Author, educator, and environmentalist Bill McKibben issues an impassioned call to arms for an economy that creates community and ennobles our lives.
Content Index
On 15 February 1996, the oil tanker Sea Empress ran aground. Approximately 72,000 tons of crude oil spilled into the Milford Haven waters in Southern Wales, contaminating 200 kilometers of coastline. Swift implementation of environmental regulations, such as temporarily prohibiting mussel harvesting, successfully protected the coastal populations.
A few decades ago, breeding efforts were limited to combining the genetic materials of existing agricultural plants and farm animals. Today, biotechnicians are creating new types of plants and animal species in their labs.
Steam power became the energy source for many machines and vehicles, making it cheaper and easier to produce commodities in large amounts.
Silent Spring describes the harmful effects of pesticides on the environment, and is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement.
The development of specific instruments that aid in the mastery of life has led to the creation of artificial intelligence—soon maybe humans will also be replaceable.
Barlow draws on her extensive experience and insight as a water activist to lay out a set of key principles that show the way forward to what she calls a “water-secure and water-just world.”
Carson’s Silent Spring: A Reader’s Guide provides an in-depth analysis and contextualization of Silent Spring. It also surveys the lasting impact the text has had on the environmentalist movement in the last fifty years.
Child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today’s wired generation—he calls it nature-deficit—to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as the rises in obesity, attention disorders, and depression.
Bill Bryson introduces the history and ecology of the Appalachian Trail.