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Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?
Author:
Weisman, Alan
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Class:
304.2
Age: Adult
Language: English
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LC: GF75
Print Run: 175000
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ISBN-13: 9780316097758
LCCN: 2013017113
Imprint: Little, Brown and Company
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Pub Date: 09/24/2013
Availability: Out of Stock Indefinitely
List: $28.00
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Hardcover
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Physical Description:
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xii, 513 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
H 9.625",
W 6.375",
D 1.625",
1.74 lbs.
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LC Series:
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Brodart Sources:
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Brodart's Insight Catalog: Adult
Brodart's TOP Adult Titles
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Bibliographies:
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Public Library Core Collection: Nonfiction, 16th ed.
Public Library Core Collection: Nonfiction, 17th ed.
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Awards:
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Booklist Starred Reviews
Publishers Weekly Starred Reviews
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Starred Reviews:
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Booklist
Publishers Weekly
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TIPS Subjects:
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Social Sciences/Sociology
Ecology/Environment
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BISAC Subjects: |
POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Environmental Policy
NATURE / Environmental Conservation & Protection
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Future Studies
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LC Subjects:
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HISTORY / Civilization
NATURE / Ecology
NATURE / Environmental Conservation & Protection
Nature, Effect of human beings on
Overpopulation
POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Environmental Policy
Population ecology
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Future Studies
TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Social Aspects
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SEARS Subjects: |
Human influence on nature
Human settlements
Overpopulation
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Reading Programs: |
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| Annotations |
| Brodart's TOP Adult Titles | 06/01/2013 |
| It's not too late to save the world. This is Alan Weisman's claim as he reveals how religion, culture, biology, and ecology play a role in where Earth is today and how we can forge a quick and affordable path toward a self-sustaining Earth while we still have time. 528pp., 175K, Tour |
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| Starred Reviews: |
| Booklist | 08/01/2013 |
| Intrepid planetary journalist Weisman put our minds in a whirl with his best-selling The World without Us (2007), a vivid projection of what would happen if humankind suddenly vanished. Here he asks a really tough question: What will happen on the warming earth if our population continues to grow? Aware that population control is a treacherous subject, Weisman boldly traveled to more than 20 diverse countries, from India to Italy to Japan, instigating remarkably candid conversations with religious leaders, scientists, and public-health experts. Spirited descriptions, a firm grasp of complex material, and a bomb defuser's steady precision make for a riveting read as Weisman takes a close look at China's one-child policy and the religious and political imperatives responsible for large Palestinian and ultra-Orthodox Jewish families in Jerusalem in spite of scarce resources. In stricken Niger, he talks with two brothers, both imams. One says "man cannot hold back doomsday"; the other actively supports the use of contraception. In Uganda, he discovers the connection between family planning, wildlife protection, and economy-boosting ecotourism. Weisman's cogent and forthright global inquiry, a major work, delineates how education, women's equality, and family planning can curb poverty, thirst, hunger, and environmental destruction. Rigorous and provoking, Countdown will generate numerous media appearances for Weisman and spur many a debate. Seaman, Donna. 336p. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2013. |
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| Publishers Weekly | 05/27/2013 |
| In this follow-up to The World Without Us, journalist Weisman visits more than 20 countries to explore four urgent questions. How many people can our planet hold? Is it in our own best interest to limit population growth? Which species are essential to our survival? And how can we design a prosperous economy that does not depend on endless growth and consumption? Weisman argues that this will be the century in which we must manage our population, "or nature will do it for us in the form of famine, thirst... crashing ecosystems, and wars over dwindling resources." To seek answers, he visits some of the planet's most overcrowded regions, including the Philippines, Niger, and India--with its "archetypal new megalopolis," Mumbai, swollen beyond comprehension at 21 million. He also visits countries that have slowed their population growth (Iran and Thailand), and those whose populations are dwindling, such as Japan. Weisman interviews Catholic clerics; Buddhist monks; biologists, including Paul Erlich (The Population Bomb); physicists, demographers; and others. He also analyzes the repercussions of China's one-child policy; the Haber-Bosch fertilization method that led to higher food yields; and the chronic malnourishment afflicting one billion people today. Provocative and sobering, this vividly reported book raises profound concerns about our future. (Sept.). 336p. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2013. |
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| Journal Reviews |
| BookPage | 10/01/2013 |
| If there's one thing we humans are good at, it's surviving. Look at us go: "Over the past two centuries," writes environmental journalist Alan Weisman in Countdown, "we have become brilliant at beating back diseases or preemptively protecting ourselves from them. . . . Through much of the world, we've doubled average human lifespans from under 40 years to nearly 80." In fact, we're so good at surviving that we're about to self-destruct; our planet runneth over. "Saving more lives than anyone in history also means there are more lives, period," he writes. The dilemma: "how to keep growing . . . in a space that does not grow." In 2007's best-selling The World Without Us, Weisman envisioned an Earth free of people, describing in vivid detail the impressive speed with which it might recover. His new book looks at what we must do if we intend to have both a healthy planet and a thriving human race. The problem, in his view, is clear: There are simply too many of us. The solution is a whole lot murkier. Talking about population control is a tricky business, balancing altruism and self-interest. Family planning is OK for "them," out of the question for "us." Nobody wants to starve, but nobody wants their line to die out, either; if only half your babies live, you tend to have lots of them, even if more means hungrier. Weisman avoids us-vs.-them generalizations by getting down to a micro level. Shrinking resources are a global emergency, so he goes everywhere: Pakistan, Japan, Uganda, Iran, Costa Rica, Jerusalem, Beijing. In each place he talks with people about their families, how they feel about how many children they have and whether that's changed since their parents' generation. Some have managed successfully and happily to reduce their family size, while others believe that big families are their only chance to beat their rivals--a sort of genetic arms race. The stories Weisman tells are equally fascinating and maddening. He knows what's at stake, but he also understands how people feel. He finds no easy answers, but in most places he finds people willing to take the long view. Becky Ohlsen. 528pg. BOOKPAGE, c2013. |
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| Library Journal | 09/01/2013 |
| Journalist Weisman (The World Without Us) here highlights the critical connection between human population growth and ecological degradation, a subject that's not on the table at environmental summit meetings. The author takes up the issue popularized by Paul Ehrlich's The Population Bomb. Human proliferation (the global population presently numbers seven billion, plus 220,000 more births per day) is a major factor in resource depletion, pollution, and climate change. Even "green revolution" hybrid crops have limitations, and climate change is beginning to effect yields, so feeding a projected peak population of ten billion sustainably looks impossible. Weisman traveled widely while researching this book, investigating the religious, cultural, and political influences that produce large families and how attitudes about family size might be changing. He concludes that education and empowerment of women, along with access to reliable contraception, is beginning to limit family size and slow the global birthrate. The process is uneven: the transition has already happened in some nations, particularly as people continue to migrate from farms to cities. VERDICT The issue of human population control needs to be part of environmental collections, as it is key to the future quality of the biosphere and human lives. Recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 3/18/13.]. David R. Conn, formerly with Surrey Libs., BC. 336p. LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2013. |
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| Library Journal Prepub Alert | 03/18/2013 |
| In his best-selling The World Without Us, Weisman contemplated an Earth without humanity. This follow-up takes him to 21 countries, where he considers the impact of the staggering number of people on this planet and how we can slow population growth and heal the damage already wrought before it's too late. An in-house favorite that will benefit from a 12-city tour. 336p. LJ Prepub Alert Online Review. LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2013. |
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9780316097758,dl.it[0].title
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