Extinction Level

About

Planet Earth might being entering the end of its current anthropocene, the end of an era in the planet’s ‘deep time’ with multiple extinction events causing a cascade of small, sometime unnoticeable calamities that may lead to the very future of humanity being threatened. This, at least, is the narrative that’s being presented around the climate crisis, and it is perhaps a little catastrophic for many people to process. The scientitic reality is that extinction events have happened throughout earth’s history and the ecosphere, as a whole, has somehow survived. Pairing award-winning authors with specialists on extinction from across multiple disciplines, this book will explore possible ways we, as humans, might respond to these changes; whether it’s grassroots activism like tacon substitution (illegally inserting species into habitats to functionally replace others that have been lost), or acts of preservation that might turn extinction events into mere ‘hibernation’ ones, these stories demonstrate humanity doesn’t have to take this lying down.

Press

'Sci-fi gold' - New Scientist

'Highly engaging and fascinating... this thought-provoking collection reminded me why I used to like science fiction so much... Eventually, one hopes, science fiction will regain its rightful place - as once again stranger than science.' - The Guardian