Our world is far richer than previously conceived, yet so ravaged by human activity that half its species could be gone by the end of the present century. These two contrasting themes-unexpected magnificence and underestimated peril-have originated during the past two decades of research. In this timely and important new book, one of our greatest living scientists describes exactly what treasures of the natural world we are about to lose forever and what we can do right now to save them. Destruction of natural habitats, the rampant spread of invasive species, pollution, uncontrolled population growth and overharvesting are the main threats to our natural world. Wilson explains how each of these elements works to undo the web of life that supports us, and why it is in our best interests to stop it.
THE FUTURE OF LIFE is a magisterial accomplishment - both a moving description of the world's astonishing animals and plants and a guidebook for the protection of all its species, including our own. I didn’t want to pass the opportunity to review a book I have read and that gave me more food for thought in an increasing understanding of how important is the issue treated on this book.If you are familiar with Edward O. Wilson’s work, you don’t need much to understand its subject matter, for the title says it all: The Future of Life.
And if you are aware of the ongoing pressure we humans have been putting against life’s continuation on this planet, this book will just be another reminder of how big a blow ours have been.Published in 2003, the book hasn’t aged too well. Not that it contains incorrect information, it’s just that the many let’s say less optimistic predictions haven’t fared well with the accelerating downward trend the world has followed.
The Bottleneck Eo Wilson
So it’s not E. Wilson’s fault that we haven’t taken heed of his advice and that we, as a whole, continued to act blindly to warnings such as these.If you are acquainted with E. Wilson’s work and you are pondering about reading this book, maybe you can devote your time to more recent publications, for maybe your time will be better spent.
If you are new to the author, don’t waste your time here, and choose some other of his best known works, for this is not his best. In any case, if you enjoy E. Wilson’s writing style and the clear way he presents his subject matter, this book won’t weigh you down. There weren't very many surprises in this book for someone who considers themselves an environmentalist and follows environmental news. But the surprises that were there were whoppers. For instance, did you know that within a matter of decades, if current trends hold true, China will need to import more grain than is currently exported worldwide on an annual basis? But there were some major disappointments in this book as well, particularly some perceived inconsistencies in his 'hopes for the future.'
Quoting from the book's inner cover: 'Edward O. Wilson is the author of two Pulitzer Prize winning books.as well as many other groundbreaking works.A recipient of many of the world's leading prizes in science and conservation, he is currently Pellegrino University Research Professor Emeritus and Honorary Curator in Entomology of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.'
About the book: quoting from the book's back cover, the reviewer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said of this work, 'A critical report card for planet Earth, an urgent manifesto on global action, an eloquent plea.A literate, even poetic recounting of current scientific information that is readily accessible to lay readers. A more engaging and persuasive single volume on this crucial subject is difficult to imagine.' This title is a New York Times Notable Book. It has extensive chapter notes, a glossary and is well indexed. In the acknowledgement section Wilson named a platoon of experts in many fields who helped him with this work.
In each comment, Wilson, retired only in the most technical sense, looked forward more than back, eager to spur everyone from school children to the world’s elected leaders to save space for non-human life and fend off a brewing mass extinction. He described his work on the final stages of another book, which he’s calling “Tales from the Ant World,” preparations for a July 6 “”—a saturation exploration by students and scientists of the nearby Walden Woods immortalized by Thoreau—and correspondence with officials in his home state of Alabama about a long-held vision to expand parks there. “There are three levels of biodiversity that we're trying to save: ecosystems, then the species in the ecosystems, and then the genes that prescribe traits of the species that make up the ecosystem,” he said. “And we should decide upon areas to be saved not by the general appearance or what are the main ecosystems in them. We don't know enough about ecosystems. We should be choosing them according to the number of species that are in each. And particularly the number of endangered species of some kind.”.
After all, he mused, that’s how he got started as a child. “When my parents moved to Washington with me as a 9-year-old, when my father had a temporary job in the government, I found myself five blocks from the National Zoo and just beyond Rock Creek Park,” Wilson said. “And so while I was going through the end of grammar school, I proceeded to spend all of my time in that zoo and then exploring Rock Creek Park. And I became then and there a lifetime professional scientific naturalist. Seeing people who are actually engaged and studying it and treasuring it and making a lot of it was just enough to make me want to study any subject so that I could be like one of them.”. The range of threats is also dizzyingly varied.
In some spots, as the United Nations, an estimated 1 million species face rising risk of extinction from threats both discrete and diffuse. The threats range from fast-spreading cattle ranches, road networks, and poaching to vast plumes of runoff from farmers’ fields to and driven by accumulating heat-trapping emissions of carbon dioxide. Ecosystems are being disrupted worldwide by, like the South American red fire ants that Wilson, discovered nesting in Mobile, Alabama, in 1946. But there are, Wilson insisted, ranging from harnessing artificial intelligence in conservation science to innovations in agriculture.
“I think we could produce an almost unlimited new industry of food production,” he said. “People have begun to talk a lot about making hamburgers from vegetables. If we could just take the cattle off the ranches, and stop slaughtering them, and somehow produce substitutes for the things that are harming humanity most, we would make a great leap forward.”.