Laboratory Earth: The Planetary Gamble We Can't Afford To Lose (Science Masters Series) - Hardcover

Schneider, Steven H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0465072798 ISBN 13: 9780465072798

Publisher: Basic Books, 1996

Synopsis

Explores the science of global change and the current state of the planet, citing the consequences for environmental irresponsibility and providing a framework for considering global change issues.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen H. Schneider is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for International Studies at Stanford University.

Reviews

Global climate change is a complex topic, and there's no one better equipped to make it accessible to the public than Stanford biologist Schneider (Global Warming: Are We Entering the Greenhouse Century). He was one of the first scientists to predict global warming due to anthropogenic causes 20 years ago and, since then, has consistently advised government agencies on the subject. Unfortunately, it is too intricate for the abbreviated book he has written. He offers chapters on basic geological processes, the coevolution of life and climate, the causes of climatic change, mechanisms for modeling that change, the importance of biodiversity and policy options. All are disappointing with respect to style and substance; the writing is flat and the content too condensed to enlighten the uninformed. The policy section is the best. Good suggestions abound here?that we understand the role of the media in (mis)informing the public, that we integrate economics and ecology, that we create a scientific consensus. Had this single chapter been expanded to book length, Schneider might well have produced a volume that deserved a wide readership. Illustrations.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The beauty of environmental complexity is lucidly displayed in this Cook's Tour of grand earthly processes. Schneider (Biological Sciences/Stanford; Global Warming, 1989, etc.) thinks globally and suggests that we do, too, for if we don't look at the big picture when fashioning development decisions, if we don't 'fess up to our ignorance when it comes to the global consequences of our environmental behavior, if we continue to allow public-policy polemicists to exploit ``that uncertainty as an excuse to delay action that could lower risks,'' then what we are taking is a planetary gamble with the biological riches of the earth--a risk that terrifies Schneider. To give his readers a hint at the interrelatedness of our environmental system, he uses climatic flux as a running example, poring over some of the theories and conjectures that have been proposed to explain the changes, refreshing memories that have forgotten the hydrologic and element cycles, laying bare the likes of the Milankovitch mechanism (variations in Earth orbit equals axial shifts equals Ice Age), and explaining how climate impinges on keystone species, population thresholds, biodiversity in general. The beauty of this book lies in its simple, fluid explication of nature's crazy-wild fandango. But Schneider also has a modest proposal to make: Why don't we, as a species, pause for a moment, take stock of potential consequences, become collectively less destructive, and ``rethink a global-scale value system that puts human numerical and economic growth ahead of all other competing values''? That would require an ``informed public with the scientific knowledge and political will to make a difference,'' Schneider admits, but he's not only a talented writer with a supple ranging imagination, he's also an incurable optimist. Earth could use more nimble old souls like Schneider, with his commonsensical voice. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

This installment in the Science Masters series provides sober thought about the heated subject of global warming. Using clear and concise language, Schneider addresses the central question in climatology: how much carbon dioxide has industrialism poured into the atmosphere and does it matter? The basic facts are undisputable--since the steam engine, atmospheric carbon dioxide has doubled and the temperature has increased .5 degree centigrade--but controversy rages about the balance between human-induced and natural causes of the actual and potential temperature increase. Enter computerized climate modeling. Schneider devotes considerable space to this topic, which, aside from experimenting on the actual atmosphere, is the only means with which to (safely) predict the magnitude of the warming. After responding to critics of modeling, Schneider argues that the chance of a nonnegligible climate change in the next century is--negligible. Arguments aside, this primer contains fundamental information about what affects the earth's climate over geologic time and thus promotes informed, not polemical, debate. Gilbert Taylor

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0465072798
• ISBN 13: 9780465072798
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192