Extinction

(July 2015) American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree, by Susan Freinkel

(July 2015) American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree, by Susan Freinkel

"The American chestnut was one of America's most common, valued, and beloved trees—a "perfect tree" that ruled the forests from Georgia to Maine. But in the early twentieth century, an exotic plague swept through the chestnut forests with the force of a wildfire. Within forty years, the blight had killed close to four billion trees and left the species teetering on the brink of extinction."

(July 2014) 4. The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Elizabeth Kolbert

(July 2014) 4. The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Elizabeth Kolbert

"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."