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The population explosion
ecological diversity has replaced the strict biological connotations of biodiversity, and landscape ecologists have also introduced considerations of landscape heterogeneity. Preserving or restoring landscapes, rather than individual species, has become the focus of efforts to preserve biodiversity. Evidence of landscape degradation in the eastern Amazon was cited by Christopher Uhl, who studies economically viable alternatives to destructive forest-management practices. Tropical ecosystems are currently the focus of attempts to preserve biodiversity, but Leslie Sauer pointed out that the issue was not limited to the tropics. She noted that most of the eastern deciduous forest of the USA had already been eliminated due to human disturbance. Sauer suggested that a programme to save this forest involves initiating management plans on all scales, from home gardens to national parks, with a focus on restoration. In a talk on the greenhouse effect and biodiversity, Robert Peters also highlighted the importance of the landscape as a scale of analysis. He commented that previous natural climate changes had caused large-scale geographical shifts and changes in species composition as well as extinctions. Peters recommended that present conservation policies be re-evaluated to ensure that ecosystems could respond adequately to changes of climate.
Preserving biodiversity Several initiatives were suggested for preserving biodiversity. John Cairns emphasized the need for new technologies and a new relationship between technology and natural systems. The appropriate use of technology was also underscored by Christopher Uhl, who argued that sustainable development would remain a remote goal until there was a new understanding of the relationship between natural resources and long-term development. In addition to technological alternatives and improved resource management practices, Michael Bean suggested that there was a need to establish new law and national policies on the conservation of biodiversity.
GLOBAL
ENVIRONMENTAL
However, Rupert Cutler stressed that legislation alone was inadequate and that there needed to be a greater role for private environmental organizations with grass-roots volunteer activist constituencies. The closing statement was made by Ke Chung King, Director of the Biodiversity Center and principal organizer of the conference. He commented that technological advancement had improved human well-being since the Industrial Revolution, but it was now contributing to the deterioration - perhaps even the extinction - of life on Earth. He also expected that trends of resource depletion would accelerate as consumer-oriented market economies replaced Marxist/ Leninist regimes in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. The conference provided a rich diversity of academic viewpoints, but it
omitted some significant perspectives. For example, all speakers were North American, or had been trained in North American institutions. Another missing element of the symposium was a discussion of the relationship between environmental and economic history. In our opinion it is important not to approach the topic of ecological destruction as something essentially new, the newest criterion that needs to be managed. We believe that it is important to incorporate a perspective of environmental history to understand that massive ecological degradation is an integral part of the routine economic history of the past 200 years. Lakshman
S. Yapa and Karen O’Brien Department of Geography Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania, USA
Book reviews Overpopulation expldsbn THE POPULATION by Paul Ehrlich
R.
Ehrlich
- in the wake of the
EXPLOSION and
Anne
H.
Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 1990, 320 pp, $18.95 The Ehrlichs argue that the world’s population time bomb has exploded. No longer is there an impending disaster, as there was in 1968 when The Populurion Bomb was written. Today, with 5.3 billion people, the bomb has detonated and we are witnessing the effects of our failure to contain our numbers. The loss of topsoils, African famine, depletion of groundwater and the ozone layer, air and water pollution, global warming, acid rain, and even the AIDS epidemic are put forth as clear signs that the earth is overpoulated and heading for even worse times ahead. This is an emotional book about an emotional subject. It begins with a feeling of hysteria, points fingers at
CHANGE
March
1991
politicians, economists and, of course, the Vatican for the problems of overpopulation. It then proceeds methodically through a series of global and regional problems, presenting the worst possible scenario for each. The book winds up by presenting hope for all these doomsday predictions. Not surprisingly, the answer is an immediate halt to world population growth, followed by gradual population reduction. There is a theme that pops up again and again throughout the book: Influence = Population x Affluence x Technology (I=PAT). The theme surfaces several times in the first few chapters, but is not explained until page 123. Those not familiar with the concept may find this editorial error a little annoying. The theme, however, is important and is used to point out that overpopulation is not just an African or Asian problem. One affluent American child consumes far more resources than ten children born in the Third World. In terms of resources,
169
Book
re\,irws
then, overpopulation in wealthy nations is a serious concern. Given that the problem of overpopulation is global in nature, how does an individual make a difference? The Ehrlichs provide sample letters that readers might wish to send to people who can influence public policy (members of Congress, the President, the Pope). They provide a list of organizations which readers can join to get involved in the problems of overpopulation. And they list behavioural changes which individuals can implement for themselves, including suggestions on ways to inform and influence others.
This book clearly follows its thesis. It never wavers from its goal - to point out that world overpopulation will be the world’s downfall. and that steps to halt population growth should be taken immediately. It is clearly a biased book, yet it is an important one. It should be one of several required readings for students of ecology, demography, and human geography courses.
Dona Schneider Urban Studies and Community Health Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ, USA
Beyond the weather forecast THE HUMAN IMPACT OF CLIMATE UNCERTAINTY: WEATHER INFORMATION, ECONOMIC PLANNING, AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT by W.J. Maunder Rout/edge, pp, f10.99
London,
UK, 1989,
170
W.J. Maunder trumpets the climate system as a vital resource, in this, his third book surveying the impacts of weather and climate on socioeconomic systems. Dr Maunder has clearly spent many years pondering such issues, and here presents his thoughts in a style intended for the layperson. Weather and climate impacts on agricultural production, electric power, and business activity, are among the subjects addressed, employing examples from his New Zealand home, the USA. and elsewhere. Dr Maunder is a fervent believer in the great importance of weather and climate in socioeconomic environments. Of this, the reader must be aware - the book would have benefited from a more balanced assessment of the magnitude of such climatic impacts. The author includes a vast amount of information in the 1.52 pages: either less material or a longer text would have made for easier reading. A brief synopsis of the eleven chapters folows. Chapter 1, ‘The setting’, stresses
170
the integrative nature of the weather and climate resource business, from the collection and interpretation of weather/climate and socioeconomic information to policy making and political implications. Here and elsewhere in the book, Maunder does not clearly differentiate between weather and climate impacts. This is not a problem, as long as one is aware that his interests lie in seasonal and annual, not long-term, atmospheric variability.
Awakening The author’s perception of an awakening by many to the economic, social, and political importance of climate is expressed in Chapter 2, ‘The changing economic climate’. Chapter 3, ‘The global scene’, champions the influence of climate on the international economic and political scene. World Meteorological Organization and United Nations atmospheric programmes are among those discussed. The timeliness of this book is illustrated by a discussion of events in the late 1980s (eg the 1988 US drought). Chapter 4, ‘Information. commodities, and communications’, discusses weather and climate information and its dissemination. The benefit of such information to business begins to be addressed - considerably more on this is found in later chapters. Dr Maunder‘s statement that the meteorological community must give a strong lead
GLOBAL
in instructing decision makers on how to use weather information, ‘as regrettably many top-level decision makers think of meteorology and climatology only in terms of the weather forecast - and usually only in respect of the weather forecasts that were wrong’ (p 49) exemplifies his extrovert nature. In Chapter 5, ‘Weather monitoring and forecasting’, the author presents some interesting thoughts on weather forecasts and their utility. Chapters 6 to 9 reach the heart of Dr Maunder’s climate resource thesis. Chapter 6, ‘Impacts and sensitivities’. reintroduces the reader to his thoughts on climate sensitivity and decision making. Commodity-weighted indices are discussed in Chapter 7, ‘Weighting the weather’. Examples from New Zealand and the USA illustrate the varied importance of weather indices to commodities. The author makes an insightful comment concerning the importance of adjusting atmospheric information to fit the available economic data, while also suggesting that the spatial scale of the latter must be small enough to accommodate the nature of the weather and climate data (eg county, province or state levels). Chapters 8, ‘The agricultural scene’, and 9, ‘Weather relationships’. present examples of climate/weather impacts on crops, livestock, electric power, manufacturing, the retail trade, construction, and transportation. Japanese examples related to the retail trade range from beer consumption to demand for air conditioners.
Predicting production The use of empirical (statistical) and infrequently employed explanatory (physical) models to predict production is explored in Chapter 10, ‘Forecasting production’. The utility of such models to the dairy and wool industries in New Zealand is explored. The incorporation of climatic information in weekly business indexes is also discussed. The final chapter of the book, ‘The future’, discusses the increasing vulnerability of humankind to climate fluctuations as population grows, reemphasizing the importance of climate to socioeconomic and political systems. The need for continued and
ENVIRONMENTAL
CHANGE
March
1991
Preserving biodiversity Several initiatives were suggested for preserving biodiversity. John Cairns emphasized the need for new technologies and a new relationship between technology and natural systems. The appropriate use of technology was also underscored by Christopher Uhl, who argued that sustainable development would remain a remote goal until there was a new understanding of the relationship between natural resources and long-term development. In addition to technological alternatives and improved resource management practices, Michael Bean suggested that there was a need to establish new law and national policies on the conservation of biodiversity.
GLOBAL
ENVIRONMENTAL
However, Rupert Cutler stressed that legislation alone was inadequate and that there needed to be a greater role for private environmental organizations with grass-roots volunteer activist constituencies. The closing statement was made by Ke Chung King, Director of the Biodiversity Center and principal organizer of the conference. He commented that technological advancement had improved human well-being since the Industrial Revolution, but it was now contributing to the deterioration - perhaps even the extinction - of life on Earth. He also expected that trends of resource depletion would accelerate as consumer-oriented market economies replaced Marxist/ Leninist regimes in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. The conference provided a rich diversity of academic viewpoints, but it
omitted some significant perspectives. For example, all speakers were North American, or had been trained in North American institutions. Another missing element of the symposium was a discussion of the relationship between environmental and economic history. In our opinion it is important not to approach the topic of ecological destruction as something essentially new, the newest criterion that needs to be managed. We believe that it is important to incorporate a perspective of environmental history to understand that massive ecological degradation is an integral part of the routine economic history of the past 200 years. Lakshman
S. Yapa and Karen O’Brien Department of Geography Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania, USA
Book reviews Overpopulation expldsbn THE POPULATION by Paul Ehrlich
R.
Ehrlich
- in the wake of the
EXPLOSION and
Anne
H.
Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 1990, 320 pp, $18.95 The Ehrlichs argue that the world’s population time bomb has exploded. No longer is there an impending disaster, as there was in 1968 when The Populurion Bomb was written. Today, with 5.3 billion people, the bomb has detonated and we are witnessing the effects of our failure to contain our numbers. The loss of topsoils, African famine, depletion of groundwater and the ozone layer, air and water pollution, global warming, acid rain, and even the AIDS epidemic are put forth as clear signs that the earth is overpoulated and heading for even worse times ahead. This is an emotional book about an emotional subject. It begins with a feeling of hysteria, points fingers at
CHANGE
March
1991
politicians, economists and, of course, the Vatican for the problems of overpopulation. It then proceeds methodically through a series of global and regional problems, presenting the worst possible scenario for each. The book winds up by presenting hope for all these doomsday predictions. Not surprisingly, the answer is an immediate halt to world population growth, followed by gradual population reduction. There is a theme that pops up again and again throughout the book: Influence = Population x Affluence x Technology (I=PAT). The theme surfaces several times in the first few chapters, but is not explained until page 123. Those not familiar with the concept may find this editorial error a little annoying. The theme, however, is important and is used to point out that overpopulation is not just an African or Asian problem. One affluent American child consumes far more resources than ten children born in the Third World. In terms of resources,
169
Book
re\,irws
then, overpopulation in wealthy nations is a serious concern. Given that the problem of overpopulation is global in nature, how does an individual make a difference? The Ehrlichs provide sample letters that readers might wish to send to people who can influence public policy (members of Congress, the President, the Pope). They provide a list of organizations which readers can join to get involved in the problems of overpopulation. And they list behavioural changes which individuals can implement for themselves, including suggestions on ways to inform and influence others.
This book clearly follows its thesis. It never wavers from its goal - to point out that world overpopulation will be the world’s downfall. and that steps to halt population growth should be taken immediately. It is clearly a biased book, yet it is an important one. It should be one of several required readings for students of ecology, demography, and human geography courses.
Dona Schneider Urban Studies and Community Health Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ, USA
Beyond the weather forecast THE HUMAN IMPACT OF CLIMATE UNCERTAINTY: WEATHER INFORMATION, ECONOMIC PLANNING, AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT by W.J. Maunder Rout/edge, pp, f10.99
London,
UK, 1989,
170
W.J. Maunder trumpets the climate system as a vital resource, in this, his third book surveying the impacts of weather and climate on socioeconomic systems. Dr Maunder has clearly spent many years pondering such issues, and here presents his thoughts in a style intended for the layperson. Weather and climate impacts on agricultural production, electric power, and business activity, are among the subjects addressed, employing examples from his New Zealand home, the USA. and elsewhere. Dr Maunder is a fervent believer in the great importance of weather and climate in socioeconomic environments. Of this, the reader must be aware - the book would have benefited from a more balanced assessment of the magnitude of such climatic impacts. The author includes a vast amount of information in the 1.52 pages: either less material or a longer text would have made for easier reading. A brief synopsis of the eleven chapters folows. Chapter 1, ‘The setting’, stresses
170
the integrative nature of the weather and climate resource business, from the collection and interpretation of weather/climate and socioeconomic information to policy making and political implications. Here and elsewhere in the book, Maunder does not clearly differentiate between weather and climate impacts. This is not a problem, as long as one is aware that his interests lie in seasonal and annual, not long-term, atmospheric variability.
Awakening The author’s perception of an awakening by many to the economic, social, and political importance of climate is expressed in Chapter 2, ‘The changing economic climate’. Chapter 3, ‘The global scene’, champions the influence of climate on the international economic and political scene. World Meteorological Organization and United Nations atmospheric programmes are among those discussed. The timeliness of this book is illustrated by a discussion of events in the late 1980s (eg the 1988 US drought). Chapter 4, ‘Information. commodities, and communications’, discusses weather and climate information and its dissemination. The benefit of such information to business begins to be addressed - considerably more on this is found in later chapters. Dr Maunder‘s statement that the meteorological community must give a strong lead
GLOBAL
in instructing decision makers on how to use weather information, ‘as regrettably many top-level decision makers think of meteorology and climatology only in terms of the weather forecast - and usually only in respect of the weather forecasts that were wrong’ (p 49) exemplifies his extrovert nature. In Chapter 5, ‘Weather monitoring and forecasting’, the author presents some interesting thoughts on weather forecasts and their utility. Chapters 6 to 9 reach the heart of Dr Maunder’s climate resource thesis. Chapter 6, ‘Impacts and sensitivities’. reintroduces the reader to his thoughts on climate sensitivity and decision making. Commodity-weighted indices are discussed in Chapter 7, ‘Weighting the weather’. Examples from New Zealand and the USA illustrate the varied importance of weather indices to commodities. The author makes an insightful comment concerning the importance of adjusting atmospheric information to fit the available economic data, while also suggesting that the spatial scale of the latter must be small enough to accommodate the nature of the weather and climate data (eg county, province or state levels). Chapters 8, ‘The agricultural scene’, and 9, ‘Weather relationships’. present examples of climate/weather impacts on crops, livestock, electric power, manufacturing, the retail trade, construction, and transportation. Japanese examples related to the retail trade range from beer consumption to demand for air conditioners.
Predicting production The use of empirical (statistical) and infrequently employed explanatory (physical) models to predict production is explored in Chapter 10, ‘Forecasting production’. The utility of such models to the dairy and wool industries in New Zealand is explored. The incorporation of climatic information in weekly business indexes is also discussed. The final chapter of the book, ‘The future’, discusses the increasing vulnerability of humankind to climate fluctuations as population grows, reemphasizing the importance of climate to socioeconomic and political systems. The need for continued and
ENVIRONMENTAL
CHANGE
March
1991