Talking mammoths, timescales, and rewilding with "Welcome to Pleistocene Park" writer Ross Andersen
One of the most fascinating climate change stories of the year comes from Ross Anderson at The Atlantic. In "Welcome to Pleistocene Park", Ross writes about Pleistocene Park, a reserve in Siberia that aims to stave off climate change by attempting to recreate the conditions of the Pleistocene, turning the reserve into a grassland steppe ecosystem by importing large herbivores. The article also explores the possibilities of bringing back the woolly mammoth, specifically for a place like Pleistocene park.
Read the full article at The Atlantic - https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/pleistocene-park/517779/
Ross Anderson joins hosts Jacquelyn Gill and Andy Revkin for a discussion on this compelling project and related issues like long timescales, our understanding of the anthropocene, the ethics of rewilding, and the culture of elephants.
Check out the recommended reading list below:
Pop-up forests:
https://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/warming-arctic-tundra-producing-pop-up-forests/
Elephant memories: https://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/on-elephants-memories-human-forgetfulness-and-disaster/
Links to IIASA’s 2300 projections are here (with context on long time scales):
https://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/14/three-long-views-of-life-with-rising-seas/
We've staved off next ice age (Jim Hansen in 03 and many others since):
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/11/science/when-will-the-next-ice-age-begin.html
Jacquelyn's blog on mammoth cloning: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/cloning-woolly-mammoths-its-the-ecology-stupid/
Stephen Jay Gould's Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle: https://www.amazon.com/Times-Arrow-Cycle-Geological-Jerusalem-Harvard/dp/0674891996
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Thumbnail image courtesy of Gregory "Slobirdr" Smith https://www.flickr.com/photos/slobirdr/
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