Waubonsee Community College

The unnatural world, the race to remake civilization in Earth's newest age, David Biello

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-275) and index

no index present

non fiction

The unnatural world

953258110

David Biello

the race to remake civilization in Earth's newest age

An environmental journalist examines the world humanity has created through climate change and chronicles the scientists, billionaires, and ordinary people who are working toward saving the planet"Civilization is in crisis, facing disasters of our own making on the only planet known to bear life in the vast void of the universe. All of our impacts on the planet have ushered in what qualifies as a new geologic epoch, the Anthropocene, thanks to global warming, mass extinction, and such technologies as nuclear weapons and plastics. We have become unwitting gardeners of the Earth, not in control but setting the conditions under which all of life flourishes-or not. The Unnatural World examines the biosphere we have cultivated and uncovers the glimmers of hope emerging from the efforts of incredible individuals seeking to change our future. Truly, it's survival of the innovators, and the band of unlikely heroes introduced here includes a scientist experimenting with ocean fertilization to fight global warming, a pigeon obsessive bent on resurrecting the extinct passenger pigeon, and a low-level government functionary in China cleaning up his industrial city, along with many others. These scientists, billionaires, and ordinary people are all working toward saving the best home humanity is ever likely to have. The Unnatural World is a guidebook to a future in which we become better stewards of the planet, capable of thriving alongside a profusion of plants, animals, and other living things. As Biello shows, if we remake our civilization on a global scale to create a better environment for all, the current era of human influence need not lead to the end of the world--just the end of the world as we know it."--Jacket

Part I: Alter Earth. Iron rules ; Written in stone -- Part II: Terra incognita. Ground work ; Big death ; The people's epoch -- Part III: A better Anthropocene. City folks ; The long thaw ; The final frontier