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24th out of 114 books
—
9 voters
World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse
We are in a race between political and natural tipping points. Can we close coal-fired power plants fast enough to save the Greenland ice sheet and avoid catastrophic sea level rise? Can we raise water productivity fast enough to halt the depletion of aquifers and avoid water-driven food shortages? Can we cope with peak water and peak oil at the same time? These are some o...more
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
January 6th 2011
by W. W. Norton & Company
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This work addresses the most pressing issue of our era: how to reverse society's dangerous course toward major environmental, economic, and human catastrophe. The first half of the book is sobering (and somewhat depressing). It lays out the variety of problems we face and the consequences if we continue on our current destructive and unsustainable trajectory. The second half proposes some solutions to these problems that will help us reverse course and avoid these consequences, if we can impleme...more
Short review: we should launch a few copies of this book into stable orbit so that one day when aliens arrive at the barren lifeless Earth they'll be able to read this book and say, "Oh, wow, so not only were they able to see and understand the damage they were doing, there were pretty reasonable steps they identified which they could have taken to avoid planetary suicide. Huh." Then they'll turn their saucers around and fly on to try to find some other planet where maybe "intelligent" life hadn...more
I don't dispute that Brown is an eminent thinker in this area and agree with just about everything he discussed in this book. I also appreciate that he condensed his argument to two plane flights worth of reading. However, I have two complaints.
First, this book reads like someone converted a PowerPoint presentation into a novel. Each bullet point was stretched into a short paragraph. Every 3-4 paragraphs fit seamlessly together, but over the course of a chapter is got a bit bumpy. It seems that...more
First, this book reads like someone converted a PowerPoint presentation into a novel. Each bullet point was stretched into a short paragraph. Every 3-4 paragraphs fit seamlessly together, but over the course of a chapter is got a bit bumpy. It seems that...more
There is an African saying: "Pretty words and truth are not the same." That wisdom holds true in many situations, but none so urgent as the one facing human beings on our planet. In short, we are changing the conditions in which we live, depleting the resources on which we depend, and increasing the likelihood that many billions of our brothers and sisters on this planet will suffer horrifically if we do not change our ways. Fast. Like, now.
This book is written in very clear prose. There are no...more
This book is written in very clear prose. There are no...more
This book is very important because of it's first two parts; 1) A Deteriorating Foundation, and 2) the Consequences These first seven chapters are essential to understanding and planning for the near future. I thought I was aware, but this book opened my eyes wider, so to speak. I learned that the shrinking of cropland and climate-crisis-induced tapering off of snowmelt and such is exacerbated by the over-pumping of groundwater supplies, so that we're faced with a food production crisis.
This boo...more
This boo...more
Lester Brown, who founded both the Worldwatch Institute and the Earth Policy Institute, has been monitoring the state of global resource flows for decades. He foresees a global food shortage and massive political instability born of the increasing stresses of climate change, over-pumping of aquifers, and further natural resource depletion. His ambitious solution, which is spelled out in greater detail in "Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization," calls for stabilizing climate, restoring the...more
Concise and compelling-- I read it in a single sitting on a flight from Boston to San Francisco. This book outlines all of the factors that are pushing human society and the global ecosystem over the edge and to the point of no return, and what we need to do to stop it-- mainly though reforestation, cutting carbon emissions, raising literacy rates especially among women, and improving access to reproductive health care. The only problem is that it's very developed world-centric-- it doesn't real...more
This was recommended to Bill and is an excellent book starting out with how bad things are but ending with wonderful recommendations that could easily be implemented. One simple one is to plant trees to prevent runoff and desertification. Another is to educate girls, which helps in population control as well as raising families out of poverty. And several ways to deal with the energy crisis.
Brown deserves points for the breadth of his view and for insisting on a hopeful perspective. His suggestions are encouraging in his certainty that they would set us in good stead. But the cynic in me can't quite believe it will work. Or rather, that enough people will get it together to make the changes that Brown and the Earth Policy Institute outline. But it certainly helps to have a plan, so for that reason, I like the book. Moving in the right direction.
The first chapters are terrifying and hard to read. Hope is in the chapters that discuss "Plan B". Brown believes we can pressure government and businesses to make the necessary changes, using ending the war in Vietnam as an example of how that has worked. Sadly, I think his analysis is flawed. Nevertheless, it's clear the effort needs to be made.
So while I would recommend this to anyone interested in a global perspective on water/energy/climate problems, I have serious feasibility issues around the plan to fix them. I think that, even with such a high level plan as this, it should be possible to do better allocation of who is paying (I don’t think the security argument will fly with the vast majority of voters), and I don’t know how useful the energy plan is. Showing that the potential for wind and solar exceeds global demand by a lot i...more
A clear and convincing case for the environmental mess we're in, an impossible road out. While I can't disagree with his suggestions for what needs to happen to save ourselves on this planet, the actions required are so great, that I know we won't do it. Pretty depressing, but also worth reading -- and a quick read.
I recommend this book be read by all freshman in high school right now so they understand why its so necessary for us to make changes to save th earth that we pollute everyday. I took this for my online class at Bunea Vista University (BVU) and it really changed my views on many enviormental issues today.
Can we close coal-fired power plants fast enough to save the Greenland ice sheet and avoid catastrophic sea level rise? Can we raise water productivity fast enough to halt the depletion of aquifers and avoid water-driven food shortages? Can we cope with peak water and peak oil at the same time?
Quick read (I read it in a day, which is unheard of for me) - good for a high-level take on environmental issues and possible solutions. I'll stress "high-level," though, as his proposed policy solutions (under "Plan B," though I'm not sure that we ever had a Plan A) barely skim the surface.
I really found this book to be a shorter summary of his other books. He outlines some problems in the first part, then gives his ideas for solutions in the second (third?). I definitely recommend it if you want to read a shorter book about the subject, as it's probably one of the more concise titles out there at the moment.
That being said, he packs a lot into those few pages. He talks a lot about the usual countries and topics, but as a fan of his work, I say he does a nice job outlining soluti...more
That being said, he packs a lot into those few pages. He talks a lot about the usual countries and topics, but as a fan of his work, I say he does a nice job outlining soluti...more
Intriguing thoughts...but I thought some were extremely exaggerated and a crock. I loved the chapter about renewable energies. He tells us all kinds of problems, but doesn't really give any concrete ways to fix the problems.
I don't know what to say. This book melted my myelin. Hands down the most powerful book I have ever picked up. I'm so grateful it was written. If anyone wants to start a save the world ladies club with me, please e-mail!
Brown is a brilliant writer who knows how to make environmental issues accessible. He sets down an agenda and uses real world examples of countries and cities doing green things to use as models for the necessary transition to a new energy economy that is mandatory for the world not to be seriously affected by climate change. He manages to make an otherwise depressing and debilitating topic into one with positive, realistic solutions. He has condensed the material into fewer pages than his previ...more
Telling it like it is, Lester Brown digs in deep to find hope for the future and a road map to there!
Great book about environmental issues and the various steps to take to have cleaner energy.
Informative book, but he spreads himself very thin with his subject matter.
Lester Brown's work tackled the environmental and economic problems that threaten the sustainability of our civilization. He shows the problems, the consequences, and offers solutions in what he calls a "Plan B." His Plan B focuses on four main goals: stabilizing climate, stabilizing population, eradicating poverty, and restoring the earth's natural support systems. The book is at times bleak and slightly repetitive, but it's also thought-provoking and very challenging to the accepted status quo...more
A good summary of global problems and solutions.
Good book. Lester pulls in lots of ideas and presents fairly persuasive case for conservation - namely we'll all die if we don't get our s*it together and work on big problems at the same time. What I also like is while there is a bit of doom and gloom he presents in the 2nd half of the book a solution/way forward.
Great read.
May 20, 2013
Nathan Peavey
marked it as to-read
May 20, 2013
Madison Andrews
marked it as to-read
May 19, 2013
Stephanie Collart
marked it as to-read
May 19, 2013
Wade
marked it as to-read
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Lester Russell Brown is an American environmentalist, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. BBC Radio commentator Peter Day calls him "one of the great pioneer environmentalists."
In the mid-1970s, Brown helped pioneer the concept of sustainable development, during a career that start...more
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In the mid-1970s, Brown helped pioneer the concept of sustainable development, during a career that start...more
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Feb 10, 2011 07:49am