Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future

by Elizabeth Kolbert

A well-fed grass carp can weigh more than eighty pounds. In a single day it can eat almost half of its body weight,

One noise that sends them jumping is the thrum of an outboard motor, so waterskiing in carp-infested areas of the Midwest has become its own version of an extreme sport.

“Humans know how to overfish things,” Irons told me. “So the question is: How can we use this to our advantage?” A few years ago, Irons organized an event to encourage people to love carp to death. He called it CarpFest.

Kolker teaches at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and, as a pedagogical sideline, he sometimes organizes bike excursions around the city. In contrast to more conventionally popular tours, which feature ghosts, voodoo, and pirates, his emphasize hydrology.

The choice is not between what was and what is, but between what is and what will be,

With just four percent of the world’s population, the United States is responsible for almost thirty percent of aggregate emissions. The countries of the European Union, with about seven percent of the globe’s population, have produced about twenty-two percent of aggregate emissions. For China, home to roughly eighteen percent of the globe’s population, the figure is thirteen percent. India, which is expected soon to overtake China as the world’s most populous nation, is responsible for about three percent. All the nations of Africa and all the nations of South America put together are responsible for less than six percent.