Böcker av Norman Myers

These and other questions are discussed by environmentalist Norman Myers, and Julian Simon, an economist and outspoken sceptic on environmentalism. This book is a transcript of their provocative exchange in a debate held at Columbia University in October 1992. The authors also provide position statements and replies that let readers judge for themselves whose arguments are more persuasive.

As forty years of the impending possibility of nuclear war begins to fade away, it is being replaced by the threat of worldwide environmental ruin. In this insightful book, Norman Myers, one of the world's leading experts on the environment and the author of The Primary Source and The Long African Day, presents us with the dilemma which will surely dominate the next century: environmental breakdown. Ozone depletion, tropical forest destruction, topsoil erosion, cut-and-burn deforestation tactics, and farmland fertility decline are all having devastating effects on worldwide economies, health, and climate. These and a host of other environmental threats point us toward "ultimate security", for they tie in with associated problems such as overconsumption and wastefulness in the developed world. So great is the danger they pose that it has been described by many political leaders and military planners as, in fact, the greatest threat we face short of nuclear war. This unprecedented peril must be countered by unprecedented responses - responses altogether different from military measures. We cannot, writes Myers, dispatch battalions to turn back the deserts, we cannot launch a flotilla to resist the rising seas, we cannot send fighter planes to counter the greenhouse effect. Already wars have erupted and governments have toppled for primarily environmental reasons. The time has come when we can purchase more enduring all-around true security by safeguarding our environments than by engaging in military buildups. Environmental problems recognize no frontiers: winds carry no passports. Ultimate security will be security for us all or for none.

"With extensive knowledge and avid enthusiasm. . . . Myers, a worldwide conservation consultant, presents a sobering, consciousness-raising account of the environmental crisis that will develop if the thoughtless exploitation of tropical forests is allowed to continue. . . . An important contribution." -ALA Booklist

While overconsumption by the developed world's roughly one billion inhabitants is an abiding problem, another one billion increasingly afflu"e;new consumers"e; in developing countries will place additional strains on the earth's resources, argue authors Norman Myers and Jennifer Kin this important new book. The New Consumers examines the environmental impacts of this increased consumption, with particular focus on two commodities -- cars and meat -- that stand to have the mfar-reaching effects. It analyzes consumption patterns in a number of differcountries, with special emphasis on China and India (whose surging economies, as well as their large populations, are likely to account for exceptional growth in humanity's ecological footprint), and surveys big-picture issues such as the globalization of economies, consumer goods, and lifestyles. Ultimately, according to the orman Myers and Jennifer Kent, the challenge will be for all of humanity to transition to sustainable levels of consumption, for it is unrealistic to expect "e;new"e; consumers not to aspire to be like the "e;old"e; ones. Cogin its analysis, The New Consumers issues a timely warning of a major and developing environmental trend, and suggests valuable strategies for ameliorating its effects.