Fred Guterl

The Fate of the Species (eBook, ePUB)

Why the Human Race May Cause Its Own Extinction and How We Can Stop It

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

In the history of planet earth, mass species extinctions have occurred five times, about once every 100 million years. A "sixth extinction" is known to be underway now, with over 200 species dying off every day. Not only that, but the cause of the sixth extinction is also the source of single biggest threat to human life: our own inventions.

What this bleak future will truly hold, though, is much in dispute. Will our immune systems be attacked by so-called super bugs, always evolving, and now more easily spread than ever? Will the disappearance of so many species cripple the biosphere? Will global warming transform itself into a runaway effect, destroying ecosystems across the planet? In this provocative book, Fred Guterl examines each of these scenarios, laying out the existing threats, and proffering the means to avoid them.

This book is more than a tour of an apocalyptic future; it is a political salvo, an antidote to well-intentioned but ultimately ineffectual thinking. Though it's honorable enough to switch light bulbs and eat home-grown food, the scope of our problems, and the size of our population, is too great. And so, Guterl argues, we find ourselves in a trap: Technology got us into this mess, and it's also the only thing that can help us survive it. Guterl vividly shows where our future is heading, and ultimately lights the route to safe harbor.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
• Seitenzahl: 224
• Erscheinungstermin: 22. Mai 2012
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781608196241
• Artikelnr.: 38330331

Autorenporträt

Fred Guterl is executive editor of Scientific American. In ten years working for Newsweek, he worked closely with Fareed Zakaria to cover the most important trends in science, technology, and international affairs. He has also appeared on CNN, Charlie Rose, the Today Show, and on other television programs to discuss popular issues in science. Guterl holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Rochester, and has taught science writing at Princeton University. He lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with his wife and two children.