Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
During recent years, environmental debate worldwide has been dominated by climate change, carbon emissions and eff orts to achieve low carbon economies. But a number of academic, technical, political, business and NGO initiatives indicate that there is a new wave of environmental attention focused on a wholly different set of subjects: namely that of natural capital, ecosystem services and biodiversity, or in other words, what Nature does for us. From recycling miracles in the soil to the abundant genetic codebook underpinning our food and pharmaceutical needs, Nature provides the ecosystem services that underlie our economies. This book is fi lled with immediately impactful stories of the challenges and grave problems that we face; as well as with tales that reveal the promise of more enlightened activity. Tony Juniper's book will change the way you think about life, the planet and the economy.
Synopsis
From Indian vultures to Chinese bees, Nature provides the 'natural services' that keep the economy going. From the recycling miracles in the soil; an army of predators ridding us of unwanted pests; an abundance of life creating a genetic codebook that underpins our food, pharmaceutical industries and much more, it has been estimated that these and other services are each year worth about double global GDP. Yet we take most of Nature's services for granted, imagining them free and limitless ... until they suddenly switch off. This is a book full of immediate, impactful stories, containing both warnings (such as in the tale of India's vultures, killed off by drugs given to cattle, leading to an epidemic of rabies), but also the positive (how birds protect fruit harvests, coral reefs protect coasts from storms and how the rainforests absorb billions of tons of carbon released from cars and power stations). Tony Juniper's book will change the whole way you think about life, the planet and the economy.