The God Species_ How the Planet Can Survive the Age of Humans - Mark Lynas [0]
By the same author
High Tide: News from a Warming World
Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet
MARK LYNAS
THE GOD SPECIES
Saving the Planet in the Age of Humans
Published by the National Geographic Society
1145 17th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036
Published by arrangement with HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Copyright © 2011 Mark Lynas. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lynas, Mark, 1973-
The god species: saving the planet in the age of humans / by Mark Lynas.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-1-4262-0898-0
1. Global warming. 2. Climatic changes. 3. Human beings--Effect of climate on. 4. Biotic communities. 5. Environmental protection. I. Title.
QC981.8.G56L976 2011
304.2’8--dc23
2011021049
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National Geographic Society
1145 17th Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-4688 U.S.A.
For rights or permissions inquiries, please contact National Geographic Books Subsidiary Rights: ngbookrights@ngs.org
Interior design: Melissa Farris
For my family and other animals
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION: The Ascent of Man
BOUNDARY 1: Biodiversity
BOUNDARY 2: Climate Change
BOUNDARY 3: Nitrogen
BOUNDARY 4: Land Use
BOUNDARY 5: Freshwater
BOUNDARY 6: Toxics
BOUNDARY 7: Aerosols
BOUNDARY 8: Ocean Acidification
BOUNDARY 9: Ozone Layer
EPILOGUE: Managing the Planet
NOTES
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is an unusual beast, because it is conceptually and scientifically based on the work of other people. It is traditional in acknowledgements for writers to gush that “without so-and-so this book would never have been written,” but in the case of Johan Rockström and his planetary boundaries co-authors this is literally true. The basic concept is entirely theirs, as are the scientific definitions and quantifications attached to each one. However, the evidence supporting the boundaries presented in this book is largely the fruit of my own research, and the social and economic implications I suggest that the boundaries may carry are my assertions alone. I have no idea whether Johan’s co-authors support nuclear power, carbon offsetting, or a variety of other controversial proposals that I explore or endorse in this book. They have laid the foundations, however, for a new and better way of looking at our planet, and for that we are all deeply in their debt.
I am particularly grateful to planetary boundaries co-author Professor Diana Liverman, a longtime friend of my family, who invited me to the first scientific workshop on the boundaries concept at the Tällberg Forum in Sweden. That kind gesture set me on this road, and Diana has also been consistently supportive throughout the long process of writing and publishing. As a Visiting Research Associate at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute (which Diana recently headed) I have also benefited enormously from all the research facilities, expert lecturers, and contacts of a world-class university. Most important of all was continuing access to the Radcliffe Science Library, both on-site and remotely: I am deeply grateful to all the helpful