Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature is Thriving in an Age of Extinction

摘要

Chris Thomas' work explores species changes globally and in various ecosystems since the inception of the Anthropocene. In his work, Thomas acknowledges that we are in a period of rapid species extinction. But Thomas looks at how humans are involved in the creation of new species and how humans are involved in altering the biodiversity of our planet and of ecosystems within our biosphere. In this review, I will first outline seven empirical conclusions of Parts I-lll of his work that pose challenges to the environmental ethics community more narrowly and the environmental studies community more broadly, some of which have been discussed to some extent in the literature previously, but some of which are new. I will then explain the challenges posed in light of these conclusions. (I will ignore Part IV of his book which argues for some normative conclusions - Thomas clearly steps outside of his professional capacity as a biologist and attempts to do environmental ethics, and it shows that he is not a relevant expert in the latter field.).