By Jared Diamond
In his runaway bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond brilliantly tested the conditions that allowed Western civilizations to dominate a lot of the area. Now he probes the opposite aspect of the equation: What brought on a few of the nice civilizations of the prior to fall into destroy, and what can we examine from their fates? utilizing an enormous historic and geographical standpoint starting from Easter Island and the Maya to Viking Greenland and smooth Montana, Diamond lines a basic trend of environmental catastrophe—one whose symptoms could be obvious in our smooth global and that we forget about at our peril. mixing the latest medical advances right into a narrative that's very unlikely to place down, Collapse exposes the inner most mysteries of the prior whilst it bargains desire for the long run.
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Additional resources for Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Sample text
The salty groundwater may also end up in wells and streams and may evaporate on the surface to leave a caked layer of salt. If you imagine yourself drinking a glass of "water" more concentrated than the ocean, you will appreciate that not only does it taste horrible and prevent farmers from growing crops, but that its dissolved boron, selenium, and other toxic ingredients may be bad for your health (and for that of wildlife and your livestock). , including India, Turkey, and especially Australia (see Chapter 13).
The federal government owns over one-quarter of the land in the state and three-quarters of the land in the county, mostly under the title of national forest. Nevertheless, the Bitterroot Valley presents a microcosm of the environmental problems plaguing the rest of the United States: increasing population, immigration, increasing scarcity and decreasing quality of water, locally and seasonally poor air quality, toxic wastes, heightened risks from wildfires, forest deterioration, losses of soil or of its nutrients, losses of biodiversity, damage from introduced pest species, and effects of climate change.
I've read Plum Creek's publications and talked with their director of corporate affairs, Bob Jirsa, who defends Plum Creek's environmental policies and sustainable forestry practices. I've also heard numerous Montana friends vent unfavorable opinions about Plum Creek. " Should these polarized views remind you of the views that I already quoted about mining companies, you're right. Plum Creek is organized as a profit-making business, not as a charity. If Montana citizens want Plum Creek to do things that would diminish its profits, it's their responsibility to get their politicians to pass and enforce laws demanding those things, or to buy out the lands and manage them differently.