Sustaining Life on Earth

Reviews / Votes

I plan to use this textbook in my seminar next spring, and look forward to studying it more deeply along with my students. It is a fine collection of subjects and authors. -- Herman E. Daly, Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland This collection of state-of-the-art summaries of what ails planet earth offers prescriptions for the effective treatment, care and maintenance of the home we all share. Scientists and scholars from many disciplines and countries have collaborated to compile this timely statement of what we as individuals and as societies and nations must do about the precariously unstable state of the world's life-support systems. In short, we need a system of global governance to deal effectively with environmental and ecosystem deterioration. The whole work is set out clearly and concisely in language accessible to non-specialists, and is supported by rich reference lists to guide concerned readers towards sources of further information. This book should be on the high priority list of required reading for everyone who is concerned about the world and its future. -- John M Last, MD, Emeritus professor of epidemiology, University of Ottawa For those who still believe that we can have our current lifestyles based on the current model of unlimited growth, Sustaining Life on Earth is a revelation; for those who already know that we have hit the earth's limits, this book is a guide. Many thanks for this lovely but challenging collection. -- Maude Barlow, Council of the Canadians This book is a powerful attempt to prove that human intelligence, and the institutions it has created, possess power enough to blunt the force of our ecological destructiveness. It provides a light for the path, one that is badly needed. -- Bill McKibben, Founder of Third Act and author of The Flag, The Cross and The Station Wagon This book needs to be read widely, discussed widely, and the Earth Charter needs to become as familiar today, as the Four Freedoms annunciated by Franklin D. Roosevelt was more than sixty years ago. -- Michael Gochfeld * European Journal Of Oncology * Like Cassandra of Troy, according to Homer's Iliad, experts in environmental matters-including biology, ecology, economics, law, public health and social sciences-have come together as 'doomsayers, destined to tell the truth, but never to be believed.' This book brings together experts from relevant disciplines and, under the shrewd pen of its editors, the text is distilled to read as if from a single author. The idea of bridging, and thereby reconnecting the role of humans and their institutions to the global ecology, is shown to be critical if solutions are to be found that will help us to preserve ecosystems and thus more ensure a sustainable future for human populations. Assembling such varied information from multiple authors is the very kind of contribution needed for policy-makers and students alike to help save us from ourselves. The contribution of this book to sustaining life on Earth is unique. Reading it is an enlightening experience and I strongly advise it to anybody. -- Roberto Bertollini, director, Special Programme on Health and Environment, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe The Earth Charter is a declaration of values and principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society. -- Tracy Nichols, University of Alberta, School of Public Health