Ice Age Extinctions, a New Theory
Ice Age Extinctions, a New Theory

Author: John Stojanowski

Publisher:

Published: 2016-02-23

Total Pages: 64

ISBN-13: 9780981922157

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For at least the past century scientists have been trying to explain the extinction of megafauna during the past Ice Ages. Mammoths, mastodons, giant ground sloths, cave bears and many other mammals disappeared throughout the Pleistocene Epoch. The last of these giant animals became extinct around 10-12 thousand years ago. Human hunting and climate change are the competing extinction hypotheses but neither has consistently emerged as the dominant explanation. Is there a third contender that is better able to explain the extinctions? Yes there is and this book describes the theory that not only can explain the megafauna extinctions but the extinctions of the Neanderthals, the Hobbit and the cause of geomagnetic reversals of the Earth. The coincidence of extinction periods, flood basalt volcanic eruption and geomagnetic reversals during the Pleistocene Epoch is well documented. The author's theory described in this book is the only one that can explain this coincidence.

Once and Future Giants
Once and Future Giants

Author: Sharon Levy

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011-03-22

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 0199831548

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Until about 13,000 years ago, North America was home to a menagerie of massive mammals. Mammoths, camels, and lions walked the ground that has become Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles and foraged on the marsh land now buried beneath Chicago's streets. Then, just as the first humans reached the Americas, these Ice Age giants vanished forever. In Once and Future Giants, science writer Sharon Levy digs through the evidence surrounding Pleistocene large animal ("megafauna") extinction events worldwide, showing that understanding this history--and our part in it--is crucial for protecting the elephants, polar bears, and other great creatures at risk today. These surviving relatives of the Ice Age beasts now face the threat of another great die-off, as our species usurps the planet's last wild places while driving a warming trend more extreme than any in mammalian history. Deftly navigating competing theories and emerging evidence, Once and Future Giants examines the extent of human influence on megafauna extinctions past and present, and explores innovative conservation efforts around the globe. The key to modern-day conservation, Levy suggests, may lie fossilized right under our feet.

Twilight of the Mammoths
Twilight of the Mammoths

Author: Paul S. Martin

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2007-05-08

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 0520252438

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"Paul S. Martin's innovative ideas on late quaternary extinctions and wildlife restoration have fueled one of science's most stimulating recent debates. He expounds them vividly here, and defends them eloquently. A must-read."—David Rains Wallace, author of Beasts of Eden "This is a marvelous read, by a giant in American prehistory, about one of the greatest mysteries in the earth sciences."—Tim Flannery, author of The Eternal Frontier "Whether or not you agree with Paul Martin, he has shaped how we think about our Pleistocene ancestors and their role in transforming this planet."—Ross D. E. MacPhee, Curator of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History

End of the Megafauna: The Fate of the World's Hugest, Fiercest, and Strangest Animals
End of the Megafauna: The Fate of the World's Hugest, Fiercest, and Strangest Animals

Author: Ross D E MacPhee

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2018-11-13

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 0393249301

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The fascinating lives and puzzling demise of some of the largest animals on earth. Until a few thousand years ago, creatures that could have been from a sci-fi thriller—including gorilla-sized lemurs, 500-pound birds, and crocodiles that weighed a ton or more—roamed the earth. These great beasts, or “megafauna,” lived on every habitable continent and on many islands. With a handful of exceptions, all are now gone. What caused the disappearance of these prehistoric behemoths? No one event can be pinpointed as a specific cause, but several factors may have played a role. Paleomammalogist Ross D. E. MacPhee explores them all, examining the leading extinction theories, weighing the evidence, and presenting his own conclusions. He shows how theories of human overhunting and catastrophic climate change fail to account for critical features of these extinctions, and how new thinking is needed to elucidate these mysterious losses. Along the way, we learn how time is determined in earth history; how DNA is used to explain the genomics and phylogenetic history of megafauna—and how synthetic biology and genetic engineering may be able to reintroduce these giants of the past. Until then, gorgeous four-color illustrations by Peter Schouten re-create these megabeasts here in vivid detail.

Breaking the Ice Age Myth
Breaking the Ice Age Myth

Author: Beata Smith

Publisher:

Published: 2009-09

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 9781414113241

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The ice age, glaciers, extinction. For years prominent creation science ministries have promoted these as intertwined facts following the great flood of Noah's time. But is the ice age really factual? Is it both biblically and historically accurate? Or is it a perpetuated myth? What does the evidence really say? With only one venerated theory being touted, distinguishing between fact and myth can be difficult. Breaking the Ice Age Myth exposes the weaknesses of the post-flood ice age theory by exploring post-flood volcanism, precipitation, and climate change, as well as ice core records, fossils, frozen remains, caves, ancient maps, sunken cities, geologic evidence, early history, and the Bible. Supplemented with articles by creation scientist Douglas Cox and historical commentator Vern Crisler, this book challenges conventional wisdom and provides solid answers to the ice age mystery. While educating her children about climate change after the flood, Smith investigated the claims of the post-flood ice age theory. Her desire to verify scientific conclusions and teach her children with discernment resulted in this book. Breaking the Ice Age Myth sheds new light on truths that some creation scientists would rather we forget.

The Sixth Extinction
The Sixth Extinction

Author: Elizabeth Kolbert

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Published: 2014-02-11

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0805099794

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ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR A major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In The Sixth Extinction, two-time winner of the National Magazine Award and New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert draws on the work of scores of researchers in half a dozen disciplines, accompanying many of them into the field: geologists who study deep ocean cores, botanists who follow the tree line as it climbs up the Andes, marine biologists who dive off the Great Barrier Reef. She introduces us to a dozen species, some already gone, others facing extinction, including the Panamian golden frog, staghorn coral, the great auk, and the Sumatran rhino. Through these stories, Kolbert provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in revolutionary Paris up through the present day. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy; as Kolbert observes, it compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.

The Call of Distant Mammoths
The Call of Distant Mammoths

Author: Peter D. Ward

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1461219469

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To help us understand what happened during the Ice Age, Peter Ward takes us on a tour of other mass extinctions through earth's history. He presents a compelling account of the great comet crash that killed off the dinosaurs, and describes other extinctions that were even more extensive. In so doing, he introduces us to a profound paradigm shift now taking place in paleontology: rather than arising from the gradual workings of everyday forces, all mass extinctions are due to unique, catastrophic events. Written with an irresistible combination of passion and expertise, The Call of Distant Mammoths is an engaging exploration of the history of life and the importance of humanity as an evolutionary force. "Carefully argued...an intelligent and compelling book."-THE OLYMPIAN, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON "Ward deftly summarizes a large body of scientific literature, simplifying complex ideas for the general reader without condescension."-PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "Did the overkill really happen?...Peter Ward deftly summarizes the arguments...Ward tells (the story) well."-THE NEW SCIENTIST

After the Ice Age
After the Ice Age

Author: E.C. Pielou

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2008-04-15

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 0226668096

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The fascinating story of how a harsh terrain that resembled modern Antarctica has been transformed gradually into the forests, grasslands, and wetlands we know today.

Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction
Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction

Author: George R. McGhee Jr.

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2018-08-07

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 0231543387

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Picture a world of dog-sized scorpions and millipedes as long as a car; tropical rainforests with trees towering over 150 feet into the sky and a giant polar continent five times larger than Antarctica. That world was not imaginary; it was the earth more than 300 million years ago in the Carboniferous period of the Paleozoic era. In Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction, George R. McGhee Jr. explores that ancient world, explaining its origins; its downfall in the end-Permian mass extinction, the greatest biodiversity crisis to occur since the evolution of animal life on Earth; and how its legacies still affect us today. McGhee investigates the consequences of the Late Paleozoic ice age in this comprehensive portrait of the effects of ancient climate change on global ecology. Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction examines the climatic conditions that allowed for the evolution of gigantic animals and the formation of the largest tropical rainforests ever to exist, which in time turned into the coal that made the industrial revolution possible—and fuels the engine of contemporary anthropogenic climate change. Exploring the strange and fascinating flora and fauna of the Late Paleozoic ice age world, McGhee focuses his analysis on the forces that brought this world to an abrupt and violent end. Synthesizing decades of research and new discoveries, this comprehensive book provides a wealth of insights into past and present extinction events and climate change.