25 myths that are destroying the environment : what many environmentalists believe and why they are wrong /
Botkin, Daniel B.,
25 myths that are destroying the environment : what many environmentalists believe and why they are wrong / Twenty-five myths that are destroying the environment Daniel B. Botkin. - Lanham, Maryland : Taylor Trade Publishing, (c)2016. - 1 online resource
Includes bibliographical references.
Foreword; Introduction: Science, Religion, and Folkways; Myth 1 We Are the Only Species That Has Ever Had Global Effects on the Environment; Myth 2 Life Is Fragile, Requires Specific Conditions, and Can't Adjust Easily to Change; Myth 3 Extinction Is Unnatural and Bad, but Easy to Accomplish; Myth 4 The Balance of Nature Exists and Dominates All Life and All Environments; Myth 5 The Balance of Nature Is the Best and Only Condition for All Life; Myth 6 Beauty in Nature Only Happens in Areas Completely Undisturbed by Us. Myth 7 An Ecosystem Is Any Kind of Group, and a Biological Ecosystem Is a Fixed Group of SpeciesMyth 8 People Are Outside of Nature; Myth 9 The Only Reason to Conserve Nature: Every Species Has a Moral Right to Exist; Myth 10 People Have Changed the Environment Only Since the Industrial/Scientific Age; Myth 11 Without Human Interference, Earth's Climate Is Stable; Myth 12 People Are the Most Important Factor Determining Earth's Climate; Myth 13 Climate Change Will Lead to Huge Numbers of Extinctions; Myth 14 Recent Weather Is Proof of Long-Term Climate Change; Myth 15 Consensus Is Science. Myth 16 Computer Models Are TrueMyth 17 All Populations Are Always Bound to Grow So Rapidly That They Exceed the Ability of Their Environment to Support Them and Then Go Extinct. This Will Be the Inevitable Fate of the Human Population; Myth 18 Predators Are Absolutely Necessary to Control the Populations of Their Prey; Myth 19 Maximum Sustainable Yields Are Possible for Fish and All Wildlife; Myth 20 We Can't Do Much about Environmental Risks-From Smaller Ones like a Local River Flooding to Large Ones like Hurricanes; Myth 21 Smokey Bear Is Right: Only You Can Prevent Wildfires. Myth 22 Forests Are an Important Place for Long-Term Carbon StorageMyth 23 Solar and Wind Energy Require Huge Areas; Myth 24 Large-Scale Solar Energy Projects Work Only in Very Hot Climates; Myth 25 Compared to Climate Change, All Other Environmental Issues Are Minor; Final Overview; Endnotes.
"This is a book about ecology, environment, nature, and the misleading information that plagues the discussions of these topics. It is easy-to-read, fun, and doesn't have to be read all at once; you can pick it up for five or ten minutes, get one idea out of it, put it down, and come back for other five or ten minutes some other time. It's light reading about very difficult subjects, such as: is trying to save every single species necessarily a good thing? Is life really all that fragile? Is undisturbed nature the normal state of things? and twenty-three more insightful essays"-- "A discussion of ecology, environment, and misleading information that plagues the discussions of these topics"--
9781442244931
2016029462
Nature--Effect of human beings on.
Human ecology.
Environmental protection.
Global environmental change.
Environmental policy.
Nature conservation.
Electronic Books.
GF75 / .M984 2016
25 myths that are destroying the environment : what many environmentalists believe and why they are wrong / Twenty-five myths that are destroying the environment Daniel B. Botkin. - Lanham, Maryland : Taylor Trade Publishing, (c)2016. - 1 online resource
Includes bibliographical references.
Foreword; Introduction: Science, Religion, and Folkways; Myth 1 We Are the Only Species That Has Ever Had Global Effects on the Environment; Myth 2 Life Is Fragile, Requires Specific Conditions, and Can't Adjust Easily to Change; Myth 3 Extinction Is Unnatural and Bad, but Easy to Accomplish; Myth 4 The Balance of Nature Exists and Dominates All Life and All Environments; Myth 5 The Balance of Nature Is the Best and Only Condition for All Life; Myth 6 Beauty in Nature Only Happens in Areas Completely Undisturbed by Us. Myth 7 An Ecosystem Is Any Kind of Group, and a Biological Ecosystem Is a Fixed Group of SpeciesMyth 8 People Are Outside of Nature; Myth 9 The Only Reason to Conserve Nature: Every Species Has a Moral Right to Exist; Myth 10 People Have Changed the Environment Only Since the Industrial/Scientific Age; Myth 11 Without Human Interference, Earth's Climate Is Stable; Myth 12 People Are the Most Important Factor Determining Earth's Climate; Myth 13 Climate Change Will Lead to Huge Numbers of Extinctions; Myth 14 Recent Weather Is Proof of Long-Term Climate Change; Myth 15 Consensus Is Science. Myth 16 Computer Models Are TrueMyth 17 All Populations Are Always Bound to Grow So Rapidly That They Exceed the Ability of Their Environment to Support Them and Then Go Extinct. This Will Be the Inevitable Fate of the Human Population; Myth 18 Predators Are Absolutely Necessary to Control the Populations of Their Prey; Myth 19 Maximum Sustainable Yields Are Possible for Fish and All Wildlife; Myth 20 We Can't Do Much about Environmental Risks-From Smaller Ones like a Local River Flooding to Large Ones like Hurricanes; Myth 21 Smokey Bear Is Right: Only You Can Prevent Wildfires. Myth 22 Forests Are an Important Place for Long-Term Carbon StorageMyth 23 Solar and Wind Energy Require Huge Areas; Myth 24 Large-Scale Solar Energy Projects Work Only in Very Hot Climates; Myth 25 Compared to Climate Change, All Other Environmental Issues Are Minor; Final Overview; Endnotes.
"This is a book about ecology, environment, nature, and the misleading information that plagues the discussions of these topics. It is easy-to-read, fun, and doesn't have to be read all at once; you can pick it up for five or ten minutes, get one idea out of it, put it down, and come back for other five or ten minutes some other time. It's light reading about very difficult subjects, such as: is trying to save every single species necessarily a good thing? Is life really all that fragile? Is undisturbed nature the normal state of things? and twenty-three more insightful essays"-- "A discussion of ecology, environment, and misleading information that plagues the discussions of these topics"--
9781442244931
2016029462
Nature--Effect of human beings on.
Human ecology.
Environmental protection.
Global environmental change.
Environmental policy.
Nature conservation.
Electronic Books.
GF75 / .M984 2016