Author : Sherman Hollar Associate Editor, Comptons by Britannica
Publisher : The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
Page : 90 pages
File Size : 11,74 MB
Release : 2011-08-15
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 1615305084
Examines the pollutants and human activities threatening the natural world and looks at deforestation and desertification.
Author : Julian Cribb
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 331 pages
File Size : 33,20 MB
Release : 2021-07-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 1108931081
Man-made toxins affect our health, safety, and lives: this book plots an empowering, hopeful path to a safer, cleaner world.
Author : Andrew Meharg
Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 12,61 MB
Release : 2005-01-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781403944993
Venomous Earth is the compelling story of the worst chemical disaster in human history - unfolding now. It explores the geology, politics and biology of why tens thousands of people are dying, hundreds of thousands developing cancer and tens of millions of people are at risk in Bangladesh, India and beyond, from arsenic-contaminated well water. Andrew Meharg compares this scenario with that in other areas of the world where drinking water is tainted with arsenic, such as extensive areas of South Western USA, the Alto Plano of South America and New Zealand's volcanic regions. He details historical precedents spanning thousands of years in mining and smelting communities, and due to the widespread use of arsenic in alchemy, farming, medicine and manufacturing. His tale takes in William Morris, Paracelsus, George W Bush and a cosmetic that killed two popes. Finally Venomous Earth looks at how the current arsenic crisis is to be tackled and highlights new challenges to our ongoing struggle with the toxic element.
Author : Britannica Educational Publishing
Publisher : Britannica Educational Publishing
Page : 90 pages
File Size : 33,14 MB
Release : 2011-05-01
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 1615305572
Although industrialization and modernization have dramatically improved the quality of our lives, they have also largely contributed to the destruction of our natural resources by engendering waste and creating depletion through overuse. As the worlds population continues to grow and consume, litter, chemicals, and a host of other harmful products overrun our land, air, and water. This intriguing volume examines the various pollutants and human activities that threaten the natural world, with a special look at deforestation and desertification.
Author : Edward O. Wilson
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 25,51 MB
Release : 2016-03-07
Category : Science
ISBN : 1631490834
"An audacious and concrete proposal…Half-Earth completes the 86-year-old Wilson’s valedictory trilogy on the human animal and our place on the planet." —Jedediah Purdy, New Republic In his most urgent book to date, Pulitzer Prize–winning author and world-renowned biologist Edward O. Wilson states that in order to stave off the mass extinction of species, including our own, we must move swiftly to preserve the biodiversity of our planet. In this "visionary blueprint for saving the planet" (Stephen Greenblatt), Half-Earth argues that the situation facing us is too large to be solved piecemeal and proposes a solution commensurate with the magnitude of the problem: dedicate fully half the surface of the Earth to nature. Identifying actual regions of the planet that can still be reclaimed—such as the California redwood forest, the Amazon River basin, and grasslands of the Serengeti, among others—Wilson puts aside the prevailing pessimism of our times and "speaks with a humane eloquence which calls to us all" (Oliver Sacks).
Author : Julian Cribb
Publisher : Springer
Page : 255 pages
File Size : 46,13 MB
Release : 2016-09-20
Category : Nature
ISBN : 3319412701
The book explores the central question facing humanity today: how can we best survive the ten great existential challenges that are now coming together to confront us? Besides describing these challenges from the latest scientific perspectives, it also outlines and integrates the solutions, both at global and individual level and concludes optimistically. This book brings together in one easy-to-read work the principal issues facing humanity. It is written for the two next generations who will have to deal with the compounding risks they inherit, and which flow from overpopulation, resource pressures and human nature. The author examines ten intersecting areas of activity (mass extinction, resource depletion, WMD, climate change, universal toxicity, food crises, population and urban expansion, pandemic disease, dangerous new technologies and self-delusion) which pose manifest risks to civilization and, potentially, to our species’ long-term future. This isn’t a book just about problems. It is also about solutions. Every chapter concludes with clear conclusions and consensus advice on what needs to be done at global level —but it also empowers individuals with what they can do for themselves to make a difference. Unlike other books, it offers integrated solutions across the areas of greatest risk. It explains why Homo sapiens is no longer an appropriate name for our species, and what should be done about it.
Author : B.H. Desai
Publisher : IOS Press
Page : 244 pages
File Size : 25,21 MB
Release : 2021-06-21
Category : Science
ISBN : 1643681796
On 21 May 2019, it was officially recognized that we are now living in the Anthropocene, our earth’s latest geological epoch, named for the 'unmistakable imprint of human activities'. This announcement came almost 60 years after the publication of Rachel Carson’s landmark work of environmental writing, Silent Spring, and next year (2022) it will be 50 years since the first UN Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in June 1972. This book, Our Earth Matters: Pathways to a Better Common Environmental Future, is a special issue of the journal Environmental Policy and Law, which was first published in 1975. It presents 21 invited contributions by outstanding scholars from around the world, which examine existing global regulatory approaches, processes, instruments and institutions for the protection of the global environment. The articles are grouped under four headings: Prognoses, Processes, Problematique and Prospects, and in them the authors have sought to explore answers to the existential environmental crisis. They urge us to ponder our reckless destruction of natural spaces, endangering of plant and animal species, poisoning of the environment, and general disturbance of our essential ecological processes. The primary objective of the book is to raise the awareness of the global audience by inspiring scholars and decision-makers to re-examine current global approaches to environmental issues and explore the future trajectory with new ideas and frameworks for international environmental governance in the 21st century and beyond. The book will be of interest to all those working to secure the sustainable future of the human race on our only abode, planet Earth. Bharat H. Desai is Professor of International Law and Jawaharlal Nehru Chair in International Environmental Law, Centre for International Legal Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Editor-in-Chief of the journal Environmental Policy & Law (Amsterdam: IOS Press) and of the Yearbook of International Environmental Law (Oxford: OUP).
Author : Philippe Tortell
Publisher : Open Book Publishers
Page : 466 pages
File Size : 50,90 MB
Release : 2020-04-22
Category : Nature
ISBN : 1783748486
Fifty years have passed since the first Earth Day, on 22 April 1970. This accessible, incisive and timely collection of essays brings together a diverse set of expert voices to examine how the Earth’s environment has changed over this past half century, and what lies in store for our planet over the coming fifty years. Earth 2020: An Insider’s Guide to a Rapidly Changing Planet responds to a public increasingly concerned about the deterioration of Earth’s natural systems, offering readers a wealth of perspectives on our shared ecological past, and on the future trajectory of planet Earth. Written by world-leading thinkers on the front-lines of global change research and policy, this multi-disciplinary collection maintains a dual focus: some essays investigate specific facets of the physical Earth system, while others explore the social, legal and political dimensions shaping the human environmental footprint. In doing so, the essays collectively highlight the urgent need for collaboration across diverse domains of expertise in addressing one of the most significant challenges facing us today. Earth 2020 is essential reading for everyone seeking a deeper understanding of the past, present and future of our planet, and the role of humanity in shaping this trajectory.
Author : Julian Cribb
Publisher : Allen & Unwin
Page : 290 pages
File Size : 44,31 MB
Release : 2014-06-01
Category : Health & Fitness
ISBN : 1760110469
The author of the acclaimed The Coming Famine sounds a wake up call: we cannot rely on governments or industry to clean up the toxic manmade chemicals we've surrounded ourselves with, it's up to us to repair our poisoned planet We want things to be cheap, convenient, and useful. Our food arrives contaminated with pesticides and wastes, wrapped in plastic made of hormone-disrupting chemicals. We bathe and dress our children in petrochemicals. Even our coffee contains miniscule traces of arsenic, cup by cup adding to the toxins accumulating in our bodies. Man-made chemicals are creating a silent epidemic. Our children are sicker; cancer, obesity, allergies, and mental health issues are on the rise in adults; and, frighteningly, we may be less intelligent than previous generations. A poisoned planet is the price we pay for our lifestyle, but Julian Cribb shows we have the tools to clean it up and create a healthier, safer future for us all.
Author : Anthony D. Barnosky
Publisher : Macmillan
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 34,86 MB
Release : 2016-04-26
Category : Nature
ISBN : 1466852011
Four people are born every second of every day. Conservative estimates suggest that there will be 10 billion people on Earth by 2050. That is billions more than the natural resources of our planet can sustain without big changes in how we use and manage them. So what happens when vast population growth endangers the world’s food supplies? Or our water? Our energy needs, climate, or environment? Or the planet’s biodiversity? What happens if some or all of these become critical at once? Just what is our future? In Tipping Point for Planet Earth, world-renowned scientists Anthony Barnosky and Elizabeth Hadly explain the growing threats to humanity as the planet edges toward resource wars for remaining space, food, oil, and water. And as they show, these wars are not the nightmares of a dystopian future, but are already happening today. Finally, they ask: at what point will inaction lead to the break-up of the intricate workings of the global society? The planet is in danger now, but the solutions, as Barnosky and Hadly show, are still available. We still have the chance to avoid the tipping point and to make the future better. But this window of opportunity will shut within ten to twenty years. Tipping Point for Planet Earth is the wake-up call we need.
