Rational Environmentalism

The book consists of roughly equal parts of plain text, images (photos and diagrams), and boxed text, which tells human-interest stories about environmental issues. The discussion is divided into six chapters.

1. Food and water. Carbohydrates are formed by photosynthesis, and humans can digest forms of starch but not forms of cellulose. Cellulose (including grasses) can be digested by ruminants and certain other animals, and humans can eat the resultant meat. The average person consumes about 3500 Calories per day. Women weigh about 10% less than men and consequrntly require less food unless they are pregnant or brest-feeding. Boxes include: Lavoisier;use of corn (maize); testosterone; vegetarians and vegans; and John Lawson.

2.Energy. The chapter begins with a discussion of the units used to describe energy and power and continues with the importance of rotation. Energy can be obtained by direct burning of trees and other plants, but people are becoming increasingly dependent on fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. Some of the fossil fuelis are used to generate electricity, but increasing amounts are generated by renewable sources such as solar power. Boxes include: the Industrial Revolution; Avery Island, Louisiana; Williston, North Dakota; MIchael Faraday; AC or DC?; Willis Carrier; and the Bay of Fundy.

3. Climate. This chapter considers both the principles that control climate and the history of climate change. Principles inlude the adiabatic lapse rate and spectral absorption in the atmosphere. They also include normal variations in the atmosphere and oceans, such as Milankovitch cycles, Atlantic Multidecadal oscillations, El Ninos and related events in the Pacific Ocean, and the oceanic conveyor belt. The history of climate change starts with the end of the last glacial-interdlacial period and then describes smaller variations that are more recent. Boxes include: Max Planck; Joseph Fourier; What happened in 6200BC?; Moche; Bocktok/Vostok; Hadrian's wall; and Narsarsuak, Greenland.

4. Non-energy Raw Materials. Most metals are innocuous to mine and use, but lead and mercury are dangerous. Also, the use of mercury to dissolve gold from ores makes gold mining dangerous, All non-metals, including asbestos, can be mined and used without hazard. Boxes include: Hibbing, Minnesota; Andrew Carnegie; Greenhorns, Terlingua, Texas; John Mcadam; Atacama Desert, Chile; and Owens Valley, California.

5. Natural Disasters. Strengths of earthquakes are measured on two scales: Richter magnitue and Modified Mercalli Intensity. Mass movements include soil creep. slumps, landslides, and rock falls. River floods are related to typical changes in rivers downstream. Coastlines sre either dominantly erosional or dominantly constructional, but erosion can occur along constructional coastlines. Volcanoes can affect climates worldwide. The chapter discusses the possibillity of obtaining insurance against some disasters but emphasizes personal responsibility in planning. Boxes include: Building cheaply at Berkeley; La Conchita, California; Worry and concrete in Louisiana; and Taupo, New Zealand.

6. Pollution. The first part of the chapter explores the myth of primitivism, whiich is the belief that primitive people do not pollute their environment. The lack of pollution is probably reseerved for societies where the population density is extremely low. The second part of the chapter gives several examples of how the attempt to fix an envirinmental problem leads to a worse problem. This part also shows that observations of the natural reactors at Oklo, Gabon, show that there is no problem with the storage of nuclear waste. Thus, developent of nuclear power can proceed without concerns about waste disposal. Boxes include: Thera, in the eastern Mediterranean; and Oklo, Gabon.