by Tim Flannery
5 Swing, J. T. 2003. ‘What Future for the Oceans?’, Foreign Affairs, September–October, 2003, pp. 139–52.
6 Ibid.
7 Woodford, J., ‘Great? Barrier Reef’, Australian Geographic 76, 2004, pp. 37–55.
8 Hughes, T. P. et al, ‘Climate Change, Human Impacts, and the Resilience of Coral Reefs’, Science, Vol. 301, 2003, pp. 929–33.
9 Woodford, J., ‘Great? Barrier Reef’, op cit.
10 Munday, P. L., ‘Habitat Loss, Resource Specialisation, and Extinction on Coral Reefs’, Global Change Biology, Vol. 10, 2004, pp. 1642–47.
11 Rowan, B., ‘Thermal Adaptation in Coral Reef Symbionts’, Nature, Vol. 430, 2004, p. 742.
12 Baker, A. C. et al, ‘Corals’ Adaptive Response to Climate Change, Nature, Vol. 430, 2004, p. 741.
13 Woodford, J., ‘Great? Barrier Reef’, op cit.
A WARNING FROM THE GOLDEN TOAD
1 Crump, M., In Search of the Golden Frog, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1998.
2 Richards, S. J., Alford, R. A. & Bradfield, K. S., ‘The Great Frog Decline in Australasia: Causes, Developments, and Conservation’, in Merrick, J. R. et al, Evolution and Biography of Australasian Vertebrates, Australian Scientific Publishers, Sydney, 2003.
3 Stokstad, E., ‘Global Survey Documents Puzzling Decline of Amphibians’, Science, Vol. 306, 2004, p. 391.
4 Ibid.
5 Kiesecker, J. M., Blaustein, A. R. & Belden, K., ‘Complex Causes of Amphibian Population Declines’, Nature, Vol. 410, 2001, pp. 681–84.
6 Pounds, A. J., ‘Climate and Amphibian Declines’, Nature, Vol. 410, 2001, pp. 639–40.
PLAYING AT CANUTE
1 Swing, J. T., ‘What Future for the Oceans?’, Foreign Affairs, September–October 2003, pp. 139–52.
2 Victor, D. G., Climate Change: Debating America’s Policy Options, Council on Foreign Relations/Brookings Institute Press, New York, 2004.
3 Clarke, T., ‘Record Melt in Arctic and Greenland’, Nature News, December 2002.
4 Toniazzo, T., Gregory, J. M. & Huybrechts, P., ‘Climatic Impact of a Greenland Deglaciation and Its Possible Irreversibility’, Journal of Climate, Vol. 17, 2004, pp. 21–33.
5 Weart, S. R., The Discovery of Global Warming: New Histories of Science, Technology and Medicine, Harvard University Press, Massachusetts, 2003.
6 Stouffer, R. J., ‘Time Scales of Climate Response’, Journal of Climate, Vol. 17, 2004, pp. 209–17
7 Appenzeller, T. & Dimick, D. R. et al, ‘The Heat Is On’, National Geographic, Vol. 206, 2004, pp. 2–75.
8 Rignot, E., Rivera, A. & Cassasa, G., ‘Contribution of the Patagonia Icefields of South America to Sea Level Rise’, Science, Vol. 302, 2003, pp. 434–37.
9 Shepherd, A. et al, ‘Larsen Ice Shelf has Progressively Thinned’. Science, Vol. 302, 2003, pp. 856–58.
10 Ibid.
11 Kaiser, J., ‘Warmer Ocean Could Threaten Antarctic Ice Shelves’, Science, Vol. 302, 2003, p. 759.
12 Thomas, R. et al, ‘Accelerated Sea-level Rise from West Antarctica’, Science, Vol. 306, 2004, pp. 255–58.
13 Siegert, M. J. et al, ‘The Eurasian Arctic during the Last Ice Age’, American Scientist, Vol. 90, 2002, pp. 32–39.
14 Bentley, C. R., ‘Ice on the Fast Track’, Nature, Vol. 394, 1998, p. 21.
15 Bindschadler, R. A. et al, ‘Tidally Controlled Stick-slip Discharge of a West Antarctic Ice Stream’, Science, Vol. 301, 2003, pp. 1087–89.
16 Overpeck, J., Cole, J. & Bartlein, P., ‘A “Palaeoperspective” on Climate Variability and Change’, in Lovejoy, T. E. & Hannah, L. (eds), Climate Change and Biodiversity, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2005.
A FRESH LOOK AT EARTH
1 Cartigny, P., Harris, J. W. and Javoy, M., ‘Eclogitic, Peridotitic and Metamorphic Diamonds and the Problem of Carbon Recycling—the Case of Orapa (Botswana)’, in Proceedings of the 7th International Kimberlite Conference, Red Roof Design, Cape Town, 1: 117–24, 1998.
2 Bennett, V. ‘Deep Time, Deep Earth: The Formation, Early History, and Large Scale Geochemical Evolution of the Earth’, in From Stars to Brains, proceedings of a multi-disciplinary conference in honour of Paul Davies, Manning Clark House, Canberra, Program & Abstracts, 2006, p. 29.
3 King James Bible, Genesis 3:19.
4 Rosing, M. T. et al, ‘Consequences of the Rise of Continents—an Essay on the Geologic Photosynthesis’, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Vol. 232, 2006, pp. 99–113.
5 Ibid.
6 Nouvian, C., The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss, University of Chicago Press, 2007.
MAN THE DISRUPTER
1 Thomas, E. M., The Hidden Life of Deer, HarperCollins, New York, 2009, pp. 170–71.
2 Wells, S., The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey, Princeton University Press, 2002.
3 Ibid, pp. 40–41.
4 Wells, S., The Journey of Man, op cit.
5 Ibid.
EVOLUTION’S MOTIVE FORCE
1 Darwin, F., The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Vol. 8, The Echo Library, Teddington, Middlesex, 2007, p. 175.
2 Darwin, C., The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms, with Observations on Their Habits, John Murray, London, 1881.
3 Ibid, p. 30.
4 Shermer, M., In Darwin’s Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace, Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 118.
5 Bell, T., Anniversary Meeting, Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, London, 156: viii, 1859.
6 Darwin, C., ‘On the Variation of Organic Beings in a State of Nature; on the Natural Means of Selection; on the Comparison of Domestic Races and True Species’, extract from unpublished Work on Species, read to the Linnean Society, London, 1 July 1858.
7 Wollaston, A. F. R., Life of Alfred Newton: Late Professor of Comparative Anatomy, Cambridge University 1866–1907, Dutton, New York, 1921, pp. 118–20.
8 Green, V. H. H., A New History of Christianity, Continuum, New York, 1996, p. 231.
9 Spencer, H., The Principles of Biology (Vol. 1), University Press of the Pacific, Honolulu, 1864, pp. 444–74.
10 Flannery, D., ‘Global Darwin: Ideas Blurred in Early Eastern Translations’, Nature, 462: 984, 2009.
11 Darwin, C., ‘On the Variation of Organic Beings in a State of Nature; on the Natural Means of Selection; on the Comparison of Domestic Races and True Species’, op. cit.
12 Thatcher, M., Interview, Woman’s Own Magazine, 31 October 1987, pp. 8–10.
13 Darwin, C., ‘Recollections of the Development of My Mind and Character (1876–1881)’, in Secord, J. A. (ed.), Charles Darwin: Evolutionary Writings, Oxford World Classics, 2009, p. 397.
WHAT LIES ON THE OTHER SIDE?
1 Jowit, J., ‘British Campaigner Urges UN to Accept “Ecocide” as International Crime’, Guardian, 9 April 2010.
2 Leopold, A., Round River, Oxford University Press, 1972, p. 165.
3 Griffiths, J., Wild: An Elemental Journey, Hamish Hamilton, London, 2007.
4 Kizilova, A., ‘Good Fence for Future Mammoth Steppes’, Russia IC, 21 January 2007, www.russia-ic.com/education_science/science/breakthrough/357
5 Green, R. E., et al, ‘A Complete Neandertal Mitochondrial Genome Sequence Determined by High-throughput Sequencing’, Cell, Vol. 134, No. 3, 2008, pp. 416–26. Miller et al, ‘The Mitochondrial Genome Sequence for the Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus)’, Genome Research, Vol. 19, 2009, pp. 213–20.
6 Davies, P., The Eerie Silence: Are We Alone in the Universe?, Penguin, London, 2010, pp. 117–26.
HOW YOU CONSIST OF TRILLIONS OF TINY MACHINES
1 Cartwright, J., ‘Quantized Vibrations Are Essential to Photosynthesis, Say Physicists’, physicsworld.com, 22 January 2014.
2 Noffke, N., Christian, D., Wacey, D. and Hazan, R. M., ‘A Microbial Ecosystem in an Ancient Sabkha of the 3.49 GA Pilbara, Western Australia, and Comparison with Mesoarchean, Neoproterozoic and Phanerozoic Examples’, GSA Annual Meeting, Nov
ember 2012.
3 ‘Billions of Years Ago, Microbes Were Key in Developing Modern Nitrogen Cycle’, (e) Science News, 19 February 2009.
THE POWER OF KELP
1 Ranganathan, J., ‘18 Infographics Illustrate the Global Food Challenge’, GreenBiz, 3 January 2014, https://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/01/03/18-graphics-illustrate-global-food-challenge
2 Alexandratos, N., et al, World Agriculture: Towards 2030/2050, interim report, Global Perspective Studies Unit, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, June 2006, http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/esag/docs/Interim_report_AT2050web.pdf
3 Saunois, M. et al, ‘The Growing Role of Methane in Anthropogenic Climate Change’, Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 11, No. 12, IOP Science, 12 December 2016, http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/12/120207
4 ‘Unsustainable Fishing’, WWF Global, http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/problems/problems_fishing/
5 Günther, R. T., ‘The Oyster Culture of the Ancient Romans’, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Vol. 4, No. 4, Cambridge Core, 1 May 2009, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-themarine-biological-association-of-the-united-kingdom/article/oyster-culture-of-the-ancient-romans/EDB5C165BB46EDD3FA22C95C855325EB
6 ‘The Challenge of Sustainable Production’, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, http://www.fao.org/focus/e/fisheries/challeng.htm
7 ‘3D Ocean Farming: the Least Deadliest Catch’, http://greenwave.org/3d-oceanfarming/
8 ‘Bren Smith: Making Kelp Our New Hope’, Climate Heroes, http://climateheroes.org/portfolio-item/bren-smith-making-kelp-ocean-farming-our-new-hope/
9 Benemann, J., ‘History of US Department of Energy Macroalgae Projects—Major Conclusions’, Washington DC, 11 February 2016, http://arpa-e.energy.gov/sites/default/files/Benemann%20ARPA-E%20MacroAlgae%20US%20DOE%20History%20Feb10%20FINAL.pdf
10 N’Yeurt, A., et al, ‘Negative Carbon Via Ocean Afforestation’, Process Safety and Environmental Protection, Vol. 90, November 2012, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259892834_Negative_Carbon_Via_Ocean_Afforestation
11 Ibid.
12 Kelly, Maeve and Symon Dworjanyn, The Potential of Marine Biomass for Anaerobic Biogas Production. Marine Estate Research Report, Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban, 2008, https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/media/5765/marine_biomass_anaerobic_biogas.pdf
13 Schiel, D. and Foster, M., The Biology and Ecology of Giant Kelp Forests, University of California Press, California, 2014.
14 Hoek, C., et al, Algae: An Introduction to Phycology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995.
15 Ibid.
16 Kelly, M. and Dworjanyn, S., The Potential of MarineBiomass for Anaerobic Biogas Production, Marine Estate Research Report, Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban, 2008, https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/media/5765/marine_biomass_anaerobic_biogas.pdf
17 Johnson, K., et al, ‘Nitrate Supply from Deep to Near-Surface Waters of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre’, Nature, Vol. 465, 7300, 24 June 2010, http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v465/n7301/full/nature09170.html
18 Moore, C. J., et al, ‘A Comparison of Plastic and Plankton in the North Pacific Central Gyre’, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Vol. 42, No. 12, 2001, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X0100114X
19 Slat, B., ‘How the Oceans Can Clean Themselves’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROW9F-c0kIQ
20 Duarte, C. M., et al, ‘Can Seaweed Farming Play a Role in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation?’, Frontiers in Marine Science, 12 April 2017, http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2017.00100/full
21 Ibid.
22 Dierssen, H. M., et al, ‘Potential Export of Unattached Benthic Macroalgae to the Deep Sea through Wind-Driven Langmuir Circulation’, Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 36, 18 February 2009, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2008GL036188/pdf
23 Krause-Jansen, Dorte, and Duarte, ‘Substantial Role of Macroalgae in Marine Carbon Sequestration’, Nature Geoscience, 12 September 2016, http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v9/n10/ngeo2790/metrics/news
THE TREE WHISPERERS
1 Vogel, G., ‘Where Have All the Insects Gone?’, Science, 10 May 2017.
NEANDERTHALS
1 Golek, M. and Rieder, H., ‘Erprobung der Altpalaolithischen Wurfspeere vol Schöningen’, Internationale Zeitschrift fur Geschichte des Sports, 25, Academic Verlag Sankt Augustin, 1–12, 1999.
2 Kozowyk, P., et al, ‘Experimental Methods for the Palaeolithic Dry Distillation of Birch Bark: Implications for the Origin and Development of Neandertal Adhesive Technology’, Scientific Reports, Vol. 7, p. 8033, 2017.
3 Mazza, P., et al, ‘A New Palaeolithic Discovery: Tar-Hafted Stone Tools in a European Mid-Pleistocene Bone-Bearing Bed’, Journal of Archaeological Science, Vol. 33, pp. 1310–18, 2006.
4 ‘The First Europeans—One Million Years Ago’, BBC Science and Nature.
5 King, W., ‘The Reputed Fossil Man of the Neanderthal’, Quarterly Journal of Science, Vol. 1, p. 96, 1864.
6 * It is odd that Haeckel overlooked the very large Neanderthal brain, which was known from the original skull cap.
7 Froehle, A. W. and Churchill, S. E., ‘Energetic Competition between Neandertals and Anatomically Modern Humans’, PaleoAnthropology, pp. 96–116, 2009. Papagianni, D. and Morse, M., The Neanderthals Rediscovered: How Modern Science Is Rewriting Their Story, Thames & Hudson, London, 2013. Bocherens, H., ‘Isotopic Evidence for Diet and Subsistence Pattern of the Saint-Césaire I Neanderthal: Review and Use of a Multi-Source Mixing Model’, Journal of Human Evolution, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 71–87, 2005.
8 Hoffecker, J. F. ‘The Spread of Modern Humans in Europe’, PNAS, Vol. 106, pp. 16040–45, 2009.
9 Boquet-Appel, J. P. and Degioanni, A., ‘Neanderthal Demographic Estimates’, Current Anthropology, Vol. 54, Issue 8, pp. 202–13, 2013.
10 Bergström, A. and Tyler-Smith, C., ‘Palaeolithic Networking’, Science, Vol. 358 (6363), pp. 586–87, 2017.
11 Tattersall, I., The Strange Case of the Rickety Cossack and other Cautionary Tales from Human Evolution, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015.
12 Laleuza-Fox, C. et al, ‘A Melanocortin 1 Receptor Allele Suggests Varying Pigmentation Among Neanderthals’, Science, Vol. 318 (5855), pp. 1453–55, 2007.
13 *Their large eyes may have been adaptations to the low light conditions of the European winter, or to life in caves.
14 Pierce, E. et al, ‘New Insights into Differences in Brain Organization between Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans’, Proceedings of the Royal Society (B), 280: 20130168, 2013.
15 Schwartz, S., ‘The Mourning Dawn: Neanderthal Funerary Practices and Complex Response to Death’, HARTS and Minds, Vol. 1, No. 3, 2013–14.
16 Hoffman, D. L. et al, ‘U-Th Dating of Carbonate Crusts Reveals Neandertal Origin of Iberian Cave Art’, Science, Vol. 359, pp. 912–15, 2018.
17 Radović, D., ‘Evidence for Neandertal Jewelry: Modified White-Tailed Eagle Claws at Krapina’, PLOS ONE, 11 March 2015.
18 Joubert, J. et al, ‘Early Neanderthal Constructions Deep in Bruniquel Cave in Southwestern France’, Nature, Vol. 534, pp. 111–14, 2016.
19 Lascu, C., Piatra Altarului, no publisher, undated.
20 Engelhard, M., Ice Bear: The Cultural History of an Arctic Icon, University of Washington Press, Washington, 2016.
21 Hingham, T. et al, ‘The Timing and Spatiotemporal Patterning of Neanderthal Disappearance’, Nature, Vol. 512, pp. 306–09, 2014.
OF ASSEMBLAGES AND ELEPHANTS
1 Callaway, E., ‘Elephant History Rewritten by Ancient Genomes’, Nature, News, 16 September 2016.
2 Palkopoulou, E. et al, ‘A Comprehensive Genomic History of Extinct and Living Elephants’, PNAS, 26 February 2018.
3 *Also known as the African forest elephant.
4 Thieme, H. and Veil, S., ‘Neue Untersuchungen zum eemzeit
lichen Elefanten-Jagdplatz Lengingen’, Ldkg. Verden. Die Kunde, Vol. 236, pp. 11–58, 1985.
5 Geer, A. van der, et al, Evolution of Island Mammals, Wiley Blackwell, UK, 2010.
FROM THE HORSE TO ROMAN FAILURE
1 Bramanti, B. et al, ‘Genetic Discontinuity Between Local Hunter-Gatherers and Central Europe’s First Farmers, Science, Vol. 326, pp. 137–40, 2009.
2 Downey, S. E. et al, ‘The Neolithic Demographic Transition in Europe: Correlation with Juvenile Index Supports Interpretation of the Summed Calibrated Radiocarbon Date Probability Distribution (SCDPD) as a Valid Demographic Proxy’, PLOS ONE, 9(8): e105730, 25 August 2014.
3 ‘Childe, Vere Gordon (1892–1957)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Melbourne University Publishing, Melbourne, 1979.
4 Low, J., ‘New Light on the Death of V. Gordon Childe’, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, undated, www.laborhistory.org.au/hummer/no-8/gordon-childe/
5 Green, K., ‘V. Gordon Childe and the Vocabulary of Revolutionary Change’, Antiquity, Vol. 73, pp. 97–107, 1961.
6 Stevenson, A., ‘Yours (Unusually) Cheerfully, Gordon: Vere Gordon Childe’s Letters to RBK Stevenson’, Antiquity, Vol. 85, pp. 1454–62, 2011.
7 Editorial, Antiquity, Vol. 54, No. 210, p. 2, 1980.
8 Inexplicably, the jump was the day before the date on Childe’s letter.
9 Cieslak, M. et al, ‘Origin and History of Mitochondrial DNA Lineages in Domestic Horses’, PLOS ONE, 5(2): e15311, 2010.
10 Ibid.
11 Almathen, F. et al, ‘Ancient and Modern DNA Reveal Dynamics of Domestication and Cross-Continental Dispersion of the Dromedary’, PNAS, Vol. 113, pp. 6706–12, 2016.
12 Gunther, R. T., ‘The Oyster Culture of the Ancient Romans’, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Vol. 4, pp. 360–65, 1897.
EUROPE’S BEWOLFING
1 Pierotti, R. and Fogg, B., The First Domestication: How Wolves and Humans Co-evolved, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2017.
2 Ó’Crohan, T., The Islandman, The Talbot Press, Dublin and Cork, 1929.