dividing biogeographic realms between Southeast Asia and Australasia.
into biogeographic provinces.

2015 Mexican evolutionary
biologist J.J. Morrone proposes
an International Code of Area
Nomenclature for biogeography.

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See also: Evolution by natural selection 24–31 ■ Island biogeography 144–149
■ The distribution of species over space and time 162–163 ■ Biomes 206–209

From 1848, Wallace conducted All of Siberia is in the Palearctic Alfred Russel Wallace
years of fieldwork in South America region, and the Siberian
and Southeast Asia. He researched white birch trees depicted here are Explorer, naturalist, biologist,
the feeding and breeding behavior part of a subdivision called the East geographer, and social
and migratory habits of thousands Siberian taiga. reformer Alfred Russel
of species, paying specific attention Wallace left school at 14,
to animal distribution compared Bali and Lombok); this separates and trained as a surveyor
with the presence or absence of Asian fauna from the Australasian. in London before becoming
geographical barriers, such as seas He found that larger mammals and a teacher. He became
between islands. He concluded that most birds did not cross the line. fascinated with insects after
the number of organisms living in a For example, tigers and rhinos live meeting British entomologist
community depends on the food only on the Asian side; babirusas, Henry Bates. The pair
available in that specific habitat. marsupials, andsulfur-breasted ventured to the Amazon
cockatoos only on the other side. Basin in 1848 on a four-year
Wallace’s Line He also highlighted the sharp collecting expedition. Trips to
During his 1854–62 expedition differences between animals in the Orinoco River and the
to the Malay Archipelago, Wallace North and South America. Malay Archipelago followed.
collected an astonishing 126,000 Wallace arrived at the same
specimens, many of them from In 1876, Wallace proposed six conclusion as Charles Darwin
species unknown to Western separate zoogeographic regions: on the origin of species by
science, including 2 percent of the Nearctic (North America); Neotropics natural selection, and they
world’s bird species. He regarded (South America); Palaearctic presented their papers jointly
biogeography as support for the (Europe, Africa north of the Sahara in 1858. A world authority on
theory of evolution by means of Desert, and Central, North, and East fauna distribution, Wallace
natural selection. One of Wallace’s Asia); Afrotropics (Africa south of also raised awareness about
important findings was the marked the Sahara Desert); Indomalaya problems caused by human
difference in bird species on either (South and Southeast Asia); and impact on the environment.
side of what was to become known Australasia (Australia, New Guinea,
as the Wallace Line, which runs and New Zealand). Today Wallace’s Key works
along the Makassar Strait (between regions, with the addition of
the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi) Oceania (the islands of the Pacific 1869 The Malay Archipelago
and the Lombok Strait (between Ocean) and Antarctica, are known 1870 Contributions to the
as biogeographic realms. ■ Theory of Natural Selection
1876 The Geographical
Distribution of Animals
1878 Tropical Nature, and
Other Essays
1880 Island Life

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202

IIGSTLNIOS'TBHAAALPPWRPEEADNRIIMCNITGNI.OGN.

GLOBAL WARMING

IN CONTEXT I n 1896, Swedish chemist “greenhouse gases,” as they are
Svante Arrhenius became now known, and believed that
KEY FIGURE the first person to argue that increasing levels of CO2 would
Svante Arrhenius carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions raise Earth’s temperature. More
(1859–1927) caused by human beings could specifically, he estimated that if
lead to global warming. Arrhenius levels of carbon dioxide increased
BEFORE thought that the average ground by 2.5 to 3 times, Arctic regions of
1824 French physicist Joseph temperature could be influenced the world would see temperature
Fourier suggests that Earth’s by carbon dioxide and other increases of 14–16°F (8–9°C).
atmosphere traps the Sun’s
heat like a greenhouse. The greenhouse effect

1859 Irish physicist John SUN Water vapor and other gases in Earth’s
Tyndall provides experimental atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and
evidence to support earlier methane, trap heat from the Sun and
hypotheses that atmospheric infrared radiation from Earth, raising
gases absorb radiant heat. the planet’s temperature.

AFTER Solar radiation Some heat escapes
1976 American scientist SPHERE into space
Charles Keeling proves that Some heat is trapped
between 1959 and 1971 in the atmosphere
carbon dioxide levels in the
atmosphere increased by EARTH’S ATMO
about 3.4 percent each year. rIandfiraatrieodn

2006 In Field Notes from
a Catastrophe, journalist
Elizabeth Kolbert tells the
stories of people and places
impacted by climate change.

EARTH

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THE LIVING EARTH 203

See also: Environmental feedback loops 224–225 ■ Renewable energy 300–305 The effects of
■ The Green Movement 308–309 ■ Halting climate change 316–321 global warming

Arrhenius was building on the The atmosphere may act like Since the end of the 19th
work of scientists Joseph Fourier the glass of a greenhouse … century, carbon dioxide (CO2)
and John Tyndall earlier in the [raising] the mean temperature in the atmosphere has
19th century. Fourier had wondered increased by about 25 percent,
why Earth was not a freezing of Earth’s surface. and the average global
wasteland, when the Sun was too Nils Ekholm temperature by around 0.9°F
far away to heat it to its current (0.5°C). Scientific evidence
temperature. He knew that heated Swedish meteorologist (1848–1923) proves that these changes
surfaces—such as the surface of have contributed to melting
Earth—emit thermal energy, and average 59°F (15°C), although in glaciers and sea ice followed
that the thermal energy radiating recent decades human activities by rising sea levels—around
back into space should result in that release greenhouse gases 8 in (20 cm) since 1880—as
colder temperatures on Earth. have pushed this figure higher. well as damage to coral reefs.
Something was regulating the For example, the 10 warmest years Other phenomena include
temperature, and Fourier theorized on record have occurred since 1998. longer wildfire seasons, more
that Earth’s atmosphere, made extreme weather, and shifts in
up of various gases, acted like a Fueling a warming world the ranges of animals and
glass box, containing the air By 1904, Arrhenius had become plants, leading to disease,
and keeping it warm. Fourier’s concerned about the dramatic extinction, and food shortages.
hypothesis, although oversimplistic, increase of CO2 due to human
led to the “greenhouse effect” actions—primarily through burning The extent to which global
theory of Earth’s thermal regulation. fossil fuels, such as coal and oil. He temperatures will increase
correctly predicted the influence depends on whether (and
John Tyndall was the first to that CO2 emissions would have on how rapidly) global CO2
prove Fourier’s greenhouse effect global temperatures, but eventually emissions diminish. Scientists
hypothesis. His experiments came to the conclusion that an predict that, at the current
demonstrated how, when Earth increase in global temperatures rate, this increase could
cools down at night—by releasing could have a beneficial effect on range from 0.5°F to 8°F
the heat absorbed from the Sun plant growth and food production. (0.3°–4.6°C) by 2100, with
during the day—atmospheric the greatest warming likely
gases, especially water vapor, The burning of fossil fuels has, to occur in the Arctic regions.
absorb the heat (radiation) and in fact, increased CO2 levels more
cause a greenhouse effect. This quickly than Arrhenius expected, The Perito Moreno glacier in
keeps Earth’s temperature at an although the planet has warmed Patagonia is one of the few glaciers
less than he predicted. Scientists that is still growing. The majority
If the planet were a patient, understand now that global are slowly melting, causing sea
we would have treated warming is having damaging levels to rise worldwide.
her long ago. effects on people and on the
Prince Charles environment, and will continue to
do so as long as long as emissions
continue to increase. ■

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204

LGTIHEVOEINLMGOOGMSICATATPLTOEFWROERISRCFEUL

THE BIOSPHERE

IN CONTEXT E arth has four interacting and water-based environment, and
subsystems: the lithosphere, reaches into extreme habitats, such
KEY FIGURE Earth’s rigid, rocky outer as the intensely hot mineral-rich
Vladimir Vernadsky shell; the hydrosphere, which waters around hydrothermal vents.
(1863–1945) comprises all water on the planet’s It is often divided into “biomes”—
surface; the atmosphere, formed by common major habitats, such as
BEFORE layers of surrounding gases; and deserts, grasslands, oceans, tundra,
1785 Scottish geologist James the biosphere—anywhere that and tropical rain forests.
Hutton proposes that in order supports life, from the ocean depths
to understand Earth, all of its to the highest mountaintops. Earth the superorganism
interactions should be studied. Ideas about the biosphere began
The biosphere’s origins are to emerge in the 18th century,
1875 Austrian geologist ancient: fossils of tiny single-celled when the Scottish geologist James
Eduard Suess first uses the microorganisms that date back Hutton described Earth as a
term “biosphere” to describe 4.28 billion years suggest that it superorganism—a single living
“the place on Earth’s surface is almost as old as Earth itself. The entity. A century later, Eduard
where life dwells.” biosphere extends into every land- Suess introduced the concept of the
biosphere in Das Antlitz der Erde
AFTER Man is becoming a (The Face of the Earth). Suess
1928 In Methodology of more and more powerful explained that life is limited to a
Systematics, Russian zoologist geological force, and the zone at Earth’s surface and that
Vladimir Beklemishe warns change of his position on plants are a good example of the
that humanity’s future is interactions between the biosphere
irrevocably linked to the the planet coincided and other zones—they grow in the
preservation of the biosphere. with this process. soil of the lithosphere, but their
leaves breathe in the atmosphere.
1974 British scientist James Vladimir Vernadsky
Lovelock and American In The Biosphere (1926), Russian
biologist Lynn Margulis geochemist Vladimir Vernadsky,
first publish their Gaia who had met Suess in 1911, defined
hypothesis—the idea of the concept in much more detail,
Earth as a living entity. outlining his view of life as a major
geological force. Vernadsky was
one of the first to recognize that
atmospheric oxygen, nitrogen,

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See also: The ecosystem 134–137 ■ Biodiversity and ecosystem function 156–157
■ A holistic view of Earth 210–211 ■ The Gaia hypothesis 214–217

Over billions of years layers of oxygen increased, more complex Vladimir Vernadsky
cyanobacteria have fossilized to form life forms evolved that would shape
stromatolites—mounds of sedimentary Earth in different ways, eroding Born in 1863, Vladimir
rock, as seen here at Hamelin Pool, and remolding its surface, and Vernadsky graduated from
Shark Bay, Western Australia. changing its chemical composition. St. Petersburg State University
aged 22, and did postgraduate
and carbon dioxide result from Gradually, elements of the work in Italy and Germany,
biological processes, such as the biosphere became part of the where he studied the optical,
respiration of plants and animals. lithosphere. Over millennia, dead elastic, magnetic, thermal,
He argued that living organisms corals created reefs in shallow and electrical properties of
reshape the planet as surely as tropical oceans. Similarly, the calcite crystals. After the revolution
physical forces, such as waves, skeletons of trillions of marine in Russia in February 1917,
wind, and rain. He also introduced organisms fell to the ocean floor, Vernadsky became assistant
the idea of three stages of Earth’s fossilized, and formed limestone. ■ Minister of Education in the
development: first, the birth of the provisional government. The
planet with the geosphere, in which I look forward with following year, he founded the
only inanimate matter existed; great optimism. Ukrainian Academy of Science
secondly, the emergence of life in in Kiev. Although his book
the biosphere; and finally the epoch We live in a transition The Biosphere was not taken
in which human activity changed to the noosphere. seriously by scientists outside
the planet forever—the noosphere. Russia for many years, it later
Vladimir Vernadsky became one of the founding
Sphere interactions documents of Gaia theory.
Scientists believe the biosphere
has constantly changed. Oxygen In the 1930s, Vernadsky
levels in the atmosphere began advocated the use of nuclear
to rise at least 2.7 billion years power, and played an advisory
ago, as microorganisms called role in the development of the
cyanobacteria multiplied. As Soviet atomic bomb project.
He died in 1945.

Key works

1924 Geochemistry
1926 The Biosphere
1943 “The Biosphere and
the Noosphere”
1944 “Problems of
Biochemistry”

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206

OTHFENSATYUSRTEEM IN CONTEXT

BIOMES KEY FIGURES
Frederic Clements
(1874–1945),
Victor Shelford (1877–1968)

BEFORE
1793 Alexander von Humboldt
coins the word “association”
to sum up the mix of plant
types that occurs in a
particular habitat.

1866 Ernst Haeckel poses
the idea of the biotope, the
living space for a range of
plants and animals.

AFTER
1966 Leslie Holdridge
champions the idea of life
zones based on the biological
effects of temperature and
rainfall variations.

1973 German–Russian
botanist Heinrich Walter
creates a biome system that
considers seasonal variations.

D ifferent parts of the world
have varying patterns of
plant and animal life, but
there are usually similarities over
vast areas. These are called biomes,
and each one is a large geographical
region with its own distinctive
plant and animal community and
ecosystem. The idea of the biome
was first popularized by plant
ecologist Frederic Clements and
zoologist Victor Shelford in the US,
in their key book Bioecology (1939),
although its origins date back earlier.

The biome concept took shape
as ideas on plant succession and
community ecology developed.
Clements identified “formations,”
large plant communities, which led

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See also: The distribution of species over space and time 162–163 ■ Climax
community 172–173 ■ Open community theory 174–175 ■ Biogeography 200–201

to his idea of climax communities in The geographic spread Threatened coral
1916. The same year, Clements used of plants is determined reef biomes
the term “biome” to describe biotic
communities—all the interacting mainly by climate. Coral reefs are such bountiful
organisms within a specific habitat. Different plants flourish habitats that they are often
in each climatic region. seen as the tropical rain
Like-minded thinkers The major types of plants forests of the sea. They
Clements was not the only one support a quarter of all marine
thinking along these lines. Zoologist in each region match species and provide livelihoods
Victor Shelford was working toward precipitation for half a billion people. Yet
the same idea. The pair began to they now face catastrophe.
meet over the next 20 years, while and temperature Half of all reefs have been lost
pursuing their own research, to see patterns closely. in the last 30 years, and some
how they could combine the worlds experts estimate that 90
of plants and animals. Clements The major plant percent will be gone over the
studied plant biomes in Colorado types can be used next 30 years. The main global
with his wife, the eminent botanist to divide the world threats are ocean acidification
Edith Clements. Meanwhile, Shelford into broad natural and global warming. As seas
compiled the Naturalist’s Guide to warm, stressed corals expel
the Americas (1926)—the first major zones called the algae they rely on for food.
geographical summary of wildlife in biomes, which They stop growing, lose their
the Americas, in which he talked reflect variations colour, and often die in what is
about “biota.” This book laid much called a coral bleaching event.
of the foundation for later findings. in climate. Such events are becoming
ever more frequent. There are
Ways of looking at interactions local threats, too, including
in ecological communities took a overfishing, both for the table
major step forward when British ❯❯ and for aquariums. Even more
seriously, to catch fish for
The Mongolian steppe belongs to the aquariums, sodium cyanide is
same grassland biome as the prairies often squirted into the water
in North America. Despite being on to temporarily immobilize the
separate continents, they are linked fish, and this kills corals. More
by their climate, animals, and plants. brutally, fish for the table are
often caught by throwing
dynamite into the water. This
kills fish, making them easy to
scoop up in vast numbers, but
it also blasts coral reefs apart.

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208 BIOMES

botanist Arthur Tansley introduced example, in every continent, but rainforest, grasslands, and deserts,
the term “ecosystem” in 1935. most tree species appear only in but there is no agreed definition
When Clements and Shelford one continent. So, the range of trees and there are marked variations.
published the results of their within the Amazonian forests is
collaboration in 1939, they were not completely different from the range The climate factor
making a sudden breakthrough— of trees in the forests of Indonesia. The one common factor in all biome
rather it was a consolidation of Yet both areas are identifiable as classifications has been climate,
ideas that had been taking shape tropical forest, because the trees although other “abiotic” factors can
over a long time. have features in common. also play a part. Climate determines
the form of plant growth best suited
The collaboration between Since Bioecology first appeared, to a region, and plants that grow
botany and zoology was crucial. there have been countless attempts in a certain way are restricted
Only by looking at the totality of to define what a biome is, and many to particular climates. The leaves
the natural world with its dynamic different ways of classifying them. of deciduous trees are broad, with
interactions could scientists hope Biomes provide a simple way a large surface for light absorption,
to get a full picture, and Clements of understanding global vegetation but little resistance to drying out
defined a biome as “an organic unit patterns, but when looked at closely or frost. Conifer tree needles, on the
comprising all the species of plants they present a crude way of grouping other hand, are narrow and can
and animals at home in a particular ecosystems. There is no single survive the harshest frosts. Desert
habitat.” Even so, biomes have accepted classification system, and shrubs often have very thin leaves,
come to be defined principally the only division everyone seems to or no leaves at all, to resist drying
by vegetation type. agree on is that between terrestrial out. Biogeographers acknowledge
(land-based) and aquatic (water- climate’s key role when they talk
The most important feature of based) biomes. Many of the same about “tropical” rainforests and
biomes is that they link vegetation biomes crop up in most systems, “temperate” grasslands.
and plant communities across the such as the polar biome, tundra,
world. There are tropical forests, for

Terrestrial biomes of the world

Tropical forest This map shows six biomes across the globe. Each area
Temperate forest has distinct flora, as major plant types vary from one climatic
Mountains region to another. Ocean and freshwater biomes are not
displayed here, but are equally important to the biosphere.
Grasslands
Desert
Polar regions

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THE LIVING EARTH 209

Ecozones

Tropical rainforest is the hottest and of the pyramid represent three Biomes are about identifying
wettest biome and covers 7 per cent axes: rain, temperature, and the similar forms that life
of Earth’s surface. One of the oldest evapotranspiration (which depends takes in response to particular
biomes, it also contains far more animal on both rain and temperature). Using regional conditions such as
and plant species than any other biome. these axes, he could plot hexagons climate, soil, and topography.
showing regions that also reflect However, there are other
Very few species have identical humidity, latitude, and altitude. methods of dividing the world
climate requirements. Even among in ecological terms. In 1973,
varieties of the same plants, there American plant ecologist Robert Hungarian biologist Miklos
are variations. The sugar maple Whittaker devised a much simpler Udvardy came up with the
of eastern North America, for graph, with average temperature concept of biogeographic
example, is slightly more tolerant on one axis and annual rainfall on realms; this system was then
of winter cold than its cousin the the other. With these two variables further developed in a scheme
silver maple. Although the areas plotted against each other, he was by the World Wildlife Fund.
where both trees grow overlap, the able to divide the graph into nine The BBC later replaced the
sugar maple can be seen far over the biomes—from tropical rain forest term “biogeographic realm”
Canadian border, whereas the silver (the hottest and wettest) through with “ecozone.” Biogeographic
maple flourishes as far south as to tundra (the coldest and driest). realms divide the whole planet
Texas. Since biomes give only an according to the evolutionary
approximate picture of plant and Underpinning all these systems history of plants and animals.
animal distribution, ecologists are is the idea of convergent evolution, The ways in which continents
constantly devising new systems which argues that species develop have split apart and drifted
of classification. similar traits as they adapt to similar means that species have
environments. Insects, birds, bats, evolved variously in different
Rain, heat, and evolution and pterosaurs all developed wings parts of the world. Ecozones
One of the most widely recognized independently to occupy air space. are therefore based on
systems of classification is the life Different biomes are therefore identifying this diversification.
zones system devised by American assumed to develop corresponding Australasia, for example, is
botanist Leslie Holdridge in 1947, life forms in response to similar a single ecozone, because
and updated in 1967. His system is environmental conditions. However, marsupials evolved there in
based on the assumption that two in recent decades, it has been noted isolation from other mammals
key factors, rain and heat, determine that species can evolve differently in the rest of the world.
vegetation type in each region. He in the same biome and also that
created a graphic depiction of 38 life different stable biomes can develop The short-beaked echidna
zones in a pyramid. The three sides in an identical climate. While central is one of the most widespread
to understanding life, biomes remain native mammals in the Australasian
a complex and elusive concept. ■ ecozone. They live in a range of
habitats from desert to rain forest.

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210

FBSWOEEECRRATVTAUIHCKSEEEEMSNWFAOETRUDROGENR’’ASTNPTAEYD

A HOLISTIC VIEW OF EARTH

IN CONTEXT T he American ecologist Salt marshes, such as these on the
Eugene Odum was not coast near Porthmadog, North Wales,
KEY FIGURE the first scientist to write form their own ecosystem, with the
Eugene Odum (1913–2002) about ecology, but in the 1950s he seawater and its nutrients providing
proposed that it deserved to be a a unique habitat for wildlife.
BEFORE discipline in its own right. Until
1905 In Research Methods in then, ecology was viewed as a could never lead to a full knowledge
Ecology, American botanist relatively insignificant subdivision of the living world. He argued that
Frederic Clements writes of the biological sciences—the poor it was more important to study the
about plant communities and relation of biology, zoology, and places and roles that the species
how they change over time. botany. However, Odum believed held in their community, rather
passionately that studying plant than simply finding out more
1935 Arthur Tansley, a British and animal species in isolation about what they were. Odum’s
botanist, proposes the term
“ecosystem” to describe a
community of plants, animals,
soil minerals, water, and air.

AFTER
1954 Eugene and Howard
Odum’s study of the coral
Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific
Ocean applies the principles
of holistic ecology.

1974 British environmentalist
James Lovelock and American
biologist Lynn Margulis first
publish their Gaia hypothesis.
It states that Earth is a self-
regulating system that
maintains the conditions
necessary for life on our planet.

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THE LIVING EARTH 211

See also: The ecosystem 134–137 ■ Macroecology 185 ■ The peaceful Earth Day
coexistence of humankind and nature 297 ■ The Green Movement 308–309
After witnessing a horrific
new approach to the subject— …ecology has been oil spill in Santa Barbara,
first set out in his 1953 book badly presented and California, in 1969, US Senator
The Fundamentals of Ecology— has been broken into Gaylord Nelson decided to
revolutionized the purpose and too many antagonistic focus on growing worries
influence of ecological research. about pollution during a
subdivisions. national “teach-in” on the
The “new ecology” Eugene Odum environment. He could not
The holistic view of Earth involves have envisaged the size of the
studying the systems of organisms the whole animal, or the ecosystem movement he would inspire.
as a whole. As Odum explained, in which the animal lives—are able On April 22, 1970, 20 million
one organism, or any one group of to self-regulate to provide stability. Americans took part in the
organisms, cannot be understood first Earth Day, with rallies,
without studying the ecosystem in Integrated investigation marches, and lectures taking
which it lives. The holistic approach A holistic study of a lake ecosystem place nationwide. Such was
examines all the roles played by would involve looking at all the the effect of the protests that
each member of an ecosystem, inputs into the lake and its margins later that year the Clean Air,
and how that system interacts with as well as all the outputs, including Clean Water, and Endangered
others. Climate, geology, water and energy, water, minerals, and Species Acts became law, and
mineral input, and human activity nutrients. It would also consider the Environmental Protection
all affect—and are affected by—a any human inputs. The study Agency was established in the
multitude of living communities. would examine the roles played US that December. Earth Day
by both producer organisms, such became a global phenomenon,
Odum was writing in the 1950s as plants and algae, and consumers with 200 million people
and ’60s, when there was a growing such as herbivores and carnivores. participating in 141 countries
awareness of the environmental The holistic approach also examines in 1990—and built momentum
destruction wrought by humanity. changes over time, in which for the 1992 UN Earth Summit
The role of people was a crucial part developments that benefit some in Rio de Janeiro. Earth Day
of “systems ecology,” as he called organisms in the short-term might celebrations are held every
his idea. Odum wanted humans to lead to a lack of diversity in the April, with a different theme
be sympathetic allies with the future. For example, although trout each time. In 2018, the focus
natural world—collaborators rather thrive in warmish, alkaline waters, was on ending global pollution
than manipulators—and his views if those waters become too warm by plastics.
of an all-embracing ecology did or acidic due to ecological change,
much to inspire the first Earth Day, the fish can no longer breed. The first Earth Day on April 22,
which was celebrated in 1970. 1970, saw crowds such as this
Odum’s holistic approach leaves one in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
The holistic concept of Odum’s a legacy of a far more detailed gather across the US to protest
“new ecology” deals with Earth appreciation of what is happening against pollution and the use
as a whole, bringing together in an ecosystem than a series of of pesticides.
physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, individual species studies. ■
geology, and meteorology. The
fundamental assumptions of
ecology are that the ecosystem
is the basic unit of nature, that
biological diversity increases the
ability of ecosystems to survive,
and that the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts. Systems in the
natural world—whether they are
groups of cells in an animal’s body,

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212

IPASLNANDTODETETASELTCLRTUHOCANVTICOIOSCN

MOVING CONTINENTS AND EVOLUTION

IN CONTEXT T he surface of Earth is This fossilized head of the extinct
constantly moving, very reptile Cynognathus crateronotus was
KEY FIGURE slowly, and has been doing found in southern Africa. The same
Alfred Wegener (1880–1930) so for more than three billion years. fossils occur in South America: evidence
The lithosphere (Earth’s crust and that the two continents were once one.
BEFORE upper mantle) is divided into seven
1596 Abraham Ortelius, a large sections and many smaller animals or plants concerned would
Dutch scholar, is one of several ones, called tectonic plates. Where have been unable to cross the ocean
geographers who observe that plates meet, the type of movement divide. These include Cynognathus
the two sides of the Atlantic determines the nature of the crateronotus, a mammal-like reptile
Ocean seem to “fit” each other. boundary. Where plates push that lived over 200 million years ago
against each other, new mountains in southern Africa and eastern South
AFTER are created. If plates pull apart, new America. Glossopteris, a genus of
1929 British geologist crust forms on the ocean floor. woody trees, grew in South America,
Arthur Holmes proposes South Africa, Australia, India, and
that convection in Earth’s The first inkling that the Antarctica, but nowhere else, around
mantle drives continental drift. continents may not have always 300 million years ago.
been in their current positions came
1943 George Gaylord Simpson in the late 16th century. European To German geophysicist Alfred
dismisses fossil evidence for explorers sailing to the Americas Wegener, such fossil patterns
continental drift and argues saw from their newly created maps indicated that these continents had
for “stable continents.” that the coastlines on each side once been joined together. In 1915,
of the Atlantic Ocean mirrored he published his theory that all the
1962 American geologist each other. Later, geologists found continents were once a single land
Harry Hess explains how the strong structural and geological mass, “Pangaea,” which has since
seafloor spreads, by molten similarities between the Caledonian- broken up and drifted apart.
magma rising from below. era mountains of Northern Europe
and the Appalachian Mountains of
2015 A group of Australian North America.
scientists propose that periods
of rapid evolution in the oceans Lookalike fossils
were triggered by collisions There are various examples of fossil
between tectonic plates. finds straddling different continents
that can only be explained by
continental movement—since the

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THE LIVING EARTH 213

See also: Island biogeography 144–149 ■ The distribution of species over space and time 162–163 ■ Macroecology 185
■ Metapopulations 186–187 ■ Biogeography 200–201

Three types of plate boundary

Plates move apart Plates collide Plates slide
alongside each other

Tectonic plates can move in three Divergent Convergent Transform
different ways, forming different types
of boundary. When plates diverge, new
oceanic crust is formed. When they
converge, new mountains form. When
plates slide past each other, the rift is
known as a transform fault.

Wegener’s theory was not well plates is driven by convection The forces which
received at first. In 1943, George currents carrying heat from deep displace continents
Gaylord Simpson, one of the most inside the planet to the surface.
influential paleontologists in the are the same
US, criticized the theory. He argued Once Wegener’s theory was as those which
that the fossil record could be accepted, the fossil evidence made produce great
explained by static continents linked much better sense. Continental drift fold-mountain ranges.
and unlinked by periodic flooding. has had a profound influence on how Alfred Wegener
species have evolved. For example,
Evidence and evolution if a continent splits apart, the two
Despite early doubts, evidence for separated populations of a species
the plate tectonics theory grew. A can start to evolve in completely
series of discoveries established that different directions. On the other
the seafloor was spreading and that hand, if two continents collide, or a
new oceanic crust was constantly bridge of land forms between them,
being created. We now understand different species begin to mix and
that the movement of the tectonic compete, and some may become
extinct as a result. ■

Marsupials in America and Australia

Marsupials are strongly identified Marsupials are nonplacental thought that they traveled via a
with Australia, yet they evolved in mammals whose young complete belt of vegetation straddling the
America and are still also found there. their gestation feeding from their three areas, which were once all
mother’s teats, typically in a part of the southern landmass
pouch on the belly. Now found called Gondwana.
only in the Americas (mainly
South and Central) and Australia, By 55 million years ago,
they are thought to have evolved the continents had separated,
in North America 100 million and marsupial species began
years ago. They spread to South to evolve differently. The only
America and diversified into many known Antarctic marsupial
different species. fossils, found on Seymour Island
in 40-million-year-old rocks,
Several groups later moved resemble South American
into what is now Antarctica and marsupials of the same period,
on into southern Australia. It is but not those of Australia.

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214

LEOIAWFRENTCHPHUTARONPGIOTESSSES IN CONTEXT

THE GAIA HYPOTHESIS KEY FIGURE
James Lovelock (1919–)

BEFORE
1935 British botanist Arthur
Tansley uses “ecosystem” to
describe an interdependent
community of biological and
nonbiological components.

1953 In Fundamentals of
Ecology, American ecologist
Eugene Odum describes
Earth as a collection of
interlocking ecosystems.

AFTER
1985 In the US, the first
conference on the Gaia
hypothesis is held, entitled,
“Is the Earth a Living
Organism?”

2004 James Lovelock voices
his support for nuclear power
over renewable energy.

I n 1979, British scientist James
Lovelock’s book Gaia: A New
Look at Life on Earth presented
his Gaia hypothesis to a general
readership. In essence, Lovelock
claimed that Earth is a single, self-
regulating system, in which living
and nonliving elements combine
to promote life. The book quickly
became a bestseller, and caught
the imagination of the growing
Green movement, offering a fresh
approach to environmentalism.

What Lovelock proposed was
not without precedent. In the 1920s,
Vladimir Vernadsky, a Russian
scientist, had developed the idea
of the biosphere, the zone of Earth
that holds all living organisms, and
suggested that it could be seen as
a single entity in which organic and

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See also: The ecosystem 134–137 ■ Evolutionarily stable state 154–155
■ The biosphere 204–205 ■ A holistic view of Earth 210–211

Evolution is a tightly coupled pedosphere, the surface layer of the James Lovelock
dance, with life and the Earth; the hydrosphere, the bodies of
material environment as water on the Earth’s surface; and the Inspired by writers such as
partners. From the dance atmosphere, the gases surrounding Jules Verne and H.G. Wells,
emerges the entity Gaia. the Earth. These spheres and their James Lovelock, born in 1919,
James Lovelock complex interactions maintain was fascinated by science and
Earth in “homeostasis.” This invention from an early age.
inorganic elements interact. The concept is borrowed from physiology, He graduated in chemistry
British botanist Arthur Tansley which describes the stable internal from Manchester University
then took this idea further in the conditions, such as temperature in 1941. Lovelock was a
1930s, with his concept of an and chemical composition, that conscientious objector during
“ecosystem” that regulates itself allow organisms to function World War II and worked for
into a state of equilibrium. optimally. They are controlled by the National Institute for
self-regulating mechanisms Medical Research in London.
Tansley’s theory was at the that react to change in those In 1948, he received his Ph.D.
heart of Lovelock’s hypothesis: conditions. Lovelock’s use of the in medicine, and then spent
that all living organisms and their word homeostasis reinforced time in the US on a Rockefeller
environment form one complex the implication that Earth, fellowship. After returning
super-ecosystem that regulates and or Gaia, is a living entity. to Britain in 1955, he turned
balances conditions to sustain life his attention to inventions,
on Earth. The idea first occurred to Keeping the balance notably the electron-capture
Lovelock in the late 1960s, but it The hint of mysticism in the Gaia detector (ECD), which detects
was after discussing it with US principle chimed with the “New trace atoms in a gas sample.
microbiologist Lynn Margulis that Age” thinking of the time. This In the 1960s and 1970s, he
it began to take shape. Together, helped popularize the idea, but held visiting professorships in
they presented the hypothesis in a it also led to a negative reception Houston, Texas, and Reading,
paper in 1974, giving it a name from the scientific establishment. England, during which time
suggested by the writer William However, behind the Earth he developed the Gaia
Golding—Gaia, after the ancient “goddess” metaphor was a serious hypothesis. In 2003, Lovelock
Greek Earth goddess. Lovelock and science-based hypothesis that ❯❯ was made a Companion of
Margulis portrayed Earth as a Honour by Queen Elizabeth II.
living entity, composed of the
biosphere, living organisms; the Key works

A stone relief shows Gaia, the 1988 The Ages of Gaia
Greek goddess of Earth. The 1991 Gaia: The Practical
nonscientific name chosen by Lovelock Science of Planetary Medicine
for his hypothesis initially hindered 2009 The Vanishing Face of
its acceptance by many scientists. Gaia: A Final Warning

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216 THE GAIA HYPOTHESIS

Daisyworld

At first, scientists criticized In the Gaia hypothesis, Earth, the different state of equilibrium. Such
the Gaia hypothesis for its only known planet to support life, is a tipping point, argued Lovelock,
supposed implication that the itself a “superorganism,” where the sea, occurred about 2.5 billion years
ecosystems in the biosphere land, and atmosphere work together to ago, at the end of the Archean Eon,
could collectively influence maintain the right living conditions. when oxygen first appeared on
Earth’s environment. So to Earth. At this time, Earth was a
enhance the plausibility of the salinity in its environment. When hot, acidic place in which methane-
Gaia theory, in 1983 James these are constant, Earth is in producing bacteria were the only
Lovelock and fellow British a stable state of homeostasis, but life that thrived. Bacteria capable of
scientist Andrew Watson if the balance is disturbed, the photosynthesis then evolved, which
produced “Daisyworld,” a planet encourages the organisms created an atmosphere that was
simple explanatory model. that will restore the equilibrium,
while being hostile to those that If there were
Daisyworld is a barren reinforce the disturbance. The a nuclear war,
planet, orbiting a sun. As the organic components of the Earth and humanity were
intensity of the sun’s rays system do not simply react to wiped out, Earth
increases, black daisies start changes in their environment, but would breathe
to grow. They absorb heat and control and regulate them. a sigh of relief.
warm the planet’s surface to James Lovelock
the point where white daisies These feedback mechanisms
can thrive. They, in turn, operate in a complex global network
reflect the sun’s energy, so of interconnected natural cycles, to
cooling the ground. The two maintain the optimum conditions
kinds of daisy reach a point for the organisms within them.
of equilibrium, whereby they They can resist change, but only
regulate the temperature of to a certain extent. A big enough
the planet. When the sun’s disturbance can push the system
heat increases further, the to a “tipping point,” where, with the
white daisies, able to reflect balance of its components altered,
the sunlight and stay cool, it is likely to settle into a very
replace the black daisies.
Finally, the sun heats up so
much that even the white
daisies can no longer survive.

the interactions of living organisms
and their physical surroundings—
including the cycles of oxygen,
carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur—
form a dynamic system that
stabilizes the environment.

According to Lovelock, Gaia
is controlled by the action of
“feedback loops,” which are
the checks and balances that
compensate for disturbances in
the system, bringing it back into
equilibrium. To function well, life
on Earth depends on a particular
balance of variables such as water,
temperature, oxygen, acidity, and

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THE LIVING EARTH 217

conducive to more complex forms An algal feedback loop
of life. Eventually, the equilibrium
conditions that exist on Earth Lots of clouds mean More DMS
today were established. heat from the Sun means
is reflected back
Saving the planet into space. more cloud.
As Lovelock elaborated on the
theme, the scientific establishment Cooler temperatures Warmer temperatures
gradually began to accept the Gaia mean lower algal mean higher algal growth
hypothesis. In the 1980s, a series growth and
of “Gaia conferences” attracted less DMS gas. and more DMS.
scientists from many different
disciplines, willing to explore the Less DMS Fewer clouds mean
mechanisms involved in regulating means more heat from the Sun
Earth’s environment to achieve
homeostasis. Later, more attention fewer clouds. reaches Earth.
was devoted to looking at the
implications of the hypothesis In Gaia theory, feedback loops keep Earth in
in the face of climate change. balance. One example is the effect that sea algae called
Human activity had been shown coccolithophores have on keeping the planet’s climate in
to disturb Gaia’s system, but the check. When the algae die, they release a gas, dimethyl
issue was now whether its sulphide (DMS), that helps to create clouds.
regulatory mechanisms could
withstand further pressure—or
whether Earth was facing another
irreversible tipping point.

Environmentalists, who had
been among the first to embrace
Gaia, reacted with dismay to the
theory that the human species may
precipitate a catastrophic change
in Earth’s equilibrium. The rallying
cry of Green activists became
“Save the planet!” but this was at
odds with the fundamental idea of
Gaia. Although the destruction
of natural habitats, the excessive
burning of fossil fuels, the depletion
of biodiversity, and other human-
made threats were likely to have
severe consequences for many
species—including humans—
the planet, according to the Gaia
hypothesis, will survive and find
a new equilibrium. ■

Nuclear power stations produce
plentiful “clean” energy, but also toxic
waste. James Lovelock believes Earth
is able to absorb and overcome the
waste’s radioactive effects.

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65 MILLION

KYEIALRSLAEGODSOHMEATHLINFG

OTFHALEL TEHEALRIFTE OHN

MASS EXTINCTIONS

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220 MASS EXTINCTIONS

IN CONTEXT T here have been five periods The meteor that hit Earth at the end
in Earth’s history when of the Cretaceous period was traveling
KEY FIGURE abnormally large numbers at 40,000 mph (64,000 kph). Its power
Luis Alvarez (1911–88) of multicellular organisms have was a billion times greater than the
died off in a relatively short time. Hiroshima atomic bomb.
BEFORE These mass extinctions are defined
1953 American geologists by the loss of multicellular animals five families of marine animals every
Allan O. Kelly and Frank and plants because their fossils are million years. This is far exceeded
Dachille suggest in their book far easier to detect than those of during mass extinctions, which
Target: Earth that a meteor single-celled organisms. always mark the boundary between
impact may have been two geological periods. Scientists
responsible for the extinction The general (“background”) rate do not understand all the factors
of the dinosaurs. of extinction is between one and five responsible for these events, though
species a year. Fossil records show, they are agreed on some. Increased
AFTER for example, the extinction of two to
1991 The Chicxulub Crater
in the north of the Yucatan
Peninsula in southeastern
Mexico is proposed as the site
of a massive comet or meteor
impact at the end of the
Cretaceous period.

2010 An international panel
of scientists agrees that the
Chicxulub impact led to
the Cretaceous–Paleogene
mass extinction, around
65 million years ago.

Mass extinction events from
499 million years ago to the present

Late Devonian Triassic HOLOCENE
A rapid drop in sea level Climate change or (OR ANTHROPOCENE) PERIOD
is one of a number of an asteroid hit are 100,000 YEARS AGO–PRESENT
possible causes for the potential causes for
loss of 70–80 percent the extinction of round
of animal species. 75 percent of species.

ORDOVICIAN SILURIAN DEVONIAN CARBONIFEROUS PERMIAN TRIASSIC JURASSIC CRETACEOUS (K) PALAEOGENE NEOGENE
485–444 444–419 419–359 359–299 299–252 252–201 201–145 145–66 66–23 23–03

Ordovician Permian Cretaceous
Global cooling Huge volcanic A meteor strike and
leads to the activity helps to volcanic activity drive
extinction of wipe out 96 percent up to 80 percent of
85 percent of of all marine species. animals, including
marine life. most dinosaurs,
to extinction.

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See also: Ancient ice ages 198–199 ■ Moving continents and evolution 212–213 ■
The Gaia hypothesis 214–217 ■ Ocean acidification 281

All geologic history is full on Earth but common in asteroids. Luis Alvarez
of the beginnings and the The discovery led to the Alvarez
ends of species–of their Hypothesis, which proposed that Considered one of the greatest
the extinction at the end of the physicists of the 20th century,
first and last days. Cretaceous period was caused Luis Alvarez was born in
Hugh Miller by a catastrophic meteor strike. San Francisco in 1911. He
The location of the impact was still graduated from the University
Scottish geologist a mystery, until 11 years later, when of Chicago in 1936 and went
a massive crater 106 miles (170 km) on to work at the Radiation
volcanic activity, changes in the across on Mexico’s Yucatan Laboratory in the University
composition of the atmosphere and Peninsula was found to date from of California, Berkeley. There
oceans, climate change, sea level the time of the extinction. he helped develop nuclear
rises and falls, tectonic movement of reactors and, during World
the continents, and meteor impacts The scientific consensus is that War II, nuclear weapons. He
are all likely causes. Some scientists a massive comet or asteroid struck witnessed the atomic bombing
suggest we have now entered a Earth, producing a blast of radiation of Hiroshima and helped build
sixth mass extinction, this time the and a destructive megatsunami a plutonium bomb.
result of human activity. more than 328 ft (100 m) high. The
radiation would have killed animals After the war, Alvarez
End of the dinosaurs nearby, and the megatsunami developed the liquid hydrogen
The mass extinction that scientists would have obliterated coastal bubble chamber, used to
understand best is also the most regions around the Gulf of Mexico. discover new subatomic
recent, around 65 million years ago. The main damage, however, would particles. For this, in 1968 he
Geologists refer to it as the K-Pg be more gradual. A vast cloud of was awarded the Nobel Prize
extinction event because it occurred soot and dust would have spread for Physics. Later he provided
at the end of the Cretaceous and through the atmosphere, blocking the calculations to back up the
start of the Palaeogene periods. out sunlight for several years. Plants Alvarez Hypothesis of mass
Although an extraterrestrial origin died because they could no longer extinction caused by a meteor
was first suggested for the event in photosynthesize, and algae in coral strike. He died in 1988.
the 1950s, this was not taken reefs also succumbed, disrupting
seriously until two discoveries, in food chains worldwide. The ❯❯ Key works
Europe and North America.
We have very strong physical 1980 “Extraterrestrial Cause
In 1980 a team of scientists and chemical evidence for for the Cretaceous–Tertiary
working in Italy, including physicist a large impact … the Extinction,” Science
Luis Alvarez and his geologist son, extinction coincides with 1985 “The Hydrogen Bubble
Walter Alvarez, discovered a clay the impact to a precision Chamber and the Strange
layer between Cretaceous and of a centimetre or better. Resonances”
Paleogene deposits. Examination Walter Alvarez 1987 Alvarez: Adventures
of the clay revealed that it contained of a Physicist
the mineral iridium, which is rare

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222 MASS EXTINCTIONS

Although many flying dinosaurs
survived the K-Pg mass extinction
at the end of the Cretaceous period,
all pterosaurs perished, ending their
162-million-year stay on Earth.

impact would have also released with a fast metabolism that dramatically, toward the end
sulfuric acid into the atmosphere, demanded regular meals. Many of the Ordovician period, around
which produced acid rain, plant species died because they 444 million years ago. At this time,
acidifying the oceans and killing could not photosynthesize, leaving most organisms on Earth lived in
off marine life. Around the same herbivorous dinosaurs with little the oceans. As the supercontinent
time, a huge amount of volcanic vegetation to eat, while predatory Gondwana drifted slowly over the
activity flooded 193,000 sq miles species starved for lack of prey. In South Pole, a giant ice cap formed,
(500,000 sq km) of southern India contrast, fungi, which do not depend lowering global temperatures.
with lava, forming the Deccan on photosynthesis, proliferated. Much of the planet’s water became
Plateau and further changing the “locked up” as ice, depressing sea
climate and atmosphere. In the oceans, phytoplankton, a levels and reducing the area of
vital food source that also relied on Earth’s surface covered by ocean.
The K-Pg event is best known photosynthesis, died out. Creatures
for the extinction of all nonflying that fed on phytoplankton then As a result, marine organisms
dinosaurs. It was also responsible faced extinction. These included living in shallow continental-shelf
for the death of nearly all four- cephalopods, such as belemnites water suffered particularly high
legged animals (tetrapods) that and ammonites, and the marine rates of extinction. In at least two
weighed more than 55 lb (25 kg). reptiles known as the mosasaurs peak die-off periods, separated
An exception were crocodiles, and the sauropterygians. by hundreds of thousands of years,
which may have survived because nearly 85 percent of marine species
they are ectotherms (cold-blooded Marine annihilation died out, including brachiopods,
animals), able to survive for a long The earliest mass extinction, bryozoans, trilobites, graptolites,
time without food. Dinosaurs were and the second-most catastrophic, and echinoderms.
endotherms (warm-blooded animals), occurred when our planet cooled
Slow extinction
By the Late Devonian period,
around 359 million years ago, the
continents had been colonized by

The current
extinction has its
own novel cause: not
an asteroid or a massive
volcanic eruption but
“one weedy species.”
Elizabeth Kolbert

American journalist

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THE LIVING EARTH 223

plants and insects, and massive Modelled future extinction Earth’s history. The eruptions,
organic reefs thrived in the oceans. rates are projected to which lasted nearly 1 million years,
The continents of Euramerica and be 10,000 times Earth’s flooded more than 0.8 million sq
Gondwana were converging into historical geological miles (2 million sq km) of ancient
what would become Pangaea— background rate. Siberia with basalt lava. The
the last of the supercontinents. Ron Wagler resulting buildup of greenhouse
In this period, a succession of gases would have transformed the
extinctions—possibly as many American academic atmosphere of Earth, likely resulting
as seven—took place over a longer in severe global warming and
timescale than any other mass known as “The Great Dying,” it contributing to species extinction.
extinction event, possibly up resulted in the loss of 96 percent
to 25 million years. of marine species and 70 percent of Phased losses
land-living vertebrates. Insects All life today is descended from
The extinctions may have had suffered the only mass extinction in the small minority of species
many causes, including reduced their history, and the last of the that remained at the start of the
oxygen in the oceans, falling sea trilobites, which had been in Triassic period. During the
levels, atmospheric changes, the decline for millions of years, period’s final 18 million years,
draining of water produced by the disappeared from the fossil record. ending about 201 million years
spread of plants, and asteroid ago, at least half of all animal
impacts. Most organisms lived in Potential causes for the mass species known to be living at that
the oceans, and shallow seas were extinction include asteroid impact time were wiped out in two or three
worst affected, with many reef- and oxygen depletion in the extinction phases. Climate change
building organisms, brachiopods, oceans. The extinction also caused by more basalt eruptions
trilobites, and the last of the coincided with one of the biggest and an asteroid impact have been
graptolite species dying off. Around periods of volcanic activity in cited as causes. In the seas, many
75 percent of marine species died, reptiles, cephalopods, mollusks,
and it would be another 100 million and reef-building organisms died
years before corals re-established out. On land, most of the reptilelike
themselves on a large scale. archosaurs and many large
amphibians became extinct. The
“The Great Dying” loss of the archosaurs, in particular,
The most dramatic mass extinction opened up ecological niches that
took place at the end of the Permian the dinosaurs would fill. ■
period, 252 million years ago. Also

The sixth extinction These losses have been driven by Sudan, the last male northern
habitat change, climate change, white rhinocerous, died in 2018 (two
Some ecologists have estimated overfishing, overhunting, ocean females remain). Poaching has taken
the current rate of extinction of acidification, air pollution, and the species to the edge of extinction.
animals and plants at 100–1,000 the introduction of animals that
times the natural background disrupt food chains. American
rate, with most of the increase ecologist E.O. Wilson, known
due directly or indirectly to as “the father of biodiversity,”
human activities. They argue believes that if the species die-off
that this is evidence the world continues at the present rate, half
is already in the middle of the of all higher life forms will be
Holocene extinction, named for extinct by 2100. Stuart Pimm,
the present geological epoch. a British–American biologist and
Many species of animals and modern extinctions expert, is
plants have been lost since more cautious, claiming that we
the start of the Industrial are on the cusp of such an event
Revolution in the 18th century. and can still act to stop it.

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224

IBRGNUERISTREIEENARNITNVHEGEOTSUAHSLWELEIRLFULUNEALWAY

ENVIRONMENTAL FEEDBACK LOOPS

IN CONTEXT Negative feedback loops A ll parts of an ecosystem
regulate ecosystems. are interdependent. Any
KEY FIGURE They damp species or habitat change
James Hansen (1941–) down change. will feed back into the system, and
affect the whole of that system,
BEFORE They keep populations including the part where it all
1875 In the book Climate and under control. started. In other words, the
Change, Scottish scientist feedback travels around in a loop.
James Croll describes the Negative
climate-warming feedback feedback loops In some situations, change
effect of melting ice. provide stability. is kept in check by the loop. For
example, if aphids suddenly
1965 Canadian biologist multiply, they provide more food
Charles Krebs discovers the for ladybugs, leading to an increase
“fence effect,” showing vole in the number of ladybugs. But
populations protected from with more ladybugs feeding on the
foxes rocketing, then crashing. aphids, aphid numbers drop again.
This is negative feedback and it
1969 American planetary helps maintain the status quo.
scientist Andrew Ingersoll
highlights the “runaway In other cases, feedback can
greenhouse effect” that caused accelerate change. Shrubs, for
the planet Venus to heat up. example, may begin to take over
from grass on newly colonized land,
AFTER casting their shade over the grass,
2018 Ecologists in Alaska depriving it of sunlight, and slowing
predict that the accelerating its growth. The shrubs now have
release of methane from more water and nutrients, so they
formerly frozen lakes will prosper at the expense of the grass.
increase global warming. This is positive feedback and it is
inherently destabilizing.

Ideas about feedback loops first
developed early in the 20th century.
They were based on the work of
two mathematicians—Alfred Lotka
(1880–1949) in the US and Italian

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THE LIVING EARTH 225

See also: Predator–prey equations 44–49 ■ Competitive exclusion principle Feedback loops and
52–53 ■ Global warming 202–203 ■ Halting climate change 316–321 climate change

Vito Volterra (1860–1940)—who In a healthy ecosystem, a repeating In recent years, accelerating
independently devised equations fluctuation in numbers between prey, and decelerating warming
based on the interaction between such as rabbits, and predators, such trends have brought the idea
predators and prey. Their equations as foxes, is an example of a negative of feedback loops to the fore
showed that a prey population will feedback loop balancing the system. in climate change science.
grow rapidly when the number of In 1988, the climate scientist
predators drops, while the predator Positive feedback interferes with James Hansen spoke at a US
population will drop when prey a balanced ecosystem. If there congressional hearing of the
numbers drop, because the is a surplus of resources, or a lack rises in global temperature
predators go hungry. The result is of predators, a population can grow caused by human activity.
a constant cycle of falling and freely. A bigger population leads to He has since voiced the belief
rising predator and prey populations. more births, and so an acceleration that the continued burning
of the growth in population. of fossil fuels could set in
Balancing the system motion a series of calamitous
The predator–prey cycles identified Equally, positive feedback can positive feedbacks on Earth’s
by Lotka and Volterra were focused result in an accelerated contraction climate, leading to the
on the interaction between single of a population. If fish stocks “runaway greenhouse” he
predator and prey species. Since decline in a lagoon, for instance, describes in his 2009 book
their studies, the theory of feedback local people may resort to importing Storms of My Grandchildren.
loops has developed to embrace canned food. Pollution from the
entire ecosystems. Ecologists now dumps where the cans are thrown One warming feedback
think that negative feedback loops away can seep into the lagoon, loop is created by the melting
are of central importance for the killing the fish—and encouraging of polar ice caps, as newly
functioning of all ecosystems, the locals to import even more exposed land and water
keeping every part of them naturally of the damaging cans. And yet, absorb the heat that the ice
within the bounds of sustainability. positive feedback loops can once reflected back into the
Populations can never swell for long sometimes set off a chain of events atmosphere. The melting of
beyond the carrying capacity of the that becomes a “virtuous” circle. Siberian permafrost is another
rest of the system to support them. For example, if shrubs are planted warming loop. As temperature
Thus, negative feedback regulates in unstable soil, their roots may rises melt the permafrost,
an ecosystem and keeps it stable. stabilize the soil, allowing both huge amounts of methane,
the shrubs and soil to thrive. ■ a greenhouse gas, could be
released into the atmosphere,
accelerating global warming.

Arctic areas such as Greenland
have seen a reduction in summer
ice of 72 percent since 1980. The
warming of the atmosphere and
rising sea levels are part of the
resulting positive feedback loop.

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FTAHCETHOURM

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AN

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228 INTRODUCTION

During the Industrial The world’s first Charles Keeling Gene Likens begins Chico Mendes
Revolution, London’s national park is starts to record the work to establish lobbies the US
created in the US year-on-year rise the relationship Congress to stop
“Great Stink” at Yellowstone between water funding projects
prompts legislation in atmospheric quality and that damage the
to preserve its carbon dioxide life forms. Amazon rain forest.
to curb air and natural habitat.
water pollution. levels.

1858 1872 1958 1963 1987
1859 1955 1962 1979

Rabbits are released The term “urban Rachel Carson’s The One Child
in Australia; their sprawl” is used for book Silent Spring Policy is initiated
the first time, by The exposes the harmful
population explosion Times newspaper in effects of pesticides in China to
results in chaos for the on the environment. control the rapid
the UK. population growth.
environment.

R aw sewage produced Scottish-American environmentalist many forest-dwelling species died
by millions of Londoners John Muir was one of the first to out before they were “discovered.”
once poured into the identify habitat degradation and
Thames River for decades, until destruction as problems, and in Deforestation also contributes
the stench of the effluent became 1890 he won protection for the to global climate change. As trees
so bad that in 1858 action was Yosemite Valley in California. photosynthesize, they absorb
demanded. When a new system However, despite a steady increase carbon dioxide and release oxygen.
of sewers, pumping stations, and in protected natural environments, However, less forest means that
treatment works revolutionized the in the 20th century, the destructive more CO2 stays in the atmosphere,
city’s sanitation, deaths and illness pressures of human development fueling the greenhouse effect and
from cholera and other bacterial have grown ever more powerful. global warming.
infections fell dramatically, and
the river became much cleaner. Trees and climate change Carbon and other greenhouse
Forest has been especially hard-hit, gases are emitted from cars and
Human activity has always mainly due to the dual demands factories burning fossil fuels. Since
altered the environment, but its of lumber required for construction 1958, American scientist Charles
impact increased dramatically and fuel, and land cleared for Keeling’s measurements of
in the mid-18th century with the agriculture and development. atmospheric CO2 have shown that
Industrial Revolution that began in An estimated 54,000 sq miles CO2 emissions are increasing at
Britain, and spread to Europe, North (140,000 sq km) of tropical rain an ever-faster rate. While a minority
America, and beyond. The negative forest—which contains the greatest of scientists maintain that human
effects can be broadly divided biodiversity—is cleared each year. activity is not responsible, climate
into pollution, and destruction Scientists will never know how change has warmed the continents.
of resources and habitats. The consequences, including trees
coming into leaf and flowers

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THE HUMAN FACTOR 229

The International Charles Moore finds Camille Parmesan Maude Barlow wins
Dark Sky a mass of floating and Gary Yohe Canada’s highest
environmental
Association debris that becomes publish evidence for
is founded in order known as the “Great the climate-change honor for her
campaign for global
to prevent light Pacific Ocean phenomenon of access to clean water.
pollution. Garbage Patch.” “spring creep.”

1988 1997 2003 2008

1992 1999 2003 2014

Canada halts High mortality rates Research finds that Naomi Klein blames
its cod fishing in frogs are traced to ocean acidity large corporations
viruses exacerbated has surged since for depleting natural
industry due industrialization resources and the
to excessively by the trade in live began.
depleted fish stocks. amphibians. climate crisis.

blooming earlier in spring, may caused by emissions of sulfur global population was 3.6 billion.
benefit some organisms but could dioxide and nitrogen oxide from By 2018, it had swollen to 7.6 billion,
prove disastrous for others. industrial chimneys. As a and although the growth rate
result, legislation to control the has slowed considerably, the
Toxic controls emissions was passed in the US ever-increasing consumption
The introduction of pesticides, such and Europe. After US chemists of natural resources has led to
as DDT, to increase crop harvests Frank Rowland and Mario Molina depleted stocks of wood, fossil
proved to be an environmental showed that chlorofluorocarbons fuels, minerals, and even fish. The
disaster: they eradicated useful (CFCs) destroy atmospheric ozone, collapse of the once bountiful cod
invertebrates as well as harmful the use of CFCs was banned fishery off Newfoundland in 1992
ones; they caused cancers in worldwide in 1989. highlighted the vulnerability of our
humans; and rendered birds of prey food chain to overfishing and led
infertile. Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Light pollution, which affects the Canadian government to
Silent Spring highlighted many of beach-nesting turtles, bats, and impose an indefinite moratorium
these issues, and caused a partial migrating birds, has proved harder on fishing on the Grand Banks.
rethink of pesticide use. The work to control. The International Dark-
of several other ecologists has Sky Association is at the forefront Clean water is one of the most
resulted in legislative controls to of campaigns for environmentally fundamental requirements for
mitigate the environmental impact. responsible lighting. society but almost 1 billion people
do not have access to it. A lethal
When Gene Likens and his Diminished resources combination of climate change
team investigated why previously Garrett Hardin, an American and population growth in some
fish-rich lakes had died, they found ecologist, warned of the dangers developing regions threatens
that the culprit was acid rain, of overpopulation in 1968, when the to increase this number. ■

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DISEASEIPENNOLVCLIRUUOTRNIOMANEBINSTLAAENL

POLLUTION

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232 POLLUTION

IN CONTEXT Effects of pollution on health

KEY FIGURE The brain. Mental
Emma Johnston (1973–) development in
children is delayed,
BEFORE and the brains of
1272 King Edward I of adults are affected.
England bans the burning
of sea coal in London because The lungs. Air The heart. Pollution
of the smoke it produces. pollution can increases the risk
cause cancer, of heart disease
19th century Coal-burning and is linked and stroke.
during Britain’s Industrial to asthma.
Revolution stunts children’s The reproductive
growth and raises death rates The pancreas. system. During
from respiratory diseases. Air pollution has pregnancy, the
fetus’s brain
AFTER been linked to development can
1956 The Clean Air Act is Type 2 diabetes be affected.
introduced in the UK, bringing
the thick smogs that plagued in adults.
its major cities to an end.
Polluted air and water cause the deaths of millions of
1963 The Clean Air Act people every year. This illustration describes the specific
is passed in the US. damage caused to different organs of the human body.

1972 The Clean Water Act be carried through air and water, thousands of years, indicates
is fully ratified in the US. affecting all life. Contaminants such that early humans generated air
as plastics can facilitate the invasion pollution from their fires. Analysis
1984 Toxic gas leaks from the of nonindigenous species, as of 2,500-year-old ice cores in
Union Carbide India factory discovered by Australian marine Greenland has shown evidence of
in Bhopal kill thousands and biologist Emma Johnston. There is air pollution from copper smelting
injure many more. also a direct effect on human health: thousands of miles away, in the
it is estimated that exposure to center of the Roman Empire.
Pollution comes in many polluted air, water, and soil caused However, such impacts were
forms, ranging from toxins 9 million premature deaths—one in on a small scale. With the start
in the air to trash at the six of all deaths—in 2015. of the Industrial Revolution in
bottom of the sea. Any substances Europe, air and water pollution
or forms of energy that spoil the Pollution through the ages became serious. Factory chimneys
quality of the atmosphere, oceans, Human-made pollution has a long pumped smoke out into the air;
water, or soil are pollutants. They history. The presence of soot on toxic chemicals poured into rivers.
may be chemicals or biological the walls of caves, dating back Cities expanded quickly and had
contaminants (including human
waste), products (such as plastics),
or noise, light, or heat. The effects
of pollution on life of all kinds
can be far-reaching, spreading
thousands of miles beyond its
original source. Pollution can
spread through the food chain and

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THE HUMAN FACTOR 233

See also: Pesticides 242–247 ■ Acid rain 248–249 ■ Light pollution 252–253 ■ A The “Great Stink”
plastic wasteland 284–285 ■ The water crisis 286–291 ■ Waste disposal 330–331
By the early 19th century,
Air pollution control centers fared little better: similarly London’s Thames was the
systems still lag behind unsanitary conditions were recorded most polluted river in the
economic development. in Berlin in 1870, for example. world. Industrial pollution and
human effluent emptied into
Bob O’Keefe In the United States, the first two it from thousands of drains.
cities to enact laws to ensure clean People complained, but the
no sanitation. The Thames River, air were Chicago and Cincinnati, in government did nothing. In
in London, was both the source 1881. By that time, the manure from 1855, the scientist Michael
of water for domestic use and the 3 million horses pulling wagons in Faraday lambasted politicians
outlet for untreated human sewage. North American cities was seeping for their inaction, to no avail.
Disease spread, river fish were into water supplies and producing However, they got the message
wiped out, and the smell was plagues of disease-causing flies. three years later, when a hot
sometimes unbearable. Other urban As horses were gradually replaced summer contributed to the
by the internal combustion engine, “Great Stink” of 1858. The
Of the world’s 20 worst cities for air smog from cars and trucks became Houses of Parliament, being
pollution, 14 are in India. In Delhi, thick a major issue. London’s Great Smog adjacent to the Thames, were
smog in November 2017 reduced the of 1952, described as a “pea-souper” badly affected, and legislation
air quality to the equivalent of smoking for the color of the filthy air, killed was suddenly enacted in a
50 cigarettes a day. more than 4,000 people. mere 18 days.

Air pollution Civil engineer Joseph
The result of harmful substances Bazalgette was commissioned
being released into the atmosphere, to design a new sewage
such as gases or small particles system. It was based on six
called aerosols, air pollution can interceptor sewers, 100 miles
have natural sources, such as (160 km) long, which flowed to
volcanoes or wildfires, but is mainly new treatment works. Most of
caused by human activity. The main London was connected to
air pollutants are emissions ❯❯ it within a decade. Much of
the sewage system is still in
operation today, more than
150 years later.

This cartoon, published in Punch
magazine in July 1858, was entitled
“The Silent Highwayman.” People
at the time attributed the spread
of cholera to the bad river smells.

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234 POLLUTION

The World Health Organization Pollutants entering
(WHO) estimates that nine out of the oceans
ten people worldwide are breathing
Pollution is one of the polluted air, causing widespread 20% 10%
biggest problems we are illness and allergies. Furthermore, 20% 10%
facing globally, with horrible some aerosols, depending on the 5%
future costs to society. composition and color of the 5%
particles, block the amount of solar
Maria Neira radiation reaching Earth’s surface, 30%
thus having a cooling effect on the
planet. Efforts to reduce air
pollution can therefore make the
effects of global warming worse.

from fossil-fuel-burning power Rivers, lakes, and seas Air pollutants Offshore oil
stations, factories, motor vehicles, Surface water, groundwater, and the Farmland runoff
the burning of wood and dung for oceans become contaminated by Sewage Industrial
heat and cooking fuel, and methane toxic chemicals from industry, from Litter wastewater
from cattle, landfill sites, and chemical runoff from farmland, from Maritime
fertilized fields.Poor air quality general trash such as plastics, and transportation
damages human health and crops, from human waste.
and some fossil-fuel emissions cause In the oceans, the most acutely
acid rain, which has killed forests Some rivers and lakes are destructive pollution has resulted
and fish in thousands of lakes. so polluted that they can support from disasters involving oil tankers
no life at all, deprive communities and oil terminals. When the Exxon
Orcas may become extinct as a result of freshwater and food, and carry Valdez supertanker broke up on
of PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) a risk of waterborne diseases, such rocks off the coast of Alaska in 1989,
pollutants. The compound becomes as polio, cholera, dysentery, and 11 million gallons (50 million liters)
more concentrated higher in the food typhoid. The WHO estimates that of crude oil were released into the
chain, and orcas are apex predators. 2 billion people worldwide are North Pacific. The oil smothered or
drinking water contaminated with
human waste, resulting in the
deaths of 500,000 people a year.

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THE HUMAN FACTOR 235

Emma Johnston Born in 1973, Australian marine She has also studied marine
biologist Emma Johnston was communities in the Antarctic,
interested in the oceans from an developed new biomonitoring
early age. She gained her Ph.D. in techniques, and advised
marine biology in 2002 and, in agencies on the management
2017, became the Dean of Science of estuarine biodiversity.
at the University of New South
Wales (UNSW), and Head of the Key works
UNSW’s Applied Marine and
Estuarine Ecology Lab, which 2009 “Contaminants reduce
investigates human impacts on the richness and evenness of
marine ecosystems. marine communities,”
Environmental Pollution
Johnston discovered how 2017 “Building ‘blue’: an eco-
nonnative species can invade engineering framework for
waterways in coastal areas by foreshore developments,” Journal
adhering to rafts of plastic of Environmental Management
pollution floating on the oceans.

poisoned an estimated 250,000 in the 1920s. It can cause problems is a form of thermal pollution. It can
seabirds, 250 Bald Eagles, 2,800 sea for nocturnal wildlife, for example, kill fish and alter the composition of
otters, 300 harbor seals, and 22 because predator–prey relations are the food chain, reducing biodiversity.
killer whales. Billions of salmon and interrupted. Excessive noise can be
herring eggs also died. Further highly disturbing in cities, on flight Nuclear energy is sometimes
catastrophic damage followed in paths, and near factories and roads. viewed as “cleaner” than fossil-fuel
1991, during the Iraq War, when But it also affects wildlife in subtler energy, because it does not produce
Iraqi forces opened the valves of an ways. There is evidence that some greenhouse gases, but it does result
offshore oil terminal and released at birds now sing at night because in waste that remains radioactive for
least 380 million gallons (1,700 their song can be heard more thousands or millions of years. The
million liters) into the Persian Gulf. clearly than during the day. industry also bears the inherent risk
The long-term effects of such of accidental damage. An explosion
disasters are still unfolding and Waste heat, too, can be at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
have yet to be fully understood. damaging. When water from rivers in Ukraine in 1986 killed dozens of
or the sea is used as a coolant in people and spread radiation across
Much of our nondegradable factories or power stations, the hot Western Europe. The slowly
products ends up in the oceans. water that is returned to the source dwindling effects of contamination
Since the 1950s, around 8.3 billion on the ecosystem and human health
tons of plastic has been produced, In 2015, pollution are predicted to last a century.
of which only a fifth has been caused three times
recycled or incinerated. Each year, as many deaths as Mitigation measures
a staggering 8 million tons of AIDS, tuberculosis, and Tackling the problem of pollution
plastic reaches the oceans, and is malaria combined. is a huge challenge, and involves
responsible for the deaths of huge Philip Landrigan both cleaning up existing pollution
numbers of marine animals. and making changes to reduce the
rate at which we add to it. Key
Intangible pollutants aspects of this include replacing
Pollution in the form of energy, be fossil fuels with sustainable energy,
it light, noise, or heat, can be just more recycling and reuse, and the
as intrusive as physical waste or replacement of nondegradables
chemical emissions. Light pollution with degradable materials. This will
from buildings, streetlights, vehicles, take time and, ultimately, demands
and advertising billboards was first a fundamental shift in our culture
described as a problem in New York of consumption. ■

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236

FGSTOROAVOEDEELCSSTAHFNERNSOOEMT IN CONTEXT

ENDANGERED HABITATS KEY FIGURE
John Muir (1838–1914)

BEFORE
1872 Yellowstone, in the states
of Wyoming, Montana, and
Idaho, is declared a national
park—the first in the world.

AFTER
1948 The International Union
for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN), a partnership of
governments and civil society
organizations, is founded.

1961 The World Wide Fund for
Nature (WWF), initially known
as the World Wildlife Fund, is
formed, to protect endangered
species and habitats.

1971 The Man and the
Biosphere Programme (MAB)
is founded by the United
Nations, to promote sustainable
development. It has a global
network of Biosphere Reserves.

T he origin of the movement
to conserve natural habitats
is usually credited to the
Scottish–American naturalist John
Muir, described as the “father of
the national parks.” He was one of
the first to realize that in order to
survive, wild places needed legal
protection. Of the many types of
natural habitat on Earth, some are
more fragile than others, but each
faces different threats, whether
anthropogenic (human-made) or
from natural causes, or both, and
many are critically endangered.

Habitats have, of course, always
been affected by destructive natural
events. Every year, lightning strikes
trigger large grassland and forest

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THE HUMAN FACTOR 237

See also: Human activity and biodiversity 92–95 ■ Biodiversity hotspots 96–97
■ Biomes 206–209 ■ Deforestation 254–259 ■ Environmental ethics 306–307

fires. Hurricanes and rivers in flood Yosemite National Park was created John Muir
can wreak havoc. Storm surges may in 1890, thanks to the efforts of John
produce inundations of the sea, Muir. The park is famed for its glaciers, Born in Scotland in 1838, John
turning freshwater wetlands saline. waterfalls, and granite rock formations, Muir developed a passion for
About 65 million years ago, the such as the El Capitan monolith. nature as a boy. He moved
Chicxulub meteor impact in Mexico with his family to Wisconsin
produced a dust cloud so great that growth of cities, the development at the age of 11. In 1867, he
it stopped sunlight from reaching of large-scale industry based on the had an accident in which he
Earth’s surface. Plants struggled extraction of fossil fuels and raw lost his sight temporarily, after
to photosynthesize, and many materials, a growing agricultural which he “saw the world in a
animals, including the dinosaurs, demand to feed more people, and new light.” An accomplished
became extinct. conflict and war. All these have botanist, geologist, and
taken their toll on the natural world. glaciologist, Muir visited the
Nor is human influence an Yosemite Valley in California
exclusively recent issue. Throughout Fragile ecoregions in 1868, and later determined
history, people have modified their A concept that is now often used to preserve it from the scourge
environment. Deforestation, for to identify the major habitat types of domestic sheep (which he
example, is not a new problem. In on Earth is that of the ecoregion— called “hoofed locusts”). In
Europe, the clearance of forests for smaller than a biome, with a more 1903, Muir took President
agriculture and construction began detailed gauge of biodiversity. Theodore Roosevelt on a
thousands of years ago, and a similar Ecoregions are defined as large guided tour through the
pattern followed in North America. units of land or water containing Yosemite Valley, and their
a geographically distinct mix of three-day trip inspired
However, the impact of modern- species, natural communities, and Roosevelt to create the US
day humans on the environment is environmental conditions. Some Forestry Service and, in
unprecedented. In the past 200 examples include deserts, tropical ❯❯ 1916, to form the National
years, the human population has Conservation Commission.
exploded. This has fueled the rapid Until his death in 1914, Muir
continued to advocate for the
conservation of land such as
Mount Rainier, which became
a National Park in 1899.

Key works

1874 Studies in the Sierra
1901 Our National Parks
1911 My First Summer
in the Sierra

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238 ENDANGERED HABITATS

Natural factors can put Humans can put absorb the greenhouse gas carbon
pressure on a habitat. pressure on a habitat. dioxide, thereby contributing to the
acceleration of climate change.
Pressures include Pressures include
storms, floods, wildfires, deforestation, urban Loss of coral reefs
Coral reefs are important ecoregions
volcanic activity, and sprawl, mining, and yet are especially endangered.
even meteor strikes. industrialization, They support about 25 percent of
pollution, and war. the planet’s marine species, and
are also nurseries for billions of fish.
The habitat becomes endangered Two-thirds of the world’s reefs are
under threat, and about a quarter
rain forests, temperate coniferous Once deforestation starts, the of them are likely damaged beyond
forests, lakes, mangrove swamps, problem quickly gets worse. When repair. Possibly the biggest threat
and coral reefs. Of these, coral reefs rain falls on a forested slope, it is to coral reefs is increased acidity
and tropical rain forests are under mostly absorbed by vegetation. caused by a greater uptake of CO2
particular threat from humankind. But when the slope is cleared, the from the atmosphere. This impedes
rainfall erodes the soil, making it the ability of many sea creatures
Rain forest clearance useless for agriculture and to build their shells, and induces
Despite covering only 6 percent impossible to replant. It produces coral “bleaching,” which is a step
of Earth’s land surface, tropical rain silt runoff into rivers and lakes, on the way to the reef dying.
forests represent the greatest killing fish, and increases the risk In addition, coral reefs are being
biomass of any terrestrial ecoregion, of flooding. The destruction of any destroyed by overfishing, and by
and are home to about 80 percent forest reduces its capacity to harmful practices such as cyanide
of land species. Every year, some and blast fishing, and bottom
54,000 sq miles (140,000 sq km) of trawling. Sediment resulting from
tropical rain forest is cleared—the coastal development blocks the
equivalent of a soccer field every sunlight that reefs need. Chemical
second. Logging is carried out for pollution, coral mining, and careless
firewood and construction materials, tourism all add to the burden
and is also driven by the demand for on this highly sensitive habitat.
roads, settlements, and agriculture.
Wide-ranging impacts
Globally, the rain forests that All over the world, diverse natural
are under greatest threat are in habitats are critically threatened by
West Africa, Central America, and human activity. Tropical deciduous
Southeast Asia. Indeed, only about dry forest is easier to clear than
30 percent of the lowland rain forest rain forest, and on Madagascar,
in Borneo now survives . In the where dry forest was widespread,
Amazon Basin, home to nearly less than 8 percent now remains. At
one-third of the world’s rain forest, one time, tallgrass prairie stretched
much of the clearance is for across the US Midwest, but only
agriculture, especially ranching. 3 percent of it is left: the rest has
been converted to farmland. Many
wetlands have been drained for

Palm oil trees are being planted on
a large scale in Indonesia and Malaysia,
where this is one of the main drivers
of deforestation. Orangutans are among
the species endangered as a result.

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THE HUMAN FACTOR 239

Protected areas

Wetlands and intertidal zones are gases. Conservation is now National parks, wilderness
important for marine invertebrates and paramount, and ecologists work areas, nature reserves, and
migratory shorebirds, but in many parts to refine their understanding sites of special scientific
of the world they have been drained for of the best ways to go about it. interest (SSSIs) are all types of
industry and ports. protected habitats. Within
Appropriate measures depend these areas, interference with
agriculture or urban development; on the situation, and range from the the natural environment is
others are irreversibly damaged creation of protected reserves or prohibited or limited by some
by pollution. Nutrient runoff from “corridors,” to link areas that have kind of legal framework. They
agricultural fertilizers has spoiled become fragmented, to projects must cover a specified
many lakes and rivers. In many to recreate lost habitat. Sustainable expanse of land or sea, but
countries, intertidal zones have sources of fuel and timber for those they vary greatly in size and in
been destroyed by the building who are otherwise dependant on the level of protection given.
of ports. Coastal development has forest wood are also important, as Just over 10 percent of Earth’s
been largely responsible for the loss is banning the trade in rain forest land is protected, but only 1.7
of 35 percent of mangrove swamps. hardwood. Since the impact of percent of the oceans; though
In the tropics and subtropics, habitat destruction is global, marine reserves are essential,
overgrazing by domestic animals international agreements and they require local and national
such as goats has converted an cooperation are crucial. ■ governments to agree on key
estimated 3.5 million sq miles issues such as fishing rights.
(9 million sq km) of seasonally dry
grassland and scrub into desert. Marae Moana, the largest
protected area on Earth, is
772,000 sq miles (2 million sq
km) around the Cook Islands
in the Pacific Ocean. It is home
to sea turtles, at least 136
species of corals, and 21
whales and dolphins. The
biggest land reserve is the
Northeast Greenland National
Park, which covers almost
386,000 sq miles (1 million sq
km) of ice sheet and tundra.

Halting the decline In every walk with Muskoxen are Arctic herd animals
The destruction of these habitats is nature, one receives far whose numbers were severely
not only a loss in terms of natural depleted in the 19th century by
beauty and biodiversity, but also more than he needs. hunting. They now live on reserves
creates serious problems for people: John Muir in Alaska, Norway, and Siberia.
for example, poorer water quality,
declining fish stocks, crashes in
populations of pollinators, flooding
from increased rainwater runoff,
and faster buildup of greenhouse

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240

OCWTHFHEEAAANBRRGEAEIGNPSIGINDENPELIYLINNAGGNSET

THE KEELING CURVE

IN CONTEXT T he Keeling Curve, named more heat to be trapped, leading to
after Charles Keeling, an an overall increase in temperature
KEY FIGURE American scientist, charts and global climate change.
Charles Keeling (1928–2005) the daily record of atmospheric
carbon dioxide (CO2), measured in Measuring CO2 levels
BEFORE parts per million by volume (ppmv), Since the start of the Industrial
1896 The Swedish chemist in a series dating back to 1958. Revolution in the late 1700s, human
Svante Arrhenius is the first It shows two things: the natural activity has produced increasing
to estimate the extent to seasonal respiration of Earth and emissions of CO2. This is largely
which atmospheric CO2 could the year-on-year rise in atmospheric due to burning fossil fuels, while
increase Earth’s temperature. CO2. Atmospheric CO2 is significant forest clearance for agriculture and
because carbon dioxide is the most development has resulted in less
1938 Comparing historic important of the greenhouse gases, vegetation absorbing CO2 through
temperature data and CO2 which trap warmth in Earth’s photosynthesis. Many scientists
measurements, the British atmosphere. More molecules of CO2 once believed that excess CO2
engineer and scientist Guy and other greenhouse gases cause would be absorbed by the oceans.
Stewart Callendar concludes Others disagreed, but there was
that the increase in CO2 is We were witnessing for little hard evidence either way.
responsible for the warming the first time nature’s
of the atmosphere. withdrawing CO2 from the Charles Keeling was not the
air for plant growth during first to propose a link between
AFTER summer and returning it atmospheric warming and CO2
2002 The European Space each succeeding winter. emissions. Others had measured
Agency’s ENVISAT satellite CO2 levels but had produced only
begins to produce up to 5,000 Charles Keeling “snapshots” in time rather than a
readings of greenhouse gases long-term dataset. Keeling knew
every day. that a long study was needed to
prove the link. In 1956, he took up
2014 NASA’s Orbiting Carbon a post at the Scripps Institution of
Observatory generates up to Oceanography in San Diego,
100,000 high-precision California, and obtained funds to
measurements daily. establish CO2 monitoring stations
at remote locations 9,843ft (3,000m)
up on Mauna Loa, Hawaii, and at
the South Pole. By 1960, Keeling

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THE HUMAN FACTOR 241

See also: Global warming 202–203 ■ The biosphere 204–205 ■ Environmental CO2 analysis in icecaps
feedback loops 224–225 ■ Halting climate change 316–321
Scientists can measure past
Mauna Loa in Hawaii is an ideal site reflecting seasonal changes. During concentrations of carbon
for an atmospheric research station. The spring and summer in the Northern dioxide by analyzing bubbles
high altitude and remote location of the Hemisphere, as new foliage takes of air trapped in Antarctic and
volcano ensure that the air is largely more CO2 out of the atmosphere, Greenland ice sheets. This
unaffected by humans or vegetation. the global concentration of the gas evidence indicates that there
declines, reaching a low point in have been several cycles of
was sure that he had a long-enough September. It increases again in variation over the past 400,000
series of records to detect a year- the northern autumn as leaves fall years. These range from lower
on-year increase. and photosynthesis declines. Plant readings in the most severe
growth in the Southern Hemisphere glaciations—when glaciers
Seasonal changes later in the year does not make up actually formed—to higher
Although South Pole funding ended for the loss, because most of Earth’s readings during warmer,
in 1964, Mauna Loa has produced vegetative cover is in the north. interglacial periods. The
data from 1958 onward. Plotted on a increase since the start of the
graph, the measurements became Ancient air bubbles trapped in Industrial Revolution has been
known as the Keeling Curve. It is, polar ice cores reveal that, over the matched by the average global
in fact, a series of annual curves, past 11,000 years, average CO2 temperature. This has risen
concentrations were 275–285 ppmv, by 0.13°F (0.07°C) per decade
Mauna Loa CO2 record but increased sharply from the mid- since 1880 and 0.31°F (0.17°C)
(1958–2015) 19th century. In 1958, the level was per decade since 1970.
316 ppmv. It rose steadily at a rate
400 of 1.3–1.4 ppmv each year until the The Intergovernmental
mid-1970s, then increased by about Panel on Climate Change
380 2 ppmv each year. By spring 2018 it (IPCC) warns that unless the
had hit 411 ppmv, almost 1.5 times world's governments reduce
360 higher than preindustrial levels. ■ greenhouse gas emissions
dramatically, by the year 2100
average temperatures could
be around 7.7°F (4.3°C) higher
than they were before the
Industrial Revolution. Such an
increase would cause both a
marked rise in sea levels and
more extreme weather, which
would result in people having
to abandon some regions of
the world entirely.

CO2concentration (ppmv) 340 The Keeling Curve of steadily rising Bubbles in an ice core provide
CO2 levels is clearly shown on a graph a sample of the atmosphere going
320 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 plotting results from the continuous back centuries. Scientists measure
1960 Years monitoring of atmospheric carbon the CO2 in the trapped air bubbles.
dioxide (CO2) at Mauna Loa, Hawaii.

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BTHAERRCAHGEMEIHCAASL

FBEAENBHRURILCEDOAGFAINLSTIFTHEE

THE LEGACY OF PESTICIDES

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244 THE LEGACY OF PESTICIDES

IN CONTEXT A rguably the most revered Spraying insecticide such as
and influential book ever DDT whether indoors or outside, has
KEY FIGURE published on the subject been—and in some places still is—a
Rachel Carson (1907–64) of environmentalism, Silent Spring common method of controlling the
garnered a huge amount of mosquitoes that transmit malaria.
BEFORE publicity when it was released in
1854 Henry David Thoreau’s 1962. It galvanized the fledgling Boston Herald. It spoke about aerial
book Walden describes a social conservation movement, forced spraying of a mixture of fuel oil and
experiment to live the simple legislative change, and, perhaps a chemical compound named DDT
life in tune with nature. It is most significantly, championed the (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane),
seen as an inspiration for the right of the public to question those in the vicinity of her small bird
environmentalist movement. in power and hold them to account. sanctuary in Michigan. The
morning after the spraying,
1949 A Sand County Almanac However, the author of this Huckins found several birds dead
by Aldo Leopold proposes a ground-breaking work was far from on her property and hoped that
deep ecology of people living the typical “eco-warrior”—a term Carson might know someone in
in harmony with the land. that was unheard of when the book Washington who could stop further
was first published. On the spraying. Carson was outraged and
AFTER contrary, Rachel Carson was a resolved to help. For more than a
1970 The US establishes quiet, scholarly woman, with decade she had been aware of
the Environmental Protection a masters degree in zoology and troubling incidents in which
Agency (EPA). 20 years’ service as an aquatic
biologist in the United States. Most
1989 Bill McKibben’s book of all, she was an exceptional
The End of Nature highlights writer, able to fuse scientific fact
the dangers of global warming. with compelling narrative.

2006 The documentary An Dying wildlife
Inconvenient Truth records Like many great and influential
former US vice president Al works, Silent Spring began in a very
Gore’s efforts to educate the personal way. In January 1958,
public about climate change. Carson’s friend Olga Huckins sent
her a letter that she had originally
tried to have published in the

Rachel Carson Born in 1907, Rachel Carson grew wrote books about marine
up on a farm in Pennsylvania, biology, most notably The Sea
where she developed a love of Around Us, which won the
nature. She won a scholarship to National Book Award, and was a
Pennsylvania College for Women national best seller. This success
and later gained a masters in enabled Carson to write full
zoology. Growing up in a land- time and she began work on
locked state, Carson dreamed of Silent Spring in 1958. In 1960,
the ocean; it became an enduring Carson was diagnosed with
passion, and she went to work as breast cancer; she died in 1964.
an aquatic biologist with the US
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Key works

Carson wrote and published 1941 Under the Sea Wind
many educational brochures and 1951 The Sea Around Us
eventually became the US Fish 1955 The Edge of the Sea
and Wildlife Service’s editor-in- 1962 Silent Spring
chief. From 1941 onward, she

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THE HUMAN FACTOR 245

See also: Human activity and biodiversity 92–95 ■ Animal ecology 106–113 ■ The ecosystem 134–137 ■ A holistic view of
Earth 210–211 ■ Man’s devastation of Earth 299 ■ Environmental ethics 306–307

indiscriminate spraying of DDT had used to kill a wide range of insects, DDT does not break
been killing wildlife. Carson swiftly due to its pervasive action as a down easily.
approached the editor of the New nerve poison. It was used during
Yorker, E.B. White, suggesting that World War II to control insects DDT is fat soluble
the magazine run a piece about the that destroyed vital food crops as and accumulates
growing concern around synthetic well as those which transmitted
pesticides and their effect on malaria, typhus, and dengue fever in the body fat
nontarget organisms. The editor to combat troops. of animals.
suggested that she write the article
herself. Reluctantly, Carson began DDT proved cheap to produce, DDT is a broad-spectrum
research on what she at first called highly effective, and at first poison, that affects not
“the poison book.” It went on to appeared to pose no threat to only the target pest
shake the world. human beings. After the war, with but other insects, fish,
the chemical in plentiful supply, its mammals, and birds.
The chemical future use in agriculture was an obvious DDT can travel long
Silent Spring’s impact needs to be next step. With its wide range of distances in the
seen against the backdrop of the apparently safe applications, it upper atmosphere.
time in which it was published. must have seemed like a panacea
Although academics and scientists to farmers, who happily sprayed it DDT causes
had already voiced concerns about on their crops, often without the lasting harm
synthetic pesticides, the public use of masks or protective clothing, throughout the
was oblivious to this issue. because they did not fully appreciate food chain.
the powerful toxicity of this
Synthesized pesticides had dangerous chemical compound.
been in use since the 1920s but had
advanced significantly during World After DDT came a whole host of
War II, powered by military-funded synthetic agrochemicals, including
research. During the 1950s, the aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, parathion,
popular notion was that they could malathion, captan, and 2,4-D. Used
solve the world’s problems of in conjunction with fertilizers made
famine and sickness by killing out of surplus nitrogen that was no
pests that destroyed crops and longer needed to make explosives,
transmitted disease. Advertising these chemicals enabled the ❯❯
campaigns of chemical giants such
as Union Carbide, DuPont, Mobil, No one since [Silent Spring]
and Shell spread this message to a would be able to
huge audience. Silent Spring aimed
to challenge the received wisdom, sell pollution as the
arguing that the so-called scientific necessary underside
progress enjoyed in post-war of progress so easily.
America would come at a huge H. Patricia Hynes
price for the environment.

The most notorious of the
pesticides, and the one most
associated with Silent Spring,
was DDT. It was first synthesized
in the late 19th century, but in
1939, Swiss chemist Paul Hermann
Müller realized that it could be

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246 THE LEGACY OF PESTICIDES

A persistent poison DDT biomagnification in the food chain

DDT (dichloro-diphenyl- TERTIARY 13.8 PPM
trichloroethane) belongs CONSUMERS
to a group of pesticides
called organochlorides. It SECONDARY 2.07 PPM
kills insects on contact by CONSUMERS 0.23 PPM
interfering with their nerve
impulses. The compound is fat PRIMARY
soluble and is deposited in the CONSUMERS
tissues of animals exposed to
it, either directly or by eating PRODUCERS 0.04 PPM
contaminated food. Repeated
exposure to DDT results in it Organisms higher in the food chain suffer from the impacts of DDT the most.
building up in the body fat and In producers, the poison only represents 0.04 ppm (parts per million), but the
becoming toxic. concentration increases with each step up the food chain. By the time tertiary
consumers are involved, levels are high enough to have toxic effects.
DDT also biomagnifies up
the food chain. Humans are
susceptible to poisoning from
regular exposure to DDT and
while the effects of small
amounts in the environment
are unknown, it has been
associated with cancer,
infertility, miscarriage, and
diabetes. It is now banned in
western countries, but studies
carried out by the US Center
for Disease Control in 2003–4
found DDT or its breakdown
product (DDE) in the blood of
99 percent of people tested.

A spray as indiscriminate intensification of farming. The stated that caution was essential
as DDT can upset the chemical age had dawned and by in the use of DDT because the true
economy of nature… 1952, there were almost 10,000 impact of the product was not yet
Ninety percent of all separate new pesticide products fully understood. The following
insects are good, and if registered with the US Department year, Fred Bishop, writing in the
of Agriculture (USDA). American Journal of Public Health,
they are killed, things go stressed that DDT must not be
out of kilter right away. Raising awareness allowed to get into foods or be
Edwin Way Teale Carson was not the first person to ingested by accident.
notice the harmful effects of DDT.
There were a few early dissenters, Various scientific studies and
including nature writer Edwin reports also raised concerns. For
Way Teale, who warned that a example, in 1945 the US government
spray with the indiscriminate published a study that found traces
impact of DDT could upset the of DDT in the milk of cows sprayed
balance of nature. In 1945, the with the chemical. It recommended
director of the US Fish and Wildlife that farmers use “safe alternative
Service (FWS), Dr Clarence Cottam, substitute insecticides” to control
flies and lice on cattle. Carson’s

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THE HUMAN FACTOR 247

They should Yorker—which had published a Man is part of nature
not be called serialization of the book. However, and his war against
insecticides Carson was prepared for this kind nature is inevitably a
but biocides. of response. She knew the book war against himself.
Rachel Carson would be controversial and seen
as threatening by the chemical Rachel Carson
longstanding position as editor-in- industry. Therefore, as well as
chief at the FWS until 1952 meant meticulously tracking and recording protect the environment. The
that she had access to a great many her research—which had been Committee released a report
of these reports; she found them to gained from government bodies, her entitled “The Uses of Pesticides,”
be very disturbing reading. contacts in research institutions, which broadly supported Carson’s
and other reputable sources—she book. Inspired by Carson, activists
Since the research was rather also had the manuscript reviewed continued to lobby government until
scattered and by no means by scientists and experts. in 1972, a decade after Silent Spring
accessible for the general reader, was first published, DDT was
Carson resolved to gather what When suing Carson did not banned in the US. Other countries
material she could find and present work, the chemical companies followed, although some retain it to
it in a way that the ordinary non- launched a campaign to bring her control mosquitoes.
scientist could understand. As she into disrepute, stooping to personal
made progress with the writing attacks such as depicting Carson The legacy of Silent Spring is
of Silent Spring, it became clear as a “hysterical” cat-loving woman, greater than the banning of DDT.
to her that she had a moral duty to who was ill-equipped to write It demonstrated to industry giants
make the information public. As such a book. The smear campaign and government the power of an
well as documenting the hazards backfired, merely increasing the educated public. ■
of indiscriminate pesticide use, sales of Silent Spring.
Carson dared to suggest that the
chemical companies were putting New policies
profits before people and that Notable scientists supported
the government might even be Carson’s findings and US President
colluding with them, knowingly John F. Kennedy invited her to
or otherwise, by failing to regulate testify before a Congressional
the industry effectively. Committee in 1963. She called for
new policies that would serve to
The response from the US
chemical industry was predictable.
At first, they tried to sue Carson,
her publishers, and The New

After DDT was banned in many
countries, Osprey populations—which
had declined significantly from the
1940s—began to recover. Ospreys had
eaten small animals affected by DDT.

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248

FTAROLOOPMNOGLDIITJSIOCCUOARLVNEAERCYYTION

ACID RAIN

IN CONTEXT T he effects of acid rain on water quality and life forms in the
stone were noticed as long Hubbard Brook drainage basin in
KEY FIGURE ago as the 17th century New Hampshire. They discovered
Gene Likens (1935–) in England, and in Norway in the that the rainfall there was unusually
19th century. However, it was not acidic. Acidity, as expressed by pH
BEFORE until American ecologist Gene (potential of hydrogen), ranges from
1667 The corrosive effect of Likens carried out in-depth studies 0 (most acidic) through 7 (neutral),
polluted city air on limestone in an area of rural New Hampshire to 14 (least acidic). Most fish and
and marble is noted by the that the phenomenon came to be other aquatic animals fare best in
English diarist John Evelyn. properly understood. water with pH values of 6–8, but
Likens found values of 4—too acid
1852 British chemist Robert From 1963 onward, freshwater for fish, frogs, and the insects they
Angus Smith argues that ecologist Likens and his team eat to survive. He set up monitoring
industrial pollution causes the studied the relationship between stations around New England,
acidic rainfall that damages which showed that acid rain and
buildings. He is the first person snowfall were widespread in the
to call it “acid rain.” densely populated and heavily
industrialized northeastern states.
AFTER Likens’s systematic work persuaded
1980 The US Congress the US government to introduce
passes the Acid Deposition laws to control emissions of the
Act, undertaking an extensive chemicals responsible for acid rain.
18-year research program into
acid rain. Effects of acid rain
When fossil fuels are burned in
1990 An amendment to the power stations and factories, sulfur
US Clean Air Act (passed dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides
originally in 1963) establishes spew out of their chimneys.
a system that is designed
to effectively control Acid rain had been wearing away
emissions of sulfur dioxide stonework—such as this statue in the
and nitrogen oxides. churchyard of St. Peter and St. Paul,
Krakow, Poland—for hundreds of years
before the phenomenon was understood.