Elizabeth Kolbert: Covering the hot topic of climate change by going to the ends of the Earth

Abstract

In this interview, author and New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert talks with the Bulletin’s Dan Drollette Jr about her recently published book, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. She discusses how she became interested in the topic, the difficulties she found in explaining complex, interrelated topics such as climate change, invasive species, and ocean acidification, and what she hopes readers will take away from reading the book. She explains the role of a journalist as opposed to that of a scientist, saying that it is important to explain the issues to the public, if not necessarily to offer a list of specific, concrete solutions. Kolbert says she hopes that by interpreting complicated scientific evidence for the general public, her work will encourage engagement with the problems.