Philosopher Bas Haring argues that mass extinction is not a harbinger of global disaster.
 
Each year, climate change drives more and more species extinct, leaving many fearful for the fate of the planet. Why Biodiversity Loss is Not a Disaster calms such fears: we have no reason to believe fewer species will result in cataclysmic disaster. In this book, philosopher Bas Haring argues that nature is not like a machine that falls apart without all its parts. While some environments depend on the survival of specific species, he contends, these unique relationships cannot be generalized to the planet at large. In the long view, Haring writes, biodiversity loss is a pity but not a disaster.

Bas Haring is professor of the public understanding of science at Leiden University.

After reading it, I suspect many people might still believe that biodiversity loss is a disaster, but at least they might now think a bit more about WHY they believe that - Kenneth Thompson, Emeritus, University of Sheffield

Table of Contents
1. About Biodiversity and Disasters
1.1. What Is Biodiversity and What Happens to It?
1.2. What Is a Disaster?
2. Collapse
2.1. A Network of Species That Supports the Whole?
2.2. The Ecosystem as an Economy
2.3. The Diversity-Stability Debate
2.4. Do Collapses Occur?
Intermezzo: Better Safe than Sorry?
3. Suffering
3.1. Animal Suffering
3.2. Human Suffering
4. Biodiversity’s Value “Because of Itself”
5. Conclusion
Bibliography