A Scientist Audits the Earth

By: Stuart L. Pimm

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Paperback | 2 September 2004 | Edition Number 2

At a Glance

Paperback
304 Pages

Edition Type
Revised

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.24 x 1.91

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Humans use 50 percent of the world’s freshwater supply and consume 42 percent of its plant growth. We are liquidating animals and plants one hundred times faster than the natural rate of extinction. Such numbers should make it clear that our impact on the planet has been, and continues to be, extreme and detrimental. Yet even after decades of awareness of our environmental peril, there remains passionate disagreement over what the problems are and how they should be remedied.

Much of the impasse stems from the fact that the problems are difficult to quantify. How do we assess the impact of habitat loss on various species, when we haven’t even counted them all? And just what factors go into that 42 percent of biomass we are hungrily consuming? It is only through an understanding of the numbers that we will be able to break that impasse and come to agreement on which environmental issues are most critical and how they might best be addressed.

Working on the front lines of conservation biology, Stuart Pimm is one of the pioneers whose work has put the ""science” in environmental science. In this book, he appoints himself ""investment banker of the global, biological accounts,” checking the environmental statistics gathered by tireless scientists in work that is always painstaking and often heartbreaking. With wit, passion, and candor, he reveals the importance of understanding where these numbers come from and what they mean. To do so, he takes the reader on a globe-circling tour of our beautiful, but weary, planet from the volcanic mountains and rainforests of Hawai’i to the boreal forests of Siberia.

At times, the view looks rather grim. Yet Pimm, ever the optimist, presents a world filled with mysterious beauty, the infinite variety of nature, and an urgent hope that through an understanding of our planet’s environmental past and present, we will be inspired to save it from future extinction.

Industry Reviews

"This book explains environmental issues numerically to answer questions of whether humans will be better off in the next century ... Recommended."

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Science Biology, Life Sciences Life Sciences in General Ecological Science Engineering & Technology Environmental Science Earth Sciences, Geography, Environment, Planning The Environment Environmental Management Conservation of The Environment Conservation of Wildlife & Habitats

Endangered Species & Extinction of Species

Billions of tons of green stuff	p. 15
What Earth does for us - and what we do to Earth	p. 25
Not the forest primeval	p. 35
When vegetation rioted and big trees were king	p. 53
Peace and quiet and good Earth	p. 77
"Man eats planet! two-fifths are already gone!"	p. 99
Water, water everywhere?	p. 109
On the hero's platform	p. 129
Lots of good fish in the sea	p. 145
The wisdom to use nature's resources	p. 165
An inordinate fondness for beetles	p. 185
...Abode hits destined hour, and went his way	p. 201
Nature's eggs in few baskets	p. 217
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

A Scientist Audits the Earth

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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