Day 239 2/19/14: The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History

9780805092998_custom-ce72d9f30660107dc01a119cafb41a38ac7afe31-s2-c85“Amphibians have the dubious distinction of being the world’s most endangered class of animals,” Elizabeth Kolbert writes. “But also heading toward extinction are one-third of all reef-building corals, a third of all fresh-water mollusks, a third of sharks and rays, a quarter of all mammals, a fifth of all reptiles and sixth of all birds.”

I really enjoyed (if enjoy is the word for such a book) “Field Notes from a Catastrophe,” Elizabeth Kolbert’s book on climate change. I am eager to read her latest work “The Sixth Extinction.”  Check out Kolbert’s recent interview  with Terry Gross in which she discusses taxi-cab yellow frogs, ocean acidification, disappearing bats and the latest science on the state of the planet.