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This paper examines an important new debate over the impact of environmental issues on security in Pacific Asia, and asks whether pollution, population growth, and scarcity of "renewable" resources, i.e. fish and forests. can cause conflict. ... Read more

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Travellers pass through one jaw-dropping landscape after another where the snowy San Juan Mountains meet the canyon and mesa country of the Colorado Plateau in southwestern Colorado. Yet this small but remarkably varied region also plainly reveals a history of hard use, including logging scars, mine-polluted rivers, and overgrazed grasslands and forests. In The Nature of Southwestern Colorado, Deborah D. Paulson and William L. Baker guide readers through this awe-inspiring land and its human legacies, describing in detail the ecology of its six sub-regions, showing readers how to recognise human influences on the flora and fauna, and discussing current trends. Although some of the policies and attitudes in southwestern Colorado continue to harm the natural world, a number of community projects suggest a promising future.Examining these trends, the authors search for signs of a new relationship between people and nature emerging here, one that enables people to protect, restore, and coexist with the wild. ... Read more

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A lively study of the relationship between predator and prey
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Customer Reviews (2)

An academic classic
This is a great book if you are interested in the academic study of wolves.It can be a bit dry if you are not used to academic prose, though this didn't bother me (I'm an academic in a different field).Allen's text is enriched by extensive charts, figures, and BW photos.On the down side, he spends more time than I would like on non-wolf topics and on the logistics of the long-term wolf study on Isle Royale.I would also have liked more comparisons with wolves living elsewhere in North America as the Isle Royale environment has its peculiarities.
Criticisms aside, it's a very good book and I almost gave it five stars.

This is a wonderful book!
I read this book years ago when it was first published in hardcover.It was the best book on wolves I have ever read.The fact that it is scientifically accurate actually made it more readable, not the least bitdry or dull.The wolves are complex, intelligent creatures that you cometo admire even more as you read about their elaborate social rituals.I ambuying this book for the second time! ... Read more

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Ranging from prehistory to the present and encompassing the whole of South Asia, this new volume offers the first chronological history of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka from the perspective of the crucial reciprocal relationship between humankind and the environment.

South Asia: An Environmental History shows how the civilizations of this geographically diverse region were formed (physically, ethically, and culturally) by their interactions with the environment—a relationship with particularly strong social and spiritual dimensions because of the interdependence of the predominantly agrarian population and the land. Specific topics range from ancient irrigation techniques and peasant adaptation to the environment, to the impact of imperialism on nature, the effect of post-colonial technology on contemporary life, and the enduring influence of religion on the way South Asian societies address ecological issues.

Customer Reviews (1)

An Excellent Book
Christopher V. Hill's book is an excellent example of how high level ideas can be portrayed in a completely readable and enjoyable format without sacrificing the content at all.His talent as a writer is clear, as is his high level of expertise on the subject.He does not hide behind overly postmodern or scientific jargon and he presents a very nuanced and cogent account of the environmental history of South Asia.His case studies are phenomenal, and he makes very complex material understandable and clear. I find this book useful for those interested in environmental history (he provides plenty of context and explanation for those who are not experts in this part of the world) and those interested in South Asian history (this presents a perspective not often provided in historical analyses). Thus, this would make an interesting text for an environmental history course or a South Asia course.It is also perfectly accessible for the casual reader. ... Read more

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Chief Seattle's impassioned plea to respect the "Sacred Web of Life" has been translated worldwide and has become a rallying cry for the environmental movement. But what did he really say? This edition features the version of Chief Seattle's speech that the Suquamish elders from Seattle's tribe include in their oral tradition, and gives valuable insight into the three most often quoted speeches attributed to Chief Seattle.. This revised edition also includes background information on Chief Seattle, the history of the region at the time, and the culture of the Suquamish then and now. Includes rare photographs from the Suquamish Tribal Archives of 19th century village life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A rallying cry for today's environmental protection movement
Chief Seattle, leader of the Seattle Native American tribe called the Suquamish, gave an eloquent speech to Isaac Stevens, the Territorial Governor on January 10, 1854 during treaty negotiations. His impassioned and moving plea to respect the "Sacred Web of Life" has been translated world wide and is a rallying cry for today's environmental protection movement. Now in a newly revised edition, How Can One Sell The Air?: Chief Seattle's Vision presents his timeless insights drawn from three of his most often quoted speeches, some of which had been included in the Seattle tribe's oral tradition and to which they gave their official endorsement for authenticity. This expanded addition for a new generation of readers is enhanced with background information on Chief Seattle, the history of the region at that time, and the culture of the Suquamish then and now. The informed and informative text is enriched with rare historical photographs (many from the Suquamish Tribal Archives) of 19th century tribal village life. How Can One Sell The Air? is an essential addition to any personal, academic, or community library Native American Studies collection.

How can one sell the air?: Chief Seattles's Vision
Does it make any sense to discuss whether the speech is originally written by Chief Seattle or not? The most importent sense is to get thoughts we - the Europeans and the Not-native Americans - have lost in organizing ourmodern civilization and technics. By the speech of Chief Seattle we canfind back to mankind's roots.

Chief Seattle challenges people to stop abusing the earth
The great speech by Chief Seattle is in pointed contrast to the slanders of uptight white males who want to pretend he didn't say these things. As a feminist who is challenging patriarchal oppressions of the enviornment, Ifind Chief Seattle's words a great inspiration to me.

Sound environmentalism but nothing to do with Chief Seattle
This text is one of a number of environmental pleas which are variations on a speech written by a european american in the early 1970s for a film.The speech was erroneously attributed to Duwamish/Suquamish Chief Seattle?-1866.An article purporting to be the text of a speech from Seattle toTerritorial Gov. Isac Stevens in 1854 appeared in a Seattle newspaper in1878 - It is accepted by many scholars, including the Suquamish TribalMuseum, as an Americanized translation of an actual oration.Probably,this text was the inspiration for the 1973 film script speech, but the twohave nothing in common and are frequently in direct opposition.The1854/1878 text is not an environmental treatise.The 1973 text is not"another Seattle speech" - it is patently bogus, since we knowits origin and it includes things (railroads in washington, buffaloslaughter from trains) which hadn't happened in 1854, indeed until afterSeattle's death.This is a great text, but it does no service toenvironmentalism, scholarship, or the memory of this Puget Sound leader tosell books having nothing to do with him by attaching his name. Incidentally, this mis-attribution has been known for years - why doreputable booksellers continue to promote it? ... Read more

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This study deals with complexity and uncertainty, therebyfocusing on appropriate methods which enable vulnerable communities tocope effectively with natural hazards and disasters. The central goalof the study is an applicable combination of hazard management anddevelopment planning. Therefore, the reconstruction process followinga disaster is understood as an opportunity for structural changes andself-organisation processes that can foster sustainabledevelopment. In this context the potential of scenario planning as anevolutionary and participatory learning approach is addressed. Theempirical research concentrates on the time before and during thevolcanic crisis on the Caribbean island Montserrat. Particular methodsused are a systematic analysis of the case study, more than 200interviews with stakeholders and citizens - concentrating on resourceand hazard perception - as well as the organisation and execution ofvarious scenario workshops. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Living with the Unexpected
Living with the Unexpected is an interesting attempt to examine the continuing volcanic emergency on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, whichbegan in 1995, within the twin contexts of the latest developments in thesocial theory of disasters and sustainable development. Anja Possekel wasawarded a doctorate from the University of Hamburg in 1998, and Living withthe Unexpected represents a development of ideas contained in her thesis.

Following an introductory section, in Chapter 2 the author providesa fine and detailed overview of hazard theory. Some of the material has afamiliar ring as the author discusses issues such as: the distinctionbetween hazards and disasters and differing approaches to hazard research.Here a well-known cast list of authors makes an appearance as the authorcontrasts the approaches adopted by the 'founding fathers' of hazardresearch (e.g. Burton, Kates and White), with more recent developmentassociated with such authors as Hewitt, Susman, Blaikie, Mitchell and Palm.Since much of this material is probably well known to potential readers,much more severe editing could have been carried out, without any sacrificein clarity. A welcome innovation is that the author also and for the firsttime in context of volcanic hazards, examines recent developments incomplexity and uncertainty theory and links these to a discussion of chaos.For the present reviewer, this section provided an excellent primer tothese increasing prominent themes in disaster theory and of itself wouldjustify library purchase of this volume. Chapter 3, which is devoted tostrategic planning in disaster zones, also has a theoretical hue. Again thequality of the reviewing is exemplary and, what is particularly noteworthy,is the careful discussion of both the potentials and possible pitfalls ofscenario planning. The latter as many practising hazard analysts can attestare often forgotten.

Much has been written about the 1995 eruptionof Montserrat, but much of this literature is located in specialisedjournals and unpublished reports. Anja Possekel is to be congratulated forcompiling and editing this material so effectively. Entitled, Montserrat -A Complex System, Chapter 4 first examines Montserrat before the volcaniccrisis using notions of certainty and uncertainty as a framework, theauthor goes on to look at the severe impact of the disaster on the islandand, in Chapter 5, outlines various strategies for reconstruction andrecovery. A real and welcome innovation of Possekel's work is that herdiscussion does not conclude at this point, but continues and examinesrecovery scenarios through a number of workshops attended by both localcitizens and decision makers. The author concludes (page 262), that in thecontext of Montserrat 'resilience is the normative goal of sustainability,whilst sustainability is the process that eventually leads to resilience'.More specifically what us required is a scenario to: 'reduce vulnerability;improve the quality of life, especially with reference to the environment,education, economy and social health care; encourage the partnershipbetween .... individuals, the private sector, NGOs and governments; (andto) blend planning and management'. The author suggest a scenario toachieve these goals, which is acceptable to local people.

Unlikemany academic texts, I enjoyed reading Living with the Unexpected and,indeed, read most of it in one session. Although probably too expensive forpurchase by any but the most affluent academic, Anja Possekel's book is anessential library purchase for institutions of higher education andgovernment departments. It is a ground breaking work of applied scholarshipand is highly recommended.

Montserrat's predicament - the comprehensive picture
This carefully written, 287-page hardback book illustrated with many photographs, maps, and charts - a factual book which will appeal particularly to those with a professional, academic, or personal interestin Montserrat's economy, geography, and future development, as well as topeople who may be involved in preparation for other potential disasterselsewhere. I don't think it is possible to find a better comprehensivesummary of Montserrat's current situation anywhere.

It opens with threechapters which set the stage, rather than being focused on Montserratspecifically. These are of more interest to professional geographers,social scientists, or economists. First, it places Montserrat in thecontext of the United Nations' International Decade for Natural DisasterReduction. The second chapter outlines the theoretical basis of the study,discussing the principle of sustainable development, the nature ofcomplexity and uncertainty, the uses of systems theory, and the tasks ofhazard management and hazard planning. Chapter 3 discusses strategicplanning in general, and the use of the scenarios in this - the heading tothis chapter quotes Pericles: "It is less important to foresee thefuture than to be prepared for it" - a dictum which would serveeveryone well who lives in areas at risk of hurricanes, volcanoes,earthquakes, and floods!

The fourth chapter gets into the meat of thesubject of Montserrat, starting with a comprehensive description ofMontserrat. It quotes Davy (John Davy from 1854? The reference is notincluded in the bibliography):

"No island in these seas is bolderin its general aspect, more picturesque and I think I might add withoutexaggeration, more beautiful in the detail of its scenery - indeed might betempted to say considering its fortunes, that it has the fatal gift ofbeauty".

The settlement, geological, and ecological maps ofMontserrat are excellent, and the summary of Montserrat's history frompre-Columbian times, through a detailed description of the recovery fromHugo, up to the present, is very informative - it includes details andhistories of the social, demographic, economic and political structure ofMontserrat which are summarized better than I have ever seen elsewhere(where else can you find a diagram of the political structure ofMontserrat, with the names and village of origin of every senior civilservant and the location of the 23 departments under the four ministries?).This chapter, like much of the book, also reports the findings of surveysand interviews conducted with a substantial number of people inMontserrat.

The chapter gives a blow-by-blow (or should I sayflow-by-flow?) account of each stage of the volcanic crisis, withreproductions of every one of the series of risk zone maps produced by theMVO, together with an account of the economic, social, and politicalupheavals, and several photographs by the author, Doug Darby, David Lea andothers. For anyone who wants a review and summary of the events, this mustbe the best account yet, and it combines on-island and off-island sourcesin a very useful way - with quotations from interviews with ordinarypeople, lyrics by Arrow, Cupid, and Rachel Collis, poems, and charts toboot!

Chapter 5 sets the scene for the author's "scenarios"methodology in hazard management, and Chapter 6 starts by describing a"dry run" of this methodology using a group in Hamburg, before itgets down to the nitty-gritty, exploring the different developmentscenarios envisioned for Montserrat by a varied group of Montserratians whowere convened for the purpose. The scenarios included such varied vision asMontserrat as "the small Caribbean Jaguar", "Business asusual" (if only that were possible! It is accompanied by a drawing oftaxi drivers playing dominoes by the War Memorial) and "SustainableDevelopment". Political scenarios, including independence or closerintegration with the UK are also explored.

I'm not a geographer, aneconomist, or a planner, so I don't feel equipped to pass judgement on thisbook in any way. I'm left with the feeling that there are some greattechniques and great ideas out there, but that the powers that be inMontserrat - and indeed the people as a whole - are just going to"muddle through", and that without deciding on even one of thepossible scenarios or road maps outlined in this book, Montserrat will justflounder, economically, politically, socially, and environmentally. If acountry does not know where it wants to go, it is unlikely to get there,and I see no sign that there has been much thought to where the countrywants to do, all the platitudes of the Strategic Development Plannotwithstanding. A book of this sort does not have the immediacy or focusof something as specific as the Wadge report, but that makes it no lessimportant, but I think it will be relegated to the same dusty shelf as theWadge report was, and with the same kind of consequences. ... Read more

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This book discusses the basic and urgent issue of "Nature and Human Communities" in the historical and social background of Asia. The issue deals with the problems of coexistence among human beings (Part 1) as well as coexistence between human beings and nature (Part 2). The volume aims to contribute to global tackling of these problems by focussing on local/regional commitments to solve the problems and integrating specialized knowledge. It considers the kind of relationship between human communities and nature that may lead to a more balanced, sustainable future for both.

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The current gap between scientific knowledge and practitioners' needs in addressing climate adaptation and mitigation is due to one-dimensional assessments of climate change impacts that create narrowly focused-policies. These policies provide insufficient guidance for long-term development addressing diversity of local circumstances.

This special issue of Climate Policy will address a new area of current climate change research focused on linkages between climate change and sustainable development at the level of conceptual framework and methods. In particular, the papers address in an integrated way local development options involving both adaptation and mitigation in order to promote resilience to the climate change on human and natural systems. The special issue will provide policy and methodological guidelines for linking local development pathways with responses to climate change based on the collaboration between local practitioners, public and scientists, in order to translate scientific information relevant for the users, and conduct research that reflects local realities.
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A comprehensive tour d'horizon of the debate on the environmentand security, focusing on the various policy options for buildingpeace and preventing environmental conflict. Experts from the areassurvey the key environmental challenges in Eastern and CentralEuropean states and those of the former Soviet Union, extending thedebate to such regions as the Balkans, the Black Sea and CentralEurope. This is the first time such extensive case study research hasbeen reported for these regions. Both practical and theoretical approaches to the debate are presented,within a multi-disciplinary framework, the contributors ranging fromacademic experts involved with peace and conflict research to actualpolicy makers active in the fields of environmental and securitypolicy. Readership: Experts already working in the relevant disciplines,both academic and governmental, as well as those seeking anintroduction to the various policy fields. A graduate-level studytext, excellent survey for policy makers and an academic contributionto ongoing studies. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Nature and humans on the Georgia coast
In "What Nature Suffers to Groe," historian Mart Stewart has crafted a superb and a prize-winning book!

The general reader interested in the fascinating and complex relationship between nature and culture will delight in this book.Professor Stewart writes clearly with careful attention to detail.He provides a nuanced understanding of the many ways economic, social, and environmental interactions re-shaped one another along the Georgia coast from 1680 to 1920.For those interested in environmental history, in Southern history, in cultural and racial narrative, or for those who seek a skillfully and persuasively told story of humans' complicated attempts to shape the natural world long before the Army Corps and Katrina, I commend this book to you.

And for scholars interested in solid research, consider what Harvard professor John Stilgoe commented to me:"This book has some of the finest footnotes I've ever read."But the bottom line for everyone is that this is a damn good story told by a first-rate historian, and you'll enjoy reading it!

Ted Fitts
Boston University
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All forms of tourism have impacts on the natural environment. The impacts of ecotourism tend to be concentrated in areas of highest conservation value, hence the need to manage and minimize these. The book considers impacts of particular activities, such as hiking and camping, off-road vehicles, and recreational boats, and impacts specific to certain ecosystems e.g. marine environments, polar coasts, mountain environments. It incorporates reviews of better-studied impacts, by well-known experts; and case studies of recent research and less well-known issues. ... Read more

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This volume presents a set of coherent, cross-referenced perspectives on incorporating the spatial representation andanalytical power of GIS with agent-based modelling of evolutionary and non-linear processes and phenomena. Many recent advances in software algorithms for incorporating geographic data in modeling social and ecological behaviors, and successes in applying such algorithms, had not been adequately reported in the literature. This book seeks to serve as the standard guide to this broad area. ... Read more

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This book presents a novel approach in the field of global change by presenting a comprehensive analysis of interhemispheric linkages of climate, present and past, and their effects on human societies.
The ultimate goal of this interhemispheric integration is to improve our understanding of causes and mechanisms of climate change to enhance our capability in predicting future changes.
Given the societal interest in global change issues this book offers a new approach for the integration of global information.
It will provide a reference for professional scientists, researchers and graduate students in the fields of climatology, and the earth and environmental sciences.

* Chapters analyse instrumental atmospheric and oceanic data to address such phenomena as El Nino/Southern Oscillation variability and other climate anomalies such as the Pacific and North Atlantic Oscillation and polar air outbreaks
* *A new systematic methodology is presented that allows objective and verifiable reconstruction of climate fields from sparse data
* *Especially valuable in the context of climate proxy data. ... Read more

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Kent Ryden does not deny that the natural landscape ofNew England is shaped by many centuries of human manipulation, but healso takes the view that nature is everywhere, close to home as wellas in more remote wilderness, in the city and in the countryside. InLandscape with Figures he dissolves the border between cultureand nature to merge ideas about nature, experiences in nature, andmaterial alterations of nature.

Ryden takes his readers from the printed page directly to the field andback again-. He often bypasses books and goes to the trees from whichthey are made and the landscapes they evoke, then returns with arenewed appreciation for just what an interdisciplinary, historicallyinformed approach can bring to our understanding of the naturalworld. By exploring McPhee's The Pine Barrens and Ehrlich'sThe Solace of Open Spaces, the coastal fiction of New England,surveying and Thoreau's The Maine Woods, Maine's abandonedCumberland and Oxford Canal, and the natural bases for New England'shistorical identity, Ryden demonstrates again and again that natureand history are kaleidoscopically linked. ... Read more

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Sellafield is a dangerous and dirty nuclear facility. Irish people feared it even before the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001. Now, as terrorist strikes on nuclear power plants become a real possibility, the government of Ireland is taking international legal action to have Sellafield closed down. But what exactly is Sellfield? And how dangerous is nuclear power in normal circumstances? And why does the Irish government believe that it may yet force the government of the United Kingdom to shut Sellafield? In this book, Colum Kenny looks at the issues involved. What is the Irish case against British Nuclear Fuels? How dirty is Sellafield and what really goes on there? Does the close relationship between the administrations of George Bush and Tony Blair make it more likely than not that Sellafield will be kept open? Who exactly regulates the nuclear industry in the United Kingdom? Why is Britain reprocessing nuclear fuel when there are no new British nuclear power plants in the pipeline? And what is to be done with the mountains of radioactive waste that have continued to accumulate to this day?From the race for a British atomic bomb to the current battles for and against nuclear power, Kenny highlights the legacy of bad planning and strategic thinking that has made Sellafield a sore point in Anglo-Irish relations. His account is fair and concise and will be a useful reference point for all those who care about the future of the planet. ... Read more

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Equipped with useful charts and thought-provoking illustrations, this book introduces a revolutionary new way to determine humanity's impact on the Earth and presents an exciting and powerful tool for measuring and visualizing the resources required to sustain households, communities, regions, and nations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

The unsustainability of capitalism illustrated with sharp numbers
The GNP is a downright stupid way to measure the economic activity of a society, since the GNP really measures the destruction of nature.A tree is worth 0 USD until it is cut and sold as wood.A whale is worth 0 USD until it is caught and cut to pieces.What capitalism leaves behind is a total depletion of natural resources, and this is what we then call "progress" or "welfare".The authors lead us back to the basics, when they state : "We do not have a body, we are a body; we are not surrounded by an "environment"; we are an intimate part of the ecosphere."Therefore, they introduce an alternative indicator to the GNP, the Ecological Footprint (EF), which is certainly a much more intelligent way of measuring what finally really supports humankind.The EF "is estimated by calculating how much land and water area is required on a continuous basis to produce all the goods consumed, and to assimilate all wastes generated, by that population."

This is probably the greatest breakthrough in economic thought of the 20th century (however, it has not been rewarded with a Nobel prize, since those are only given to economists following mainstream capitalist dogma's, even if mainstream thinking means heading for doom, and heading fast).

The authors call our attention to the fact that the EF has been changing throughout human history, with an exponential increase in the 20th century.In 1900 the US had an EF of about 1 ha/cap.This rose to about 2 ha/cap around 1950.In 1995 the US reached 5.1 ha/cap, showing a deficit of 80 % of its productive land surface.Japan has even a bigger deficit, requiring 8 times more than its net productive land surface to sustain its current production and consumption level.In this way, the EF also measures how "developed" countries depend on the "Third World" to sustain their production and consumption.

The last 15 years we entered a new phase in capitalist development, with China and India trying to catch up with the western way of life.The authors warn us : "If everybody lived like today's North Americans, it would take at least two additional planet Earths to produce the resources, absorb the wastes, and otherwise maintain life-support. Unfortunately, good planets are hard to find..."The ecological carrying-capacity of spaceship Earth is limited."Beyond a certain point, the material growth of the world economy can be purchased only at the expense of depleting natural capital and undermining the life-support services upon which we all depend."What capitalism believes in, money, is - in the end - totally worthless.You can't eat dollars, euros nor yens.The only real assets we have, as humankind, are oceans full of life, uncut tropical forests acting as the lungs of the planet, and fertile agricultural land.If we continue to fish beyond sustainability, if we continue cutting tropical forests, if we continue farming producing erosion, and above all, if we continue to believe that we really produce value in this way (in the form of money), we will end up totally broke.

We should stop pretending to be homo sapiens and behave like fools !We should begin acting in a wise way !The solutions are really simple.It means transforming our consumption in a sustainable way, at all levels.A lot can be done at a personal level.It means producing your own electricity with solar panels.It means reducing your dependence on fossil fuels by transforming your home in a passive solar house.It means driving an electric car (Fiat will launch the Phylla with solar panels incorporated in the vehicle in 2010).It means buying organics, so that you not only help to sustain pesticide-free agriculture, fertilized with nutrient-rich compost, but even improve your health.

Measuring ourselves
This wonderful little book presents an excellent tool for evaluating human impact on our planet. The idea is simple but the ramifications are profound. We each require a certain amount of land area to provide the wherewithal to continue living. The requisite area depends first on absolute needs and expands depending upon other consumption. This space requirement is our ecological footprint. When that idea is extended to cities or countries we can get a clear picture of a culture's impact on the planet. Using this lens we find that the North American per capita footprint is over ten times that of India with the other Western industrial nations clustered near our end of the scale. As we are often reminded, if our consumption patterns were to be implemented world wide, we would need a few extra planet's worth of land and resources. The dilemma facing us in the very near future is how to reduce our current footprint, allow space for improvement in the lives of the one billion persons living in absolute poverty, and preserve some vestige of the natural world as both an ecologic shock absorber and inspirational wellspring. The authors suggest that one way to make impact more tangible is to work from a standpoint of "fair share," our footprint size in an equitably apportioned world. They estimate that after subtracting ice caps, oceans, deserts and mountains, and setting aside current wilderness areas as critical to ecologic stability, there are 8.9 billion hectares of land on earth available for human support. Our per capita share of that number has fallen from 5-6 hectares in 1900 to 1.5 today. Americans each currently command 4.3 hectares worth of goods and services. (A daily newspaper alone consumes 10% of an individual's fair share. Commuting alone by auto is off the chart.) The good news is that standard of living and resource consumption do not move in lockstep. We can do more with less, and the whole notion of a sustainable future depends on how well and how quickly we move in that direction. The bad news is that we have to move very fast. OUR ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT provides a fine perspective for evaluating and changing your own lifestyle, and should be a required reference for policy makers around the globe.

Interesting and important piece of work
Our Ecological Footprint cuts through the talk about sustainability and introduces a revolutionary new way to determine humanity's impact on the Earth.It presents an exciting and powerful tool for measuring and visualizing the resources required to sustain our household, communities, regions and nations.Equipped with useful charts and throught-provoking illustrations, our Ecological Footprint converts the seemingly complex concepts of carrying capacity, sustainability, resource use, waste disposal, and more into a graphic form that everyone can grasp and utilize.

The book that started the ball rolling
Back when Rees and Wackernagel wrote Our Ecological Footprint, no one was looking at the problem in that way.

Now that everyone has jumped on the "our-planet-is-finite" bandwagon, we need to be reminded that this is where it started.

Much research has been done since it came out, and some of the figures will no doubt be out of date, but it still belongs in every environmentally conscious person's collection. Buy it while you can!

G. Bisaillon

A must reading for anyone worried about the Earth's biosphere.
During the past half a century human beings have been
multiplying at such a rate that the number of humans on Earth has
more than TRIPPLED !Also, the "well to do" section of humanity hasbeen increasing constantly their desire to have a bigger and bigger share of Erth's "goodies".The unfortunate result of these two factors has DEVESTATED the Earth's environment to the point of collapse.This book, which is written in a language which anyone can understand clearly, gives an excellent account of such important items like "true sustainability", HUMAN footprint on the biosphere, and what will happen if we all do not start realizing that we have already exceeded the Earth's capacity to carry us by 200 to 300 % !!So, please READ IT ! ... Read more

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Presently in Yellowstone there are almost 200 active research permits involving over 500 investigators, but only a small fraction of this scientific work is reported in the popular press. Knowing Yellowstone explains the general issues associated with the region and how science is done to understand those issues, from wolf and grizzly bear research to thermal activity, further describing how science informs policy in the region, and how the nature of their work enables or limits future plans for managing the park. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

a 1991 classic introduction to biogregionalism
Weary of the American dream, of the nightmarish destination of the natural world, I looked for another way of life and discovered bioregionalism. All sources pointed to this book, a 1991 classic introduction. And rightly so: it covers the economic, political, and societal necessities for change: things that have not gone of out date over the past two decades. The fact is our planet cannot sustain the American consumerist lifestyle for six-plus billion people. This book presents a better way.

an antidote to rootlessness
If you've come to suspect that most of the world's problems--pollution, warfare, crime, transnational piracy, mental illness--are inherent in a civilization in decline, you might like this vision of small, face-to-face communities living in respectful accord with the natural world.

The author makes the same point as ecopsychologists and the great whale researcher Roger Payne:built by millions of years of evolution to live in close contact with the wilderness, we who have penned ourselves behind fences and buildings carry with us a ten-thousand-year-old wound....a self-inflicted wound of aching alienation (hence our tendency to alienate--to marginalize--other people).

Read this book, then tour the decidedly un-zoolike San Diego Wild Animal Park while seeing how you feel there.For some this might offer a glimpse of a sanity so centering that you can feel it throughout your body.

A remedy for short-sighted environmental policies
Kirkpatrick Sale has written a vision of the future that should be drilled into politicians' subconscious and taught in grade school. Sustainable, sane, ecologically minded bioregions. I was particularly struck by hisdefinition of "querencia"--"a deep, quiet sense of innerwell-being that comes from knowing a particular place of the earth, itsdiurnal and seasonal patterns, its fruits and scents, its history and itspart in your history . . . where, whenever you return to it, your soulreleases an inner sigh of recognition and relaxation." Sale is awonderful writer, balanced in perspective, and able to distill complexproblems into a form that the average mind can comprehend, despite all thearguments pro and con. Read it. ... Read more