If you’re planning to observe Earth Day on Sunday and then fireup the gas guzzler on Monday morning, Edmund O. Wilson, the biologist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, wants a word with you. In an excerpt from his new book, “The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth,” Wilson warns that if people don’t act now, half the species on the planet could be extinct within a century. “Those living today will either win the race against extinction or lose it for all time,” he writes.

On Sunday Forum, Wilson’s warning will be published, along with columnist Ann DuBay’s Earth Day report on how some local folks are embracing low-carb (as in low-carbon) diets.