Book Description
In this groundbreaking book, veteran science correspondent Fred Pearce travels to more than thirty countries to examine the current state of crucial water sources. Deftly weaving together the complicated scientific, economic, and historic dimensions of the world water crisis, he provides our most complete portrait yet of this growing danger and its ramifications for us all.
"A strongâand scaryâcase that a worldwide water shortage is the most fearful looming environmental crisis. With a drumbeat of facts both horrific (thousands of wells in India and Bangladesh are poisoned by fluoride and arsenic) and fascinating (it takes 20 tons of water to make one pound of coffee), the former New Scientist news editor documents a 'kind of cataclysm' already affecting many of the world's great rivers."
âPublishers Weekly, starred review
"Oil we can replace. Water we can'tâwhich is why this book is both so ominous and so important."
âBill McKibben, author of The End of Nature
"An enriching and farsighted work."
âJai Singh, San Francisco Chronicle
"Pearce cogently presents the alarming ways in which this ecological emergency is affecting population centers, human health, food production, wildlife habitats, and species viability. Having crisscrossed the globe to research the economic, scientific, cultural, and political causes and ramifications of this under publicized tragedy, Pearce's powerful imagery, penetrating analyses, and passionate advocacy make this required reading for environmental proponents and civic leaders everywhere."
âBooklist
"If you want to quickly get up to date on climate change and its consequences, I recommend With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change. If you can read only one book on climate change, this is it."
âLester Brown, president, Earth Policy Institute
". . . perhaps it is time for you to spend some time with Fred Pearce and his wonderful When the Rivers Run Dry."
âDaily Kos, July Review
Fred Pearce has been writing about water issues for over twenty years. A former news editor at New Scientist and currently its environment and development consultant, he has also written for Audubon, Popular Science, Time, the Boston Globe, and Natural History. His books include With Speed and Violence, Turning Up the Heat, and Deep Jungle.
Customer Reviews:
Just as scary as global warming.......2007-09-10
I read this book back to back with the author's book on global warming, With Speed and Violence, and I was very impressed with the way both books cover all the bases in concise, thorough chapters that are compelling and engrossing, not just because of the interesting subject matter, but because the author is a terrific writer who knows how to clearly present the science while telling a good story. Although climate change has the potential to remake our planet in the longer term, water scarcity has the potential to affect hundreds of millions of people's lives in the shorter term, yet it doesn't get as much coverage in the media. So I was glad to come across Pearce's book, and I hope it brings more attention to this important issue.
No Notes,No Sources, Sadly Flawed.......2007-08-10
This is a fascinating story, it really is. But how much is true, how much is exaggerated, how much is down right false? The author left no way to verify what he reports, not even his own research notes. I personally believe the main theme of disappearing water supplies due to watering of thirsty high yield crops. But I certainly wouldn't use Pearce's specific facts without double checking them. Too bad, it is a very readable book with many possible insights. If his sources had been included this would easily be a 5+ book.
A Wonderful Book........2007-06-18
I used this book in my water resource and policy class during the spring semester of 07. If you've ever truly wanted to understand what one of the largest dilemmas mankind is going to have to face in the coming years, then you should read this book! The author breaks down water in our world in a very detailed manner. One can understand ancient water history, why much of the world is suffering from a water crisis, how much water affluent life styles use, and get a feel for modern water wars in our world. This book alosm makes a great reference for interesting statistics and figures.
Water Facts, a new understanding.......2007-06-12
This book is an easy read, one you won't want to put down. The author traveled extensively while researching his topic and does an excellent job warning the rest of us of another approaching crisis.
Living in the Western world causes me to take clean water for granted. After reading, "When the Rivers Run Dry", I now realize that water is a very precious and scarce commodity in some other parts of the world and this precious commodity is running low, aquifers are drying up. This book illustrates the importance of wetlands and the far ranging impact to the populations living there, but the wetlands are being destroyed. The rivers are being dammed up and their silt rich outflows don't even make it to the ocean any more. Centuries old wells are drying out and the implications to all this will be future wars and aggressions by governments all over the world.
Facts and prose together.......2007-06-01
This book in FUN to read. Forget that the subject is a looming catastrophe, and that the author has done beautiful step by step research, it's really fun to read. AlGore should make this his next movie.
Every kid in the world should read this in Social Studie classes along with Howard Kuenstler's The Long Emergency and then their might be hope for future generation af mankind. If we go on as we are, it's over.
Book Description
Like Silent Spring, Diet for a Poisoned Planet took on an entire industry and went onto become a classic work of environmental writing. Now reissued in a new millennium edition, the work's in-depth look at the contaminants in individual food items is updated with the latest Total Diet Study findings.
A motivating book, Diet for a Poisoned Planet changes people viscerally. Steinman tells his own story of fishing in the Santa Monica Bay as a child and how he went on to testify before Congress as an expert witness on the contamination of his own body by the fish he ate. The book is written by a true expert who has been a member of a National Academy of Sciences committee to advise Congress on seafood safety legislation.
Customer Reviews:
Diet for a Poisoned Planet.......2007-06-27
Very interesting book. Documented on USDA reports. Makes me afraid to eat anything commercial, however. It is also very revealing about how slack our government is in regulating the amount of poisons on our produce. We need to demand organic products. They are available, albeit more expensive. But the more demand, the lower the price. Right?
disappointed by the update.......2007-01-19
I bought this book because it was an update from the 1990 book, which I also own. In reading from the beginning, it would appear that the only information that is new are the results of the new tests for toxicity. Perhaps I am wrong, because I didn't study and compare both books side by side, but that was my impression and my impressions are usually accurate. Having read the original book years ago, it was like re-reading it so I went over that part very, very quickly. For those who haven't read the first book, you will probably find this book a five star. It was somewhat of a disappointment to me, yet I'm still giving it four stars because of valuable education on what is toxic and what is not, how toxic it is or isn't and from where it is and where it is not.
An invaluable resource for eating healthfully!.......2007-01-06
I am a big fan of the author and first discovered "Diet for a Poisoned Planet" when the first edition was published in 1990. I just read David Steinman's latest book "Safe Trip to Eden: Ten Steps to Save Planet Earth From the Global Warming Meltdown" and this is an excellent companion.
I am quite suspicious that two of the reviews below seems to be from the California Advisory Board's counter PR campaign to the first edition. However, as a result of the information in this book, many raisin companies reduced or eliminated the spraying of DDT on raisins! Here are some references on this PR campaign:
"Flying the Koop: A Surgeon General's Reputation On the Line." PR Watch, Volume 5, No. 4, 4th quarter 1998.
Stauber J. & Rampton S. Toxic Sludge is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry, Common Courage Press (1995), pp 6-10, 184-5.
Sheldon Rampton. "Ketchum (the UN's PR Firm) Tackles Corporate Responsibility." PR Watch, Volume 8, No. 4, 4th quarter 2001.
The Greatest Story Ever Told!.......2006-12-29
I bought this book in the early 1990's and it changed my life. It was the most informative book I have ever read (and I read them all!) on the subject of a healthy diet and what goes into (and onto) the food we eat. I carried this book around as my food "bible" for years and years and was thankful every day that Mr. Steinman did thousands of hours of research to help make my life healthier and happier by testing the foods we all eat for toxic residues and other toxic substances and publishing the results. This book is for EVERYONE. Every person on this planet should read this book and use it to help them make their food choices.
A few years back I was wondering if some of the material in the book wasn't outdated, especially with the boom in organic food available now (thank goodness) and wished Mr. Steinman would update the book. My copy is old and tatered but I still refered to it all the time. Low and behold, it's here! An updated version! Long awaited, I pre-ordered it on Amazon and it arrived yesterday and I've already read most of it. It is just as great as the old version and I feel better that the information is now more current, espeically since I have two small children to feed, and the current information is invaluable. PLEASE, read this book. Do it for yourself, your health, your kids, YOUR WHOLE FAMILY. The information is will change your life for the better.
I grew up in Pacific Palisades, near the Santa Monica Bay where Mr. Steinman's story begins, so I truly understand his reason for writing this book (I remember the signs posted on the Santa Monica Pier too warning not to eat the fish caught! AWFUL!) and wanting and NEEDING to know the truth about what goes into our precious food. If people trust our government to keep our food healthy you are fools. Take matters into your own hands. Buy this book.
By the way, I just read some disturbing reviews that insinuated that this book has something to do with Scientology. I've read this book cover to cover for over a decade and can't figure out how some people come up with these sort of strange ideas. Very worrying....
Thank you Mr. Steinman for taking care of me and my family! Truly!
Amazon.com
In Natural Capitalism, three top strategists show how leading-edge companies are practicing "a new type of industrialism" that is more efficient and profitable while saving the environment and creating jobs. Paul Hawken and Amory and Hunter Lovins write that in the next century, cars will get 200 miles per gallon without compromising safety and power, manufacturers will relentlessly recycle their products, and the world's standard of living will jump without further damaging natural resources. "Is this the vision of a utopia? In fact, the changes described here could come about in the decades to come as the result of economic and technological trends already in place," the authors write.
They call their approach natural capitalism because it's based on the principle that business can be good for the environment. For instance, Interface of Atlanta doubled revenues and employment and tripled profits by creating an environmentally friendly system of recycling floor coverings for businesses. The authors also describe how the next generation of cars is closer than we might think. Manufacturers are already perfecting vehicles that are ultralight, aerodynamic, and fueled by hybrid gas-electric systems. If natural capitalism continues to blossom, so much money and resources will be saved that societies will be able to focus on issues such as housing, contend Hawken, author of a book and PBS series called Growing a Business, and the Lovinses, who cofounded and directed the Rocky Mountain Institute, an environmental think tank. The book is a fascinating and provocative read for public-policy makers, as well as environmentalists and capitalists alike. --Dan Ring
Book Description
In Natural Capitalism, three top strategists show how leading-edge companies are practicing "a new type of industrialism" that is more efficient and profitable while saving the environment and creating jobs. Paul Hawken and Amory and Hunter Lovins write that in the next century, cars will get 200 miles per gallon without compromising safety and power, manufacturers will relentlessly recycle their products, and the world's standard of living will jump without further damaging natural resources. "Is this the vision of a utopia?In fact, the changes described here could come about in the decades to come as the result of economic and technological trends already in place," the authors write.They call their approach natural capitalism because it's based on the principle that business can be good for the environment. For instance, Interface of Atlanta doubled revenues and employment and tripled profits by creating an environmentally friendly system of recycling floor coverings for businesses. The authors also describe how the next generation of cars is closer than we might think. Manufacturers are already perfecting vehicles that are ultralight, aerodynamic, and fueled by hybrid gas-electric systems. If natural capitalism continues to blossom, so much money and resources will be saved that societies will be able to focus on issues such as housing, contend Hawken, author of a book and PBS series called Growing a Business, and the Lovinses, who cofounded and directed the Rocky Mountain Institute, an environmental think tank. The book is a fascinating and provocative read for public-policy makers, as well as environmentalists and capitalists alike. --Dan Ring
Customer Reviews:
Great book. Innovative and still readable. .......2007-10-10
This is more than one book's worth of information. Years of research and innovation are woven together tightly and the result is an extremely informative book that is also a page turner.
The book includes enough technical detail to be of use to current experts in the field and the writing makes the data accessible to the newbie as well.
This would be a particularly good read for anyone in business who's looking to improve the bottom line while simultanteously lessoning the negative impact of operations on the planet. The authors show clearly how businesses can reduce costs by implementing eco-friendly practices.
Great for Green Building..........2007-10-05
this is a great resource for anyone wanting to learn more about sustainable building practices and how they can affect your bottom line. I recommend it for architects, designers and developers alike.
Excellent environmental analysis, clear direction!.......2007-10-04
This book provides a wealth of environmental analysis, including well-considered advice for policymakers at every level (from federal down to county). Also there is solid information for residential/condominium owners. The section that describes and designs how low-end residential units can sell energy back to the grid and raise their standard of living was exceptionally well-written. I am still reading the rest of the book and have not stopped since I first picked it up.
Great solutions to in-depth problems.......2007-09-30
I've only read the first two chapters, but its very motivating. The authors creatively give solutions to the environmental problems of the world. They fully understand the problems at hand, analyze them completely and give valuable ideas for probably and realistic solutions.
A more complete view of the economy.......2007-09-19
This book shows how our current view of the environment is flawed. It brings us from viewing the environment as something too vast to be harmed, to understanding that technology has given humanity the ability to profoundly affect the environment. The book presents a good argument as to why we need to see nature as part of the economic cycle and factor its use into how we use and manage the earth's resources.
Book Description
Four-fifths of Americans now live in the nation's sprawling metropolitan areas, and half of the world's population is now classified as "urban." As cities become the dominant living environment for humans, there is growing concern about how to make such places more habitable, more healthy and safe, more ecological, and more equitable—in short, more "humane."
This book explores the prospects for a more humane metropolis through a series of essays and case studies that consider why and how urban places can be made greener and more amenable. Its point of departure is the legacy of William H. Whyte (1917-1999), one of America's most admired urban thinkers. From his eyrie high above Manhattan in the offices of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Whyte laid the foundation for today's "smart growth" and "new urbanist" movements with books such as The Last Landscape (1968). His passion for improving the habitability of cities and suburbs is reflected in the diverse grassroots urban design and regreening strategies discussed in this volume.
Topics examined in this book include urban and regional greenspaces, urban ecological restoration, social equity, and green design. Some of the contributors are recognized academic experts, while others offer direct practical knowledge of particular problems and initiatives. The editor's introduction and epilogue set the individual chapters in a broader context and suggest how the strategies described, if widely replicated, may help create more humane urban environments.
In addition to Rutherford H. Platt, contributors to the volume include Carl Anthony, Thomas Balsley, Timothy Beatley, Eugenie L. Birch, Edward J. Blakely, Colin M. Cathcart, Steven E. Clemants, Christopher A. De Sousa, Steven N. Handel, Peter Harnik, Michael C. Houck, Jerold S. Kayden, Albert LaFarge, Andrew Light, Charles E. Little, Anne C. Lusk, Thalya Parilla, Deborah E. Popper, Frank J. Popper, Mary V. Rickel, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Robert L. Ryan, Laurin N. Sievert, Andrew G. Wiley-Schwartz, and Ann Louise Strong.
Published in association with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Customer Reviews:
Perfect for classroom discussion.......2007-03-05
Essays and case studies consider why and how urban places can be made greener for those who live there, packing in a 22-minute film on DVD to accompany text examples of how more humane metropolises are built. College-level collections strong in urban studies will find this perfect for classroom discussion, assignment, and for college-level contemporary social issues reference libraries.
Book Description
Evaluating environmental policy while considering the lasting implications of today's environmental controversies for the future is no easy task, especially given the dramatic changes of the past couple years. Assessing new strategies prompted by the George W. Bush administration, Norman J. Vig and Michael E. Kraft head a team of distinguished contributors to help students make sense of the underlying trends, institutional shortcomings, and policy dilemmas that shape the contentious world of environmental politics. Accessibly written, each chapter attempts to explain the most important developments in environmental politics in recent decades-at the local, state, national, and international levels-and at the same time points to new policy directions for the future. Environmental Policy is essential reading for students of public policy and for anyone who is interested in the current debate over reforming environmental policies and promoting sustainable development in the future.
Customer Reviews:
Newest in a classic series.......2000-09-06
This is the new edition of "Environmental Policy in the 1990s," a series now considered to be the most important in the field. This edition has some of the classic essays from earlier editions, but is expanded to cover the Clinton administration and address issues of a global nature.
I have been using this series as a basic text in graduate courses in environmental policy for years. I consider it to be a primary source of not only teaching, but research and basic information. All of the essays are clearly written and as unbiased as possible. I give this my highest recommendation.
(Addendum in 2007. This series is up to six editions with a seventh due out this summer. All are essential for the serious student of environmental policy and history).
Book Description
Global warming, acid rain, the depletion of forests, the polluting of our atmosphere and oceans--the threats to our environment are numerous, raising justifiable concern among most of us and genuine alarm in some. But as scientist Daniel Botkin argues in this provocative book, our ability to solve these problems is limited--not by our scientific knowledge--but by the age-old myths and metaphors that shape our perception of the natural world. Indeed, our beliefs about nature have fallen well behind our knowledge. Daniel Botkin is a seasoned scientist. He has spent three decades in the field studying the changes and interactions of forests and animal species. In the 1970s he pioneered the use of computers to predict ecological trends. Now, in Discordant Harmonies, he combines his considerable expertise with the well-honed eye of the nature writer and a philosopher's sense of how ideas shape our perceptions of reality to take us on a marvelous guided tour of the natural world. His method is to introduce a problem in our beliefs about nature by giving us a fascinating case study: of predator-prey relationships, of forests evolving over centuries, of species nearing extinction, of the ways our "protection" of nature has had surprising--and often disappointing--results. Botkin's revealing case studies also highlight controversial present-day issues--like controlled burning in national forests, fishing and hunting quotas, and policy-making for management of natural resources. He looks at each of these cases in the light of past thinking and current research, revealing how old myths often blind us to the new technology and to the ways of thinking we need to solve our environmental problems. Above all, Botkin is concerned with redefining the relationship between human beings and nature, so that our needs can be met and the intricate systems of nature can persist. Whether discussing moose herds on Isle Royale or Yosemite's famous Mariposa Grove of Sequoias, Botkin writes vividly and insightfully about nature, challenging us to rethink some of our most cherished notions. Anyone who is concerned about the environment will find much here to ponder as well as the pleasure of meeting a stimulating and thoughtful mind at work.
Customer Reviews:
Ecactly the kind of Ecological thinking we DO NOT need.......2006-07-22
Utilitarian to boot - this book is exactly the kind of ecological thinking that will do nothing but further the culture of control and domination that is destroying what's left of the world's wilderness.
The essential message of the book is that humanity needs to control and dominate nature more, not less, in order to save it. This is progressive humanistic delusion at its worst.
Botkin's "new ecology" discounts what he calls the "old" theories of interconnection, balance, and cooperation and argues in favor of an ecology that describes a disconnected, unbalanced, opportunistic and fundamentally disordered and chaotic natural world.
Thomas Hobbes would be proud!
But wait, there's more:
Discordant Harmonies was awarded the Mitchell International Prize for Sustainable Development in 1991. The Mitchell prize was established by George P. Mitchell, a Houston Texas based billionaire who made his fortune in Petroleum and Natural Gas development.
A quick study of the Mitchell Center for Sustainable Development reveals that it is funded by some of the world's most ecologically destructive corporate entities including: Enron, Ford, Shell Oil, Texaco and the World Bank.
As if that's not enough to reveal the agenda behind the Mitchell Center, one of the projects of the Center was to help the World Bank "relocate" the indigenous people whose land it flooded by financing an enormous dam project in the Brazilian state of Ceará.
With supporters like these, it should be obvious that Botkin is much more concerned with the "development" of wilderness than he is with its preservation.
Unfortuantely, this book has been highly influential for many environmental historians and has inspired many
anti-environmental and anti-indigenous books and papers.
One example is the book "The Destruction of the Bison." In this book the author, Andrew Isenberg, argues (contrary to massive ammounts of primary historical sources) that it was the actions of The Plains Tribes (not the White colonists) that caused the Buffalo to nearly go extinct; a disgusting example of blaming the victim for the actions of the oppressor.
Botkin's book is dangerous - a tool of the dominant culture.
Read this book? Yes - but read it with extreem skepticism.
An important and valuable alternative.......2004-01-10
I wish this book had been written about 15 years earlier & I wish it was currently read by a wider audience. This is a well written book in which Botkin does an excellent job at articulating some of the troubling aspects of ecological theory as they move out into the world of policy, conservation, and belief. Like many of us Botkin was obviously raised in the academic environment of "equilibrium models" or "Balance of Nature" ideologies, and like some of us he found that what he actually saw in the field didn't really match up with what the theoreticians on the one hand and the hard-core "environmentalists" on the other were saying we had to believe. Botkin recognizes and revels in the complexities of the natural world and asks some difficult questions about the role that theory plays in shaping our overall perceptions. Anybody interested in conservation, land-use, or applied ecology would do well to spend some time with this book. The only reason that I don't give it 5 stars is that I wish that Botkin had gone a little farther -one gets the sense throughout that he has seen a promised land of a "New Ecology" but he keeps drawing back, he knows that there are fatal flaws in much ecological rhetoric, but he can't quite bring himself to say "away with this nonsense". Other than that, if there was one semi-popular ecology book that I would want folks to read, this would probably be a top candidate.
Environmentalism and Pragmatism.......2001-09-30
I liked this book. It was a bit difficult to get through at first. I started the book and put it down for a few months, in chapter 3. But I picked it up again and read it all the way through. Botkin (the author) writes repeatedly about a new way of thinking that incorporates both environmental awareness and the need not to go too far in our concern about the environment. He discusses how the movement of environmentalism is basically operating on false principles, just as our mainstream industrial ways of thinking are perpretrating untold destruction of the natural world.
Botkin talks about the need for compromise, and specifically the need to think of nature in a new way. This new way that he iterates is the recognition of nature as a chaotic system. It is not constant, it is not irreversible (in some ways), and populations fluctuate under certain circumstances.
He describes how we need a new kind of ecologist. How we need people to study the animals and the ecosystems they inhabit with the idea of chaos in mind. But not complete chaos, there is structure to nature, but it is not formalized, nor is it constant. It is changing patterns that never repeat themselves, I guess Botkin might say, more eloquently than I no doubt.
He has a lengthy discussion about the role of religion in this book, which I found interesting. He even talks about the GAIA theory. Botkin re-iterates his points on numerous occasions, to the point that you almost get sick to hear them again. But he drives the point home, and his points are valid, and his view of nature, based on his own experiments is enlightening, scientific, and refreshing.
Crowing into the Winds.......2001-05-15
First, let me say that this is a very good book, and that my comments are only meant as a cautionary note. Second, Botkin does know his "stuff" when it come to understanding ecological applications, theories, and the use of metaphors. This book was a useful, popular, corrective to the vast number of misunderstood ecological concepts at the time of its publication. That said, however, Botkin is also like a rooster: he crows too loudly, every morning. By page 38, I was already tired of his "this requires a new view and understanding of nature" which had been stated at least a dozen times before said page. Perhaps some readers will need this prose "boot to the head" reminder. Many readers will find this irritating. He is very much preaching to the choir as well. Changes in Ecology and parallel fields (Conservation Biology, Physical Geography, etc...) had already understood the past mistakes of such concepts as "equilibrium" (static) and "climax community." Botkin was about ten to fifteen years too late in writing Discordant Ecologies. Keep that in mind as you read it. If you start saying "Aha!" a lot just remember that others have already said this for decades, and that the corrective suggestions that Botkin produces have already been incorporated in the vast variety of ecological fields he discusses. This is a great book to use in a history of science, history of ecology, or biogeography class. It will also be useful to a lay audience, unfamiliar with the last 50 years or so of ecological literature. It is also rather easy to read in one sitting.
Nature's Complex Symphony.......2000-12-09
In the space of two hundred pages, Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies Daniel Botkin offers us this concise and absorbing assessment of man's role in shaping the landscape with which we are now confronted, and suggests this perspective of the future: "Nature in the twenty-first century will be a nature that we make... We no longer have the luxury to believe that we can live in harmony with the environment without knowledge and understanding of natural systems." This is not a simple suggestion. Botkin reminds us of the intricacies that comprise every earth-nestled rock, every butterfly's wing, every molecule of water that falls from above. Science and knowledge, he suggests, are the keys to our future, our Promethean fire. How we use them will determine how long we will hold sway here. With a reverence for the observations of past and contemporary philosophers, scientists and nature writers, he leads us from the timbered foundation of Venice's church of Santa Maria della Salute to Eat Africa's Tsavo National Park to the remnant ancient forest woodlands of New Jersey's Hutcheson Forest to the remote and mysterious Isle Royale in Lake Superior to the lonely emptiness of te Moon and back again to Venice, on an expedition as valuable in its authenticity of observation as it is poetic in its rhythms.
Book Description
In this clear, concise and up-to-date introduction to environmental ethics, Robin Attfield guides the student through the key issues and debates in this field in ways that will also be of interest to a wide range of scholars and researchers.The book introduces environmental problems and environmental ethics and surveys theories of the sources of the problems. Attfield also puts forward his own original contribution to the debates, advocating biocentric consequentialism among theories of normative ethics and defending objectivism in meta-ethics. The possibilities of ethical consumerism and investment are discussed, and the nature and basis of responsibilities for future generations in such areas as sustainable development are given detailed consideration. Attfield adopts an inclusive, cosmopolitan perspective in discussions of global ethics and citizenship, and illustrates his argument with a discussion of global warming.The text uses a range of devices to aid understanding, such as summaries of key issues, and guides to further reading and relevant websites. It has been written particularly with a view to the needs of students taking courses in environmental ethics, and will be of interest to students and scholars of philosophy, ethics, geography, religion and environmental studies.
Book Description
A significant contribution to political ecology, Conservation Is Our Government Now is an ethnographic examination of the history and social effects of conservation and development efforts in Papua New Guinea. Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted over a period of seven years, Paige West focuses on the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area, the site of a biodiversity conservation project implemented between 1994 and 1999. She describes the interactions between those who ran the programâmostly ngo workersâand the Gimi people who live in the forests surrounding Crater Mountain. West shows that throughout the project there was a profound disconnect between the goals of the two groups. The ngo workers thought that they would encourage conservation and cultivate development by teaching Gimi to value biodiversity as an economic resource. The villagers expected that in exchange for the land, labor, food, and friendship they offered the conservation workers, they would receive benefits, such as medicine and technology. In the end, the divergent nature of each group’s expectations led to disappointment for both.
West reveals how every aspect of the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Areaâincluding ideas of space, place, environment, and societyâwas socially produced, created by changing configurations of ideas, actions, and material relations not only in Papua New Guinea but also in other locations around the world. Complicating many of the assumptions about nature, culture, and development underlying contemporary conservation efforts, Conservation Is Our Government Now demonstrates the unique capacity of ethnography to illuminate the relationship between the global and the local, between transnational processes and individual lives.
Average customer rating:
- What is going to happen now?
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Which World?: Scenarios For The 21St Century
Allen Hammond
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ASIN: 1559635754 |
Book Description
In Which World?, scientist Allen Hammond imaginatively probes the consequences of present social, economic, and environmental trends to construct three possible worlds that could await us in the twenty-first century: Market World, in which economic and human progress is driven by the liberating power of free markets and human initiative; Fortress World, in which unattended social and environmental problems diminish progress, dooming hundreds of millions of humans to lives of rising conflict and violence; and Transformed World, in which human ingenuity and compassion succeed in offering a better life, not just a wealthier one, and in seeking to extend those benefits to all of humanity.
"Hammond's credo, 'to envision the future we want and then set about making it happen,' is a thinking person's call to arms. ..... By bringing together an ambitious set of data, lively scenarios, and provocative claims, Hammond seeks to reorient and reenergize public conversation about sustainable development and the strategies of peoples and institutions. It is a vital conversation, and this is a notable contribution to it." Kai N. Lee, Environmen.
"Hammond offers an excellent contribution to the growing literature on the human predicament and the challenge of sustaining the Earth's legacy. The book will open the eyes of the ignorant, and fulfill its purpose of stimulating further thought and action." Carl Folke, Scienc.
"In Which World?, Allen Hammond offers both knowledge and vision. He presents a lucid and incisive guide to the trends with which we have to work, and the possibilities they offer." Stephen Schmidheiny, founder of the World Business Council for Sustainable Developmen.
"Fascinating and thought-provoking." Library Journal
Customer Reviews:
What is going to happen now?.......2000-06-09
The fall of the Soviet Empire and the rise of the new great powers. Will there be a war...What will be in the 21st century. This book gives you different opinions and scenarios about what is going to happen.I enjoyed reading this book but this book won't help you if you're looking for something much more realistic and sophisticated.
Book Description
In this "best practices" volume for students, professionals, and policy makers, 15 essays by leading scholars and professionals explore the history of the preservation movement in the US, the current range of philosophies and strategies employed by professionals in the field, and recommendations for appropriate preservation strategies, both public and private.
Customer Reviews:
A Richer Heritage.......2007-01-29
This was a recommended book for my thesis class. I have not finished it yet, but it seems an appropriate book for those in their Master's program for Historic Preservation.
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- Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century
- Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century
- A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
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- A Voice in the Wilderness: Conversations with Terry Tempest Williams
- An Introduction to Genetic Algorithms (Complex Adaptive Systems)
Books Index
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