The Skeptical Environmentalist

Measuring the Real State of the World

Bjorn Lomborg

514 pages, parution le 22/11/2001

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Résumé

The Skeptical Environmentalist challenges widely held beliefs that the environmental situation is getting worse and worse. The author, himself a former member of Greenpeace, is critical of the way in which many environmental organisations make selective and misleading use of the scientific evidence. Using the best available statistical information from internationally recognised research institutes, Bjørn Lomborg systematically examines a range of major environmental problems that feature prominently in headline news across the world. His arguments are presented in non-technical, accessible language and are carefully backed up by over 2500 footnotes allowing readers to check sources for themselves. Concluding that there are more reasons for optimism than pessimism, Bjørn Lomborg stresses the need for clear-headed prioritisation of resources to tackle real, not imagined problems. The Skeptical Environmentalist offers readers a non-partisan stocktaking exercise that serves as a useful corrective to the more alarmist accounts favoured by campaign groups and the media.

Contents

List of figures
List of tables
Preface
Language and measures
Acknowledgements
Permissions

Pt. 1 The Litany

1 Things are getting better 3
2 Why do we hear so much bad news? 34

Pt. II Human Welfare

3 Measuring human welfare 45
4 Life expectancy and health 50
5 Food and hunger 60
6 Prosperity 70
7 Conclusion to Part II: unprecedented human prosperity 87

Pt. III Can human prosperity continue?

8 Are we living on borrowed time? 91
9 Will we have enough food? 93
10 Forests - are we losing them? 110
11 Energy 118
12 Non-energy resources 137
13 Water 149
14 Conclusion to Part III: continued prosperity 159

Pt. IV Pollution: does it undercut human prosperity?

15 Air pollution 163
16 Acid rain and forest death 178
17 Indoor air pollution 182
18 Allergies and asthma 185
19 Water pollution 189
20 Waste: running out of space? 206
21 Conclusion to Part IV: the pollution burden has diminished 210

Pt. V Tomorrow's problems

22 Our chemical fears 215
23 Biodiversity 249
24 Global warming 258

Pt. VI The Real State of the World

25 Predicament or progress? 327
Notes 353
Bibliography 435
Index

L'auteur - Bjorn Lomborg

Bjorn Lomborg is Associate Professor of Statistics, University of Aarhus, and former Director, Environmental Assessment Institute, Copenhagen. He is listed as one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine, and is author of the controversial best-seller, The Skeptical Environmentalist.

Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Cambridge University Press
Auteur(s)	Bjorn Lomborg
Parution	22/11/2001
Nb. de pages	514
Format	17,8 x 25,3
Couverture	Relié
Poids	1200g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780521804479