Do ancient mass extinctions offer lessons for our future?
Shownotes
Environmental journalist Edward Struzik returns to the Land and Climate Podcast to discuss his latest book, Animal Diaspora: Decoding Ice Age Mysteries to Reveal the Future of Migration.
The book reconstructs migration patterns of animal populations from the last Ice Age, finding that millions of mammoths, reindeer, and early humans moved into the Americas after rapid periods of warming and cooling temperatures displaced them from their habitats.
In conversation with Bertie, Edward Struzik gives insightful examples of how temperature shocks often lead to extinction, such as rising sea levels that cut off land access and stopped migration around 11,000 to 13,000 years ago.
“Warming after the last ice age resulted in two-thirds of the large mammals in North America going extinct - very similar to what is taking place now.”
Listen to Bertie and Edward discuss parallels between the last mass extinction and the present day, and what the Ice Age can reveal about the current climate crisis.
Preorder Animal Diaspora from Princeton University Press by clicking here.
Related episodes:
- What is the history of extinction? - with Sadiah Qureshi
- Meltdown: is it too late for the Arctic? - with Mia Bennett
- How are assumptions around science and migration undermining climate policy? - with Sonia Shah
- How urgent is the need to restore our peatlands? - with Edward Struzik
Further reading:
- 'With Sea Ice Melting, Killer Whales Are Moving Into the Arctic', Yale E360, 2025
- 'The cryosphere is nearing irreversible tipping points – and the world is not prepared', Land and Climate Review, 2025
- 'Remembering dreams of a green peace', Land and Climate Review, 2025
- 'Rain Comes to the Arctic, With a Cascade of Troubling Changes', Yale E360, 2024
- 'How Tensions With Russia Are Jeopardizing Key Arctic Research', Yale E360, 2023
- 'Swamplands: Edward Struzik’s bog book is a call for cultural change', Land and Climate Review, 2021
- 'Is Warming Bringing a Wave of New Diseases to Arctic Wildlife?', Yale E360, 2018
- 'How a Wayward Arctic Current Could Cool the Climate in Europe', Yale E360, 2017
Find all our latest investigations, features and interviews at www.landclimate.org