000 02274nam a22002177a 4500
008 201229b xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020 _a9781472981721
037 _cPurchased
_nCurrent Books, Cochin
041 _aEnglish
082 _a304.27
_bHEL/LI
100 _aHelen Pilcher
245 _aLIFE CHANGING : How Humans are Altering Life on Earth
250 _a1
260 _aLondon
_bBloomsbury Sigma
_c2020/01/01
300 _g383
500 _aFor the last three billion years or so, life on Earth has been shaped by natural forces. Evolution happens slowly, with species crafted by natural selection across millennia. Then, a few hundred thousand years ago, along came a bolshie, big-brained, bipedal primate we now call `Homo sapiens', and with that the Earth's natural history came to an abrupt end. We are now living through the post-natural phase, where the fate of all living things is irrevocably intertwined with our own. We domesticated animals to suit our needs, and altered their DNA - wolves became dogs to help us hunt and junglefowl became chickens to provide us with eggs. As our knowledge grew we found new ways to tailor the DNA of animals more precisely; we've now cloned police dogs and created a little glow-in-the-dark fish - the world's first genetically modified pet. The breakthroughs continue. Through climate change, humans have now affected even the most remote environments and their inhabitants, and studies suggest that through our actions we are forcing some animals to evolve at breakneck speed to survive. Whilst some are thriving, others are on the brink of extinction, and for others the only option is life in captivity. Today, it's not just the fittest that survive; sometimes it's the ones we decide to let live. In this entertaining and thought-provoking book, Helen Pilcher considers the many ways that we've shaped the DNA of the animal kingdom and in so doing, altered the fate of life on earth. In her post-natural history guide, she invites us to meet key species that have been sculpted by humanity, as well as the researchers and conservationists who create, manage and tend to these post-natural creations.
650 _aHuman-animal relationships
650 _aHuman ecology
942 _cLEN
942 _2ddc
999 _c182549
_d182549