Tracing our environmental impact through time, David Howe demonstrates how humanity’s exploitation of Earth’s natural resources has pushed our planet to its limit and asks: What’s next for our depleted planet?
Everything we use started life in the earth, as a rock or a mineral vein, a layer of an ancient seabed, or perhaps the remains of a 400-million-year-old volcano. Humanity's ability to fashion nature to its own ends is by no means a new phenomenon—we have been inventing new ways to help ourselves to its bounty for tens of thousands of years. But today, we mine, quarry, pump, cut, blast, and crush Earth's resources at an unprecedented rate. We have become a dominant, even dangerous, force on the planet.
In Extraction to Extinction, David Howe traces our impact through time to unearth how our obsession with endlessly producing and throwing away more and more stuff could destroy our planet. But is there still time to turn it around?
Tracing our environmental impact through time, David Howe demonstrates how humanity’s exploitation of Earth’s natural resources has pushed our planet to its limit and asks: What’s next for our depleted planet?
Everything we use started life in the earth, as a rock or a mineral vein, a layer of an ancient seabed, or perhaps the remains of a 400-million-year-old volcano. Humanity's ability to fashion nature to its own ends is by no means a new phenomenon—we have been inventing new ways to help ourselves to its bounty for tens of thousands of years. But today, we mine, quarry, pump, cut, blast, and crush Earth's resources at an unprecedented rate. We have become a dominant, even dangerous, force on the planet.
In Extraction to Extinction, David Howe traces our impact through time to unearth how our obsession with endlessly producing and throwing away more and more stuff could destroy our planet. But is there still time to turn it around?
Fascinating ‘big picture’ popular science from an outstanding communicator and former academic whose career spans both natural and social science; Will appeal to fans of Jared Diamond and Bill Bryson, looking at interdisciplinary topics in an accessible way; With the UK hosting COP26 this year there is increased discussion on our environmental impact.
Rocks and Resources; Concentrate; Bricks, Pots and Ceramics; Copper; Iron and Steel; Concrete; Glass; Aluminium; Plastics; Lithium, Rare Earths and the Information Age; Pollution and the Wounded Planet; Coal, Oil and Climate Change; The Anthropocene; References; Acknowledgements; Index
David Howe OBE is a multidisciplinary academic with a distinguished career that includes a professorship at the world-renowned University of East Anglia and a string of international keynote lectures delivered at universities and government organizations from Sydney, Adelaide, Auckland, and Hong Kong to Bucharest, Oslo, Barcelona, and Dublin. His academic qualifications cover both Earth sciences and social sciences; he taught biology and geology at high-school level before entering further academic research and university teaching. He has written many peer-reviewed academic books, chapters and journal papers on psychology, relationships, and social work, as well as writing on geology, popular science, and popular culture.
“A lyrical and questing narrative of how humans have used and
abused natural resources down the ages … long-brewed technical
knowledge combined with an easy story-teller’s acumen, fluency and
wisdom.”
*Michael Leeder, Professor Emeritus at UEA Norwich and author of
the recent Measures for Measure: Geology and the Industrial
Revolution (Dunedin)*
'A great book that does a fantastic job of weaving together
geology, social science, and history into a really engaging
read.'
*Geoscientist magazine*
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