Earth in Human Hands
David Grinspoon 2016, Grand Central Publishing
Beaverton 304.2 GRI
Perhaps useful for those who haven't thought about human effects on the Earth, for me, drawn out and wordy. Another "I talked with these important people" book. Grinspoon's journal papers are more interesting to me than this. Mostly skimmed.
Grinspoon writes of limiting growth, implying this is something we must impose on ourselves. He may be unaware of urban reproduction rates (less than unity) and the global drop in birthrates, especially where women have access to contraceptives and medical care for their children. A generation ago, poor women had many children because a few survivors provided support in old age. In a richer and healthier world, fewer births are necessary, and more education and resources are required for those children. Hype is exponential, reality always has limits, and intelligence anticipates and compensates for those limits. Stupidity does not ...
Notes:
- p160 the Martian spin axis varies from 15 to 35 degrees over 120,000 years, sometimes up to 60 degrees. Titan varies over 60,000 years.
- p220 reversion to forests, drawdown between 1570 and 1620, global cooling, ref 3 p487: