Book Review
Nowhere Left to Go: How Climate Change is Driving Species to the Ends of the Earth, by Benjamin von Brackel, The Experiment, New York, 2022, 278 pp. ISBN: 978-1-61519-861-0 (Translated by Ayça Türkoğlu).
One of the nine components of the
scientifically based planetary boundaries framework* is the loss of biosphere integrity (biodiversity
losses and extinction).
Biodiversity is all the living
things on our planet – from the smallest bacteria to the largest plants and
animals…. Biodiversity on Earth is the result of four billion years of
evolution.
The Royal Society
Relatively recently, a new
scientific field of research has emerged ̶ movement
ecology or climate change-induced migration of flora and fauna. Placed within such
context, this book, originally published in Germany (2021) under the title Die Natur auf der Flucht, reports numerous
examples of how the biodiversity threshold of our world is being overstepped.
The author, environmental journalist, Benjamin von Brackel, who is based in Berlin and is also co-founder of the online magazine klimareporter°, chronicles shifting habitats of plants, animals, pests, and viruses in an authentic and compelling manner. Employing nomenclature, e.g., climate envelopes, colonization credit, priority effect, extinction debt, and biotic attrition, Nowhere Left to Go is a cumulative set of captivating stories and personal accounts of indigenous peoples, scientists, academics, foresters, fisherfolk, and other observers of some contemporary, significant, impactful, and at times unlikely, journeys made by certain species. Taken as a whole, these vignettes clarify a disturbing trend now afflicting millions of different plants and animals across the globe, the cause of which is rapid and extreme changes to the Earth’s climate.
Since species aren’t confined to
political borders, von Brackel delves into social impacts (to indigenous and
non-indigenous cultures and national economies) as well as human conflicts (involving
international treaties and historic industries, e.g., fishing) that have been
sparked by such habitat changes and losses. The book then closes with an
exploration into the process of (human) “assisted migration.” Sadly, such
interventions are destined to become a critical factor in efforts by humanity to
restore, protect, and maintain functioning ecosystems during the Anthropocene.
*Processes that regulate
stability and resilience of the Earth. Specifically, three (3) regulating
systems: climate, ozone layer, and ocean moderated by four (4) thresholds: biosphere
integrity, land, freshwater and nutrients. Plus novel entities and aerosols. See
also Book Review.
Environmental Geographer
Seattle, WA USA
OneBlueWorld.blogspot.com
