--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Alroy has described the megafauna…" description: "\"“Alroy has described the megafauna extinction as a \"geologically instantaneous ecological catastrophe too gradual to be perceived by the people who unl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_extinction_alroy-has-described-the-megafauna-extinc_2477121.png" --- # Alroy has described the megafauna extinction as a… ![“Alroy has described the megafauna extinction as a "geologically instantaneous ecological catastrophe too gradual to be perceived by the people who unleashed it” quote by Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_extinction_alroy-has-described-the-megafauna-extinc_2477121.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_extinction_alroy-has-described-the-megafauna-extinc_2477121.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_extinction_alroy-has-described-the-megafauna-extinc_2477121.png) > ““Alroy has described the megafauna extinction as a "geologically instantaneous ecological catastrophe too gradual to be perceived by the people who unleashed it”” [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes the rapid, catastrophic ecological impact of megafauna loss, unnoticed by contemporaries. **In simple terms:** Large ecological changes can happen instantly yet go unnoticed. Key Takeaway Recognize hidden environmental shifts early. Themes environment history extinction Mood urgent reflective Type scientific journalistic When to use this quote - conservation policy - archaeological research - climate change mitigation Key Concepts Ecology anthropocene human impact Questions to Reflect On - How can we detect silent ecological crises? - What responsibilities do we have for past extinctions? A Different Perspective Human actions often have delayed, unseen consequences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Catastrophe Gradual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catastrophe-gradual-823838/) [Described Megafauna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/described-megafauna-823837/) [Ecological Catastrophe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecological-catastrophe-823835/) [Extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinction/) [Extinction Geologically](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinction-geologically-823836/) [Megafauna Extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/megafauna-extinction-823834/) ## Related quotes > [“Its demise was part of a wave of disappearances that has come to be known as the megafauna extinction. This wave coincided with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/its-demise-was-part-of-a-wave-of-disappearances-that-has-come-to-be/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“The Antropocene is usually said to have begun with the industrial revolution, or perhaps even later, with the explosive growth in population that followed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/the-antropocene-is-usually-said-to-have-begun-with-the-industrial/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [As it turns out, the ecological catastrophe Kirk feared that would be the consequence of our impiety appears not to be one of radically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-dreher/as-it-turns-out-the-ecological-catastrophe-kirk-feared-that-would-be/) [Rod Dreher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-dreher/) > [“In ordinary times—times here understood to mean whole geologic epochs—extinction takes place only very rarely, more rarely even than speciation, and it occurs at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/in-ordinary-times-times-here-understood-to-mean-whole-geologic-epochs/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“A sign in the Hall of Biodiversity offers a quote from the Stanford ecologist Paul Ehrlich: IN PUSHING OTHER SPECIES TO EXTINCTION, HUMANITY IS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/a-sign-in-the-hall-of-biodiversity-offers-a-quote-from-the-stanford/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“Darwin’s familiarity with human-caused extinction is also clear from On the Origin of Species. In one of the many passages in which he heaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/darwin-s-familiarity-with-human-caused-extinction-is-also-clear-from/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“During a mass extinction, vast swathes of the tree are cut short, as if attacked by crazed, axe-wielding madmen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/during-a-mass-extinction-vast-swathes-of-the-tree-are-cut-short-as-if/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [If you're a conservation biologist in many fields, you're seeing your study subject disappear. People are in the position where they're chronicling radical decline,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/if-you-re-a-conservation-biologist-in-many-fields-you-re-seeing-your/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“Birds were also hard-hit; perhaps three-quarters of all bird families, perhaps more, went extinct.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/birds-were-also-hard-hit-perhaps-three-quarters-of-all-bird-families/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“the center of the American Museum of Natural History’s Hall of Biodiversity, there’s an exhibit embedded in the floor. 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I wonder whether current human efforts are relevant to its sustainability.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/human-race-had-never-planned-to-show-up-in-this-universe-i-wonder/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [The human heart is not yet so corroded that it can read off the extinction of these two men without a shock to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/the-human-heart-is-not-yet-so-corroded-that-it-can-read-off-the/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [“You go into extinction by being obsessed about becoming something else and then travelling in the wrong car while your real self keeps waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/you-go-into-extinction-by-being-obsessed-about-becoming-something/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) ## More by Elizabeth Kolbert > [“The size of the greenhouse forcing is estimated, at this point, to be 2.5 w/m2. A miniature Christmas light gives off about four tenths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/the-size-of-the-greenhouse-forcing-is-estimated-at-this-point-to-be-2/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [You've got to do everything, everything's got to be pointing in the same direction and you've got to really turn this whole economic engine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/you-ve-got-to-do-everything-everything-s-got-to-be-pointing-in-the/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [Well in the scientific there is virtually no debate over certain things. For example, that we are changing the world. Humans are changing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/well-in-the-scientific-there-is-virtually-no-debate-over-certain/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [Humans will eventually become extinct. People treat that as a radical thing to say. But the fossil record shows us that everything eventually becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/humans-will-eventually-become-extinct-people-treat-that-as-a-radical/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“A sign in the Hall of Biodiversity offers a quote from the Stanford ecologist Paul Ehrlich: IN PUSHING OTHER SPECIES TO EXTINCTION, HUMANITY IS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/a-sign-in-the-hall-of-biodiversity-offers-a-quote-from-the-stanford/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [We have all this Paleolithic art that suggests that our ancestors really venerated animals and that they depended on wild animals to survive -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/we-have-all-this-paleolithic-art-that-suggests-that-our-ancestors/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“Crutzen wrote up his idea in a short essay, “Geology of Mankind,” that ran in Nature. “It seems appropriate to assign the term ‘Anthropocene’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/crutzen-wrote-up-his-idea-in-a-short-essay-geology-of-mankind-that/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“Modern humans arrived in Europe around forty thousand years ago, and again and again, the archaeological record shows, as soon as they made their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/modern-humans-arrived-in-europe-around-forty-thousand-years-ago-and/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [It seems that the Neanderthal DNA that modern Europeans and Asians (and also Native Americans and basically all non-African people) are carrying around is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/it-seems-that-the-neanderthal-dna-that-modern-europeans-and-asians/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [What are the Chinese doing, what are we doing, what are - so we need, both the developed world and the developing world, really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/what-are-the-chinese-doing-what-are-we-doing-what-are-so-we-need-both/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“As the effects of global warming become more and more difficult to ignore, will we react by finally fashioning a global response? Or will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/as-the-effects-of-global-warming-become-more-and-more-difficult-to/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [As best as can be determined, the world is now warmer than it has been at any point in the last two millennia, and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/as-best-as-can-be-determined-the-world-is-now-warmer-than-it-has-been/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [I traveled really to amazing places. I went to the Great Barrier Reef, I went to the Amazon, I went to the Andes, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/i-traveled-really-to-amazing-places-i-went-to-the-great-barrier-reef/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“At the Biesbosch nature center, I met up with a water-ministry official named Eelke Turkstra. Turkstra runs a program called Ruimte voor de Rivier…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/at-the-biesbosch-nature-center-i-met-up-with-a-water-ministry/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [“Darwin’s familiarity with human-caused extinction is also clear from On the Origin of Species. In one of the many passages in which he heaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/darwin-s-familiarity-with-human-caused-extinction-is-also-clear-from/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) [Explore all 90 Elizabeth Kolbert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) ## More Extinction quotes > [“You go into extinction by being obsessed about becoming something else and then travelling in the wrong car while your real self keeps waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/you-go-into-extinction-by-being-obsessed-about-becoming-something/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“Human race had never planned to show up in this universe. I wonder whether current human efforts are relevant to its sustainability.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/human-race-had-never-planned-to-show-up-in-this-universe-i-wonder/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [The human heart is not yet so corroded that it can read off the extinction of these two men without a shock to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/the-human-heart-is-not-yet-so-corroded-that-it-can-read-off-the/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [The extinction of Homo Sapiens would mean survival for millions, if not billions, of Earth-dwelling species. Phasing out the human race will solve every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/the-extinction-of-homo-sapiens-would-mean-survival-for-millions-if/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [For the complete extinction of the state, complete Communism is necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/for-the-complete-extinction-of-the-state-complete-communism-is/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [Plague has hung over human history. The biggest human extinction was after 1492 in North and South America when the mortality rate was 95…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/plague-has-hung-over-human-history-the-biggest-human-extinction-was/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Its haunting to realize that half of the languages of the world are teetering on the brink of extinction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/its-haunting-to-realize-that-half-of-the-languages-of-the-world-are/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [Human extinction in our children's lifetime, it should be your top news item every single day, what's happening, you should be holding politicians to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-bradbrook/human-extinction-in-our-children-s-lifetime-it-should-be-your-top/) [Gail Bradbrook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-bradbrook/) > [ Now they \[the Powers\] have started the aggression, and the extinction of our nation is imminent. If we just fold our arms and yield… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/empress-dowager-cixi/now-they-the-powers-have-started-the-aggression-and-the-extinction-of/) [Empress Dowager Cixi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/empress-dowager-cixi/) > [“To return to nature is to embrace extinction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-x/to-return-to-nature-is-to-embrace-extinction/) [Mark X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-x/) > [We need to take a leaf out of natures book. Any species that clones itself will eventually be attacked by a parasite, leading to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-suarez/we-need-to-take-a-leaf-out-of-natures-book-any-species-that-clones/) [Daniel Suarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-suarez/) > [“Without death there is little innovation. Extinction - death of a species - is part and parcel of evolutionary change. In the absence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-fortey/without-death-there-is-little-innovation-extinction-death-of-a/) [Richard Fortey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-fortey/) > [In the 24 hours since this time yesterday, over 200,000 acres of rainforest have been destroyed in our world. Fully 13 million tons of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-hartmann/in-the-24-hours-since-this-time-yesterday-over-200-000-acres-of/) [Thom Hartmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-hartmann/) > [We find ourselves heading fully into an era of mass extinction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/severn-cullis-suzuki/we-find-ourselves-heading-fully-into-an-era-of-mass-extinction/) [Severn Cullis-Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/severn-cullis-suzuki/) [Browse all 581 Extinction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Alroy has described the megafauna extinction as a \"geologically instantaneous ecological catastrophe too gradual to be perceived by the people who unleashed it”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Kolbert" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/alroy-has-described-the-megafauna-extinction-as-a-geologically/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Extinction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/alroy-has-described-the-megafauna-extinction-as-a-geologically/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_extinction_alroy-has-described-the-megafauna-extinc_2477121.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_extinction_alroy-has-described-the-megafauna-extinc_2477121.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_extinction_alroy-has-described-the-megafauna-extinc_2477121.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Alroy has described the megafauna extinction as a \"geologically instantaneous ecological catastrophe too…” — Elizabeth Kolbert", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Elizabeth Kolbert", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Alroy has described the megafauna extinction...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/alroy-has-described-the-megafauna-extinction-as-a-geologically/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/alroy-has-described-the-megafauna-extinction-as-a-geologically/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```