- Email: [email protected]
The Crowded Greenhouse: Population, Climate Change, and Creating a Sustainable World
512
Book reviews
associated with restoration. The third section logically follows by addressing the necessity to deal in the planning process with, for example, community concerns, since almost everyone in the community will be affected, either actively (hiking) or passively (driving by). The final section delves into the motivations and the psyche of those involved with ecological restoration. If there is any area of contention that I have with this volume, it is a noticeable lack of discussion on failed restoration projects and the cultural and social impact of such failures. Has this affected public opinion of ecological restoration? How have professionals and experts learned from these failures? But, overall Restoring Nature is an excellent volume that captures very well the social and cultural aspects of ecological restoration. This book will prove useful to anyone planning a restoration project, as well as to researchers and to students. Using the Chicago wilderness controversy gives the writers a common subject, which enables Restoring Nature to maintain a central theme throughout and provide a coherent connection between essays that is often lacking in similar types of collections. Jacob Glickel Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2003.07.004
The Crowded Greenhouse: Population, Climate Change, and Creating a Sustainable World John Firor and Judith E. Jacobsen, Yale University Press, New Haven, CN, 2002, ISBN 0-300-09320-9, xiii/237 pp This is a grim time for environmental scientists in the US. George Bush’s attempt to establish a new global American empire has proven to be a weapon of mass distraction, serving as a smokescreen for a successful war on the environment, women and civil rights. The population issue had already almost disappeared from the public radar screen in America, when the Bush administration restored the Mexico City policy and threw its weight behind attempts to limit women’s access to safe abortion. In
addition, one of the administration’s first moves was to pull out of the not-perfect-but-necessary Kyoto Protocol. It is a perfect time for a brief, authoritative book that ties together issues of population, climate change and equity and that is exactly what John Firor and Judith Jacobsen have written. The book covers changing issues and views on population policy, with a good summary of the connection between reproductive health and population policy and of the important 1994 Cairo conference. The complexity of population issues is well explained, as are the political impediments to getting more effective action on them in the US. Jacobsen gives sound advice to population activists */ such as to defer an immigration debate until later. Best of all, The Crowded Greenhouse says it straight out: Without reducing dramatically the amount of fossil fuel that each person uses, continued population growth accelerates climate change, as each new person adds more heattrapping substances to the atmosphere. (pp. 187/188). When was the last time you saw that connection made in the media? Indeed, when does anyone point out what the US’ contribution to climate change would be if it had the World War II population of :/145 million, rather than more than twice that number? The coverage of climate change is a fine overview for the layperson, making a complex scientific topic understandable. Among others, Firor covers such critical issues as the possibility of atmospheric nonlinearities producing sudden, even catastrophic climatic events (illustrated by the Younger Dryas); the ways in which climate models are validated (e.g. testing them against the results of the Pinatubo eruption); and the superiority of climate models over economic models (some of the latter produce questionably optimistic predictions of the costs of climate change). There is a good chapter on ‘Creating a Stable Atmosphere’ which concentrates, wisely in my view, on ‘getting the prices right’. How could a ‘free market’ */so extolled by Bush and his minions */work if our garbage were collected weekly at no charge regardless of the quantity? Yet, we dump health-damaging aerosols and climate-threa-
Book reviews
tening greenhouse gases by the megaton daily into the ‘atmospheric sewer’, with no dumping fee. There are few economic incentives to stop. If it were actually possible to get all prices right and it were accomplished, population and environment problems would disappear. Sadly, it is impossible. But even if we took some obvious steps to charge for our damages, many population and environment problems could be greatly diminished. Unhappily, that is not politically feasible with the current ‘leadership’, but we can get a lot closer than we do now, since in many cases we seem determined to get prices as wrong as possible! Importantly, The Crowded Greenhouse deals with some of the key equity issues that pervade the population /environment dimension of the human predicament, Years ago, Ehrlich et al., 1995 tried to bring them to greater public attention and failed miserably. I hope that Firor and Jacobsen will have better luck! What did I not like about the book? Very little. I wish it had covered the critical issues of overconsumption, the loss of biodiversity and the decay of ecosystem services. All three are tightly coupled with each other and with both overpopulation and climate change. It would also have been nice to see something on carrying capacity and optimum population size */ two difficult issues that should be faced nonetheless. But all of that would have made the book longer and more complex, where brief may be better. The book has a very level tone */ one that does not convey great urgency and that could be a problem. It will make the book more likely to convince some readers, but it will not attract the attention of others or of the media. How to present news about potential huge problems always presents environmental scientists with a dilemma of packaging */ should one be alarmist or calm? I think both approaches are needed (e.g. Schneider, 2002) and this is a fine example of the calm approach. In short, Firor and Jacobsen have combined their expertise in atmospheric science and demography seamlessly and produced a book of consensus science that should be read by every American. Unhappily it will not and many US citizens will continue to obtain their information on these crucial issues from ignorant talk show hosts and ‘contrarian’ scientists bought and paid for by industry and ideologues of entrepreneurial privilege. It is more
513
than a pity, it is a tragedy for our children and grandchildren, to say nothing of millions of species which derive no benefit from our abuse of the planetary commons
References Ehrlich, P.R., Ehrlich, A.H., Daily, G.C., 1995. The Stork and the Plow: the Equity Answer to the Human Dilemma. Putnam, New York. Schneider,S.H.,2002.KeepingOutoftheBox,AmericanScientist, Macroscope, November /December pp. 496 /498.
Paul R. Ehrlich Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Conservation Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020, USA E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2003.07.006
Ecoagriculture: Strategies to Feed the World and Save Wild Biodiversity Jeffrey A. McNeely and Sara J. Scherr, Island Press, Washington, DC, 2003, ISBN: 1-55963-6440, 313 pp McNeely and Scherr have coined the term ecoagriculture to describe agricultural systems that could be managed to lessen their impacts on the environment and conserve biodiversity. Other investigators have used such terms as ecological agriculture, agricultural ecology, sustainable agriculture and bio-agriculture, to describe similar areas. As the authors emphasize that agricultural production depends on all aspects of species biodiversity, including diverse crop plants, animals (livestock), and microbes (nitrogen fixers). The role of pollinators is discussed, especially how they are responsible for the productivity of about one-third of the US world food production. Also explained are the benefits of some biological control agents are noted in protecting some crops from pest insects and facilitating the control of several introduced weeds in pastures. I was disappointed that the authors did not mention the pioneer work of Dr I.N. Oka who made use of natural enemies in Indonesian rice produc-
Book reviews
associated with restoration. The third section logically follows by addressing the necessity to deal in the planning process with, for example, community concerns, since almost everyone in the community will be affected, either actively (hiking) or passively (driving by). The final section delves into the motivations and the psyche of those involved with ecological restoration. If there is any area of contention that I have with this volume, it is a noticeable lack of discussion on failed restoration projects and the cultural and social impact of such failures. Has this affected public opinion of ecological restoration? How have professionals and experts learned from these failures? But, overall Restoring Nature is an excellent volume that captures very well the social and cultural aspects of ecological restoration. This book will prove useful to anyone planning a restoration project, as well as to researchers and to students. Using the Chicago wilderness controversy gives the writers a common subject, which enables Restoring Nature to maintain a central theme throughout and provide a coherent connection between essays that is often lacking in similar types of collections. Jacob Glickel Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2003.07.004
The Crowded Greenhouse: Population, Climate Change, and Creating a Sustainable World John Firor and Judith E. Jacobsen, Yale University Press, New Haven, CN, 2002, ISBN 0-300-09320-9, xiii/237 pp This is a grim time for environmental scientists in the US. George Bush’s attempt to establish a new global American empire has proven to be a weapon of mass distraction, serving as a smokescreen for a successful war on the environment, women and civil rights. The population issue had already almost disappeared from the public radar screen in America, when the Bush administration restored the Mexico City policy and threw its weight behind attempts to limit women’s access to safe abortion. In
addition, one of the administration’s first moves was to pull out of the not-perfect-but-necessary Kyoto Protocol. It is a perfect time for a brief, authoritative book that ties together issues of population, climate change and equity and that is exactly what John Firor and Judith Jacobsen have written. The book covers changing issues and views on population policy, with a good summary of the connection between reproductive health and population policy and of the important 1994 Cairo conference. The complexity of population issues is well explained, as are the political impediments to getting more effective action on them in the US. Jacobsen gives sound advice to population activists */ such as to defer an immigration debate until later. Best of all, The Crowded Greenhouse says it straight out: Without reducing dramatically the amount of fossil fuel that each person uses, continued population growth accelerates climate change, as each new person adds more heattrapping substances to the atmosphere. (pp. 187/188). When was the last time you saw that connection made in the media? Indeed, when does anyone point out what the US’ contribution to climate change would be if it had the World War II population of :/145 million, rather than more than twice that number? The coverage of climate change is a fine overview for the layperson, making a complex scientific topic understandable. Among others, Firor covers such critical issues as the possibility of atmospheric nonlinearities producing sudden, even catastrophic climatic events (illustrated by the Younger Dryas); the ways in which climate models are validated (e.g. testing them against the results of the Pinatubo eruption); and the superiority of climate models over economic models (some of the latter produce questionably optimistic predictions of the costs of climate change). There is a good chapter on ‘Creating a Stable Atmosphere’ which concentrates, wisely in my view, on ‘getting the prices right’. How could a ‘free market’ */so extolled by Bush and his minions */work if our garbage were collected weekly at no charge regardless of the quantity? Yet, we dump health-damaging aerosols and climate-threa-
Book reviews
tening greenhouse gases by the megaton daily into the ‘atmospheric sewer’, with no dumping fee. There are few economic incentives to stop. If it were actually possible to get all prices right and it were accomplished, population and environment problems would disappear. Sadly, it is impossible. But even if we took some obvious steps to charge for our damages, many population and environment problems could be greatly diminished. Unhappily, that is not politically feasible with the current ‘leadership’, but we can get a lot closer than we do now, since in many cases we seem determined to get prices as wrong as possible! Importantly, The Crowded Greenhouse deals with some of the key equity issues that pervade the population /environment dimension of the human predicament, Years ago, Ehrlich et al., 1995 tried to bring them to greater public attention and failed miserably. I hope that Firor and Jacobsen will have better luck! What did I not like about the book? Very little. I wish it had covered the critical issues of overconsumption, the loss of biodiversity and the decay of ecosystem services. All three are tightly coupled with each other and with both overpopulation and climate change. It would also have been nice to see something on carrying capacity and optimum population size */ two difficult issues that should be faced nonetheless. But all of that would have made the book longer and more complex, where brief may be better. The book has a very level tone */ one that does not convey great urgency and that could be a problem. It will make the book more likely to convince some readers, but it will not attract the attention of others or of the media. How to present news about potential huge problems always presents environmental scientists with a dilemma of packaging */ should one be alarmist or calm? I think both approaches are needed (e.g. Schneider, 2002) and this is a fine example of the calm approach. In short, Firor and Jacobsen have combined their expertise in atmospheric science and demography seamlessly and produced a book of consensus science that should be read by every American. Unhappily it will not and many US citizens will continue to obtain their information on these crucial issues from ignorant talk show hosts and ‘contrarian’ scientists bought and paid for by industry and ideologues of entrepreneurial privilege. It is more
513
than a pity, it is a tragedy for our children and grandchildren, to say nothing of millions of species which derive no benefit from our abuse of the planetary commons
References Ehrlich, P.R., Ehrlich, A.H., Daily, G.C., 1995. The Stork and the Plow: the Equity Answer to the Human Dilemma. Putnam, New York. Schneider,S.H.,2002.KeepingOutoftheBox,AmericanScientist, Macroscope, November /December pp. 496 /498.
Paul R. Ehrlich Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Conservation Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020, USA E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2003.07.006
Ecoagriculture: Strategies to Feed the World and Save Wild Biodiversity Jeffrey A. McNeely and Sara J. Scherr, Island Press, Washington, DC, 2003, ISBN: 1-55963-6440, 313 pp McNeely and Scherr have coined the term ecoagriculture to describe agricultural systems that could be managed to lessen their impacts on the environment and conserve biodiversity. Other investigators have used such terms as ecological agriculture, agricultural ecology, sustainable agriculture and bio-agriculture, to describe similar areas. As the authors emphasize that agricultural production depends on all aspects of species biodiversity, including diverse crop plants, animals (livestock), and microbes (nitrogen fixers). The role of pollinators is discussed, especially how they are responsible for the productivity of about one-third of the US world food production. Also explained are the benefits of some biological control agents are noted in protecting some crops from pest insects and facilitating the control of several introduced weeds in pastures. I was disappointed that the authors did not mention the pioneer work of Dr I.N. Oka who made use of natural enemies in Indonesian rice produc-