the former head of Yale’s School of Forestry writes in the…
““the former head of Yale’s School of Forestry writes in the introduction to his latest book, The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Half the world’s tropical and temperate forests are now gone. The rate of deforestation in the tropics continues at about an acre a second. About half the wetlands and a third of the mangroves are gone. An estimated ninety percent of the large predator fish are gone, and 75 percent of marine fisheries are now over-fished or fished to capacity. Twenty percent of the corals are gone and another twenty percent severely threatened. Species are disappearing at rates about a thousand times faster than normal. The planet has not seen such a spasm of extinction in sixty-five million years, since the dinosaurs disappeared.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Human activity is causing unprecedented loss of forests, wetlands, marine life, and biodiversity.
In simple terms: Human actions destroy ecosystems.
Act to protect nature now.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- policy advocacy
- reforestation projects
- sustainable fishing
- wetland restoration
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What can you change in your lifestyle?
- How can communities demand stronger environmental policies?
Economic pressures often outweigh conservation efforts.