Frankly Green

The World Without Us

by Sharman Apt Russell
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Imagine an earth without humans. The how or why doesn't matter -- just poof . We die from disease or simply wink out. The premise of science writer Alan Weisman's The World Without Us is frankly delicious. Okay, sorry, I meant disturbing. Illuminating? Humbling? Insidious? In truth, I am not sure how I feel -- except completely hooked.

Much of the book is concerned with the things we leave behind. What, for example, happens to New York City? Without humans to pump the subways dry, the city floods. Sewer lines plug, pipes burst, streets become rivers. Even skyscrapers topple in this waterlogged mess. In about 300 years, all the bridges have collapsed. Moose and bear swim over to explore a forest of oak and beech. Rats and roaches, which relied on people for food and shelter in the bitter New York winters, are long gone. In New York, as elsewhere in the world, most domesticated animals and plants fail to survive in our absence. Feral cats, however, do just fine.

Let's Chill About Global Warming

By LAURA BLUE

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I have not read The Skeptical Environmentalist yet but plan to do so. I would like to hear from any readers that have read it. Thanks to Bruce W. for the link!

Danish statistician, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist (2001) and one of the TIME 100 Scientists & Thinkers of 2004, Bjorn Lomborg, 42, sat down with TIME's Laura Blue in London to discuss carbon cuts, his many critics, and his new book, Cool It: the Skeptical Environmentalist's guide to Global Warming, published in the U.S. in September 2007.

TIME: Why did you write Cool It?

Lomborg: Basically I think there's a need to have two conversations. One is what is the status of global warming. Is it a hoax? Is it a catastrophe? I try to say, well, it's neither. It's not a hoax, not a left-wing conspiracy to raise taxes or just natural variation, as many Republicans want to say in the U.S. On the other hand, it's not a not an unmitigated catastrophe, the end of civilization.

The other part is to get as realistic as possible about what we can actually do about climate change. Everybody seems to be so enamored by this idea we've got to cut emissions and we've got to cut them right now. And I understand why: because it makes us feel warm and fuzzy. We're doing something. Of course the real fact of the matter is we don't do very much. We promise a lot, but we don't actually do very much. And the honest-to-God reason is it's fairly expensive.

Rich people in rich countries will do a little, mainly for show. But most people in rich countries won't do very much, and certainly no one in the poor countries will do anything.

My point is — and this is very, very simple — instead of cajoling people into doing something that is very expensive, which is hard, why not actually make it much cheaper? Instead of convincing more and more people to buy expensive solar panels, for instance, why not invest in research and development so that these become much cheaper — competitive with fossil fuels, or maybe even cheaper. If we could get there, we wouldn't have to have this conversation.

Click the link above for the full interview.

The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook

Thanks to my friend Michael E. who met the author of this new book, David de Rothschild, at the World Economic Forum Davos.

The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook is the official companion volume to the Live Earth concerts, 24 hours of nonstop concerts broadcast from around the world on July 7, 2007. The book presents 77 essential skills for stopping climate change--and for living through it. It is a fun, compelling, and sly deconstruction of a survival guide (think Boy Scouts of America crossed with WorldChanging atop the Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook) that offers equal parts tongue-in-cheek suggestions, practical advice, factual information, and bluesky dreaming of ways to save the world. Each skill is presented on a spread featuring a bright, full-color instructional illustration, a brief introduction to the skill and its core ideas, a set of instructions, spin-off ideas, and scientific and environmental facts. The book also includes a resource guide that provides useful resources for the eco-conscious reader.