Denny Making the Most of the Anthropocene

Facing the Future
Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4214-2301-2
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 0 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

Humans have changed the Earth so profoundly that we’ve ushered in the first new geologic period since the ice ages. So, what are we going to do about it?

Ever since Nobel Prize–winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen coined the term "Anthropocene" to describe our current era—one in which human impact on the environment has pushed Earth into an entirely new geological epoch—arguments for and against the new designation have been raging. Finally, an official working group of scientists was created to determine once and for all whether we humans have tossed one too many plastic bottles out the car window and wrought a change so profound as to be on par with the end of the last ice age. In summer 2016, the answer came back: Yes.

In Making the Most of the Anthropocene, scientist Mark Denny tackles this hard truth head-on and considers burning questions: How did we reach our present technological and ecological state? How are we going to cope with our uncertain future? Will we come out of this, or are we doomed as a species? Is there anything we can do about what happens next? This book

• explains what the Anthropocene is and why it is important
• offers suggestions for minimizing harm instead of fretting about an impending environmental apocalypse
• combines easy-to-grasp scientific, technological, economic, and anthropological analyses

In Making the Most of the Anthopocene, there are no equations, no graphs, and no impenetrable jargon. Instead, you'll find a fascinating cast of characters, including journalists from outer space, peppered moths, and unjustly maligned Polynesians. In his bright, lively voice, Denny envisions a future that balances reaction and reason, one in which humanity emerges bloody but unbowed—and in which those of us who are prepared can make the most of the Anthropocene.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Denny, Mark

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften
• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltschutz, Umwelterhaltung
• Geowissenschaften Geologie Geologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Stratigraphy—the Top Layer
2. Neptune versus Pluto
3. The Age of Man?
4. Martha
5. Industrial Revelations
6. Moore's Law
7. Building BRICS
8. Peppered Moths
9. Globalization
10. Smartphones Are (from) Everywhere
11. The Population Bomb
12. Manna from Science
13. Fat Americans
14. Climatology 101
15. Greenhouse Effects
16. Global Warning
17. 2 C or Not 2 C, That Is the Question
18. Tipping Points and Tipplers
19. Climate Change Protocols
20. Rapa Nui Not
21. Ozone Whole
22. The Good
23. The Bad
24. Frack Attack
25. The Ugly
26. Gridlock
27. Not Monsters, Inc., nor the Four Horsemen
28. Scottish Philosophy and Nuclear Power
29. You Suck at Statistics
30. On the Cusp
31. Four Fixes
32. Über Alles
33. Sherlock Holmes and the Anthropocene Deduction
34. Ferguson versus Krugman
35. Nobody Understands Economics
36. Winners and Losers
37. The Prisoner's Dilemma
38. Deforestation
39. The Peter Principle
40. Collective Stupidity
41. ABC but Not D
42. Where Are You Going, My Little One?
Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Denny, Mark
Mark Denny is a theoretical physicist who has worked in academia and industry. He is the author of numerous books, including Lights On! The Science of Power Generation, Making Sense of Weather and Climate: The Science behind the Forecasts, and Making the Most of the Anthropocene: Facing the Future.

Mark Denny is a theoretical physicist who has worked in academia and industry. He is the author of numerous books, including Lights On! The Science of Power Generation and Making Sense of Weather and Climate: The Science behind the Forecasts.