Cary Neeper's Blog: Reviewing World-changing Nonfiction - Posts Tagged "ocean"

Blue Future: Protecting Water For People and the Planet Forever by Maude Barlow, New York , The New Press, 2013.
Of all the issues that drive us and disturb us, this one strikes the closest to home. Without water, we simply cannot live, hence access to water is a right that must be protected.

Rivers and lakes ignore political boundaries and, so far, "...international water disputes--even among fierce enemies--have generally been resolved peacefully..." In these times of threatening overpopulation and its stresses, we must guard the "300 arguments between states around shared rivers.”

Tap water problems have led to overuse of bottled water with its plastic clogging the seas, while big money profiteers from its sale, which undermines its availability as a right. “It is crucial [the author says] that nations ratify the [1997] UN Convention on The Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses to secure the future and resolve conflicts. In 2006 The World Wildlife Fund campaigned for this Law’s ratification. It is now signed by 36 countries and was “…brought into force” On August 17, 2014.

No issue seems more important than this. It’s never too late to encourage others to respect this urgent right to life’s basic need. This readable book should be required reading for all politicians and businesses.

Blue Future: Protecting Water For People and the Planet Forever by Maude Barlow, New York , The New Press, 2013.
The thesis of this book: Of all the issues that drive us and disturb us, this one strikes the closest to home. Without water, we simply cannot live, hence access to water is a right that must be protected.

Rivers and lakes ignore political boundaries and, so far, "...international water disputes--even among fierce enemies--have generally been resolved peacefully..." In these times of threatening overpopulation and its stresses, we must guard the "300 arguments between states around shared rivers.”

Tap water problems have led to overuse of bottled water; its plastic is clogging the seas, while big money profiteers from its sale, which undermines its availability as a right. “It is crucial [the author says] that nations ratify the [1997] UN Convention on The Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses to secure the future and resolve conflicts. In 2006 The World Wildlife Fund campaigned for this Law’s ratification. It is now signed by 36 countries and was “…brought into force” On August 17, 2014.

No issue seems more important than this. It’s never too late to encourage others to respect this urgent right to life’s basic need. This readable book should be required reading for all politicians and businesses.

“Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature Is Thriving in an Age of Extinction” by Chris D. Thomas, New York, Hatchette Book Group, 2017.

We can only hope that the author is right about what is thriving on Earth: In spite of the damage we humans have done to our home- (and most likely only) planet, we have created new homes for other life and stimulated their evolutionary creativity.

An award-winning professor of conservation biology at the University of York, UK, Chris Thomas gives us a rare glimpse of hope for Earth’s future, in spite of the excesses of technology and human over-population. Earth was once quite warm (three million years ago) and the continents’ future coming together again will change all Earth’s species’ options eventually, in spite of any human impact.

Meanwhile, ocean-going containers move species around so that “many microbes…have near-global distribution. It makes our “neophobia” and “hatred of foreign species” in our locales seem a little silly--certainly not worth a “costly control and eradication of…alien species.”

“Life is a process, not a final product, “ the author says. Therefore, maintain flexibility for future change. Humans are as normal as anything else that lives. Accept the fact that we must “..live within our planetary boundaries.”

What to do? Read pages 230 to 242, if nothing else. There the author tells us: 1) “…accept change” and prod it in a “desired direction.” 2) “…maintain flexibility for future generations,” for we cannot imagine their world. We should encourage “as many species as possible in minimizing extinction.” 3) Our evolution and presence “are natural within the Earth system…We should encourage “as many species as possible. Genes, like species, survive because they keep track of the changing world.” Specific options are suggested on page 240, following a thoughtful discussion of whether or not to resurrect those who have recently gone extinct. 4) “…create near biological success stories by whatever means” by helping “…direct the evolutionary process.”

How to Give Up Plastic: A Guide to Changing the World, One Plastic Bottle at a Time

It isn’t easy. It requires minute by minute awareness of how much plastic runs our lives. Photos tell the tale. The oceans are full of it, over 90% gets into birds, and the finest, toughest plastic wraps are choking small ocean dwellers. One third of plastic in the ocean is microfibers released when washing clothes!

The answer is difficult for all of us, since we rely on so many handy items.made of plastic. The hard part is to recognize each plastic item and find a substitute. Ultimately, however, its the manufacturers and waste managers who hold the ultimate keys to saving the oceans

For starters, this small book gives us a very useful list of finding plastic in our houses, room by room.

Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010
(version 2012-13 reviewed here)

In his crystal clear prologue, author Charles Murray paints a detailed portrait of America before 1963, when President Kennedy was shot. The “civil religion” that held America together began to unravel after World War II with rumors of class differences, an“independent ethnic heritage” in the country.

Today, in 2020, it is all too clear: “…an evolution of America…has taken place since November 21, 1963, leading to the formation of classes that are different in kind …and separation from anything that the nation has ever known.” The differences “…diverge on core behavior and values.” the whys “…involve forces that cannot be changed.”

Examples explored in the book include marriage, “residential segregation,” job types, industriousness, crime, perhaps honesty, and religion. After 300 pages the reader finds a long list to support Murray’s theses. He suggests that we compare differences between parents at elementary schools in a median income zip code and in an “elite private elementary school”.

The author suggests that the solutions require the “new upper class” to focus on restoring “what makes America different.“A life well lived requires engagement with those around us.”