The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World

Book Description

Bjørn Lomborg, a former member of Greenpeace, challenges widely held beliefs that the world environmental situation is getting worse and worse in his new book, The Skeptical Environmentalist. Using statistical information from internationally recognized research institutes, Lomborg systematically examines a range of major environmental issues that feature prominently in headline news around the world, including pollution, biodiversity, fear of chemicals, and the greenhouse effect, and documents that the world has actually improved. He supports his arguments with over 2500 footnotes, allowing readers to check his sources. Lomborg criticizes the way many environmental organizations make selective and misleading use of scientific evidence and argues that we are making decisions about the use of our limited resources based on inaccurate or incomplete information. Concluding that there are more reasons for optimism than pessimism, he stresses the need for clear-headed prioritization of resources to tackle real, not imagined, problems. The Skeptical Environmentalist offers readers a non-partisan evaluation that serves as a useful corrective to the more alarmist accounts favored by campaign groups and the media. Bjørn Lomborg is an associate professor of statistics in the Department of Political Science at the University of Aarhus. When he started to investigate the statistics behind the current gloomy view of the environment, he was genuinely surprised. He published four lengthy articles in the leading Danish newspaper, including statistics documenting an ever-improving world, and unleashed the biggest post-war debate with more than 400 articles in all the major papers. Since then, Lomborg has been a frequent participant in the European debate on environmentalism on television, radio, and in newspapers.

Customer Reviews:

Thank goodness for a voice of reason.......2007-08-12

No one denies that there is warming. What *is* being disputed is what are the causes.

Fact: solar changes are far more significant than human causes.

Fact: there have always been changes in overall temperatures.

Fact: many of the temperature collection locations are ill-chosen (changes over time) and ill-maintained (many in Russia e.g.).

Fact: many of the suggested "fixes" for warming will do little for global temperatures, but will be catastrophic for the economy.

Best book I have read in a long time.......2007-08-08

Finally, a book that puts perspective and context to the environmental movement. Yes, we have problems and Yes, we have come a long way in the last century. It provides optimism that together we can solve tomorrow's environmental/quality of life problems. And does this with humor, population increases, quote: "it is not that we have begun breeding like rabbits, but that we are not dying off like flies" that is driving population increases, which should flatten around 12 billion by 2050 or so. And, is this sustainable, yes and no. Read the book.

Bjorn Lomborg is the Waylon Smithers of the corporate world.......2007-07-30

Paper not even worthy a cleaning up after Fido, Bjorn breaks out his best "Pollyanna" dress for Sunday brunch with this sunny side up rotten egg! Undigestable for real scientists, but bubble boys and zombies on a healthy diet of televised info-tainment will eat it up. Pure nonsense.

The Real Deal.......2007-05-19

I have always been deeply skeptical of any "study" or "survey" that does not include numbers and verifiable references. This is not the case in this book. It is well researched and you don't have to be a statistician to understand the graphs and references. Of course since it reflects my empirical world view quite closely (my husband asked if I had written it), I enjoyed it all the more. However, the chapter on global warming is not for the faint of heart. The U.N.'s plan for the way you and I should live scared the socks off me. As an antidote for your chills I suggest you Google "Little Climate Optimum".

A Fraud perpetrated on the Gullible.......2007-05-10

Bjorn Lomberg, a political scientist in Denmark, has become the darling of the anti-environmentalist movement with the claim that he started as an environmentalist, and has disproved their claims. He his book has been found by the Danish government's Committee on Scientific Dishonesty, to be "deemed to fall within the concept of scientific dishonesty. ...In view of the subjective requirements made in terms of intent or gross negligence, ... the publication is deemed clearly contrary to the standards of good scientific practice."

Lomberg was only aquitted on the grounds that he was not, as claimed, an environmentalist. His claim that he was involved in Greenpeace was later found also to be in error, as an examination of Greenpeace records never showed him to have ever been a member. He later claimed that he had at some time, donated money to the organisation.

The book it appears contains 111 outright errors and 208 flaws.

Enviro-Skepticism. (Books).(The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World) (book review): An article from: Policy Review

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Enviro-Skepticism. (Books).(The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World) (book review): An article from: Policy Review
Jon Jewett
Manufacturer: Hoover Institution Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Policy Review, published by Hoover Institution Press on December 1, 2001. The length of the article is 2050 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Enviro-Skepticism. (Books).(The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World) (book review)
Author: Jon Jewett
Publication: Policy Review (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2001
Publisher: Hoover Institution Press
Page: 78(5)

Article Type: Book Review

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The environment: Skewed skepticism. (Topical Reviews).: An article from: American Scientist

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The environment: Skewed skepticism. (Topical Reviews).: An article from: American Scientist

Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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The Lomborg file: when the press is lured by a Contraria's tale. (Book Notes).: An article from: Columbia Journalism Review

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The Lomborg file: when the press is lured by a Contraria's tale. (Book Notes).: An article from: Columbia Journalism Review
Russ Baker
Manufacturer: Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008EZ9FE
Release Date: 2005-07-29

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Columbia Journalism Review, published by Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism on March 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1383 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Lomborg file: when the press is lured by a Contraria's tale. (Book Notes).
Author: Russ Baker
Publication: Columbia Journalism Review (Refereed)
Date: March 1, 2002
Publisher: Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism
Volume: 40 Issue: 6 Page: 78(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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Media Sheep: How did The Skeptical Environmentalist pull the wool over the eyes of so many editors? (Commentary).: An article from: World Watch

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Media Sheep: How did The Skeptical Environmentalist pull the wool over the eyes of so many editors? (Commentary).: An article from: World Watch
Richard C. Bell
Manufacturer: Worldwatch Institute
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Binding: Digital

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The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World

ASIN: B0008EWN3U
Release Date: 2005-07-29

Book Description

This digital document is an article from World Watch, published by Worldwatch Institute on March 1, 2002. The length of the article is 2089 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Media Sheep: How did The Skeptical Environmentalist pull the wool over the eyes of so many editors? (Commentary).
Author: Richard C. Bell
Publication: World Watch (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2002
Publisher: Worldwatch Institute
Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Page: 11(3)

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The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the real state of the world. (Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article): An article from: The Geographical Journal

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The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the real state of the world. (Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article): An article from: The Geographical Journal
Colin Green
Manufacturer: Royal Geographical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008DBDPK
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Geographical Journal, published by Royal Geographical Society on December 1, 2002. The length of the article is 463 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the real state of the world. (Reviews).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
Author: Colin Green
Publication: The Geographical Journal (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2002
Publisher: Royal Geographical Society
Volume: 168 Issue: 4 Page: 380(1)

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

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Product Description

Dr. Norman H. Cohen

This stand alone, ready-to-use video workshop can be the centerpiece of your complete mentoring program. These six videos are also useful to introduce executives and others to the benefits and techniques of mentoring.

Each of the videos in this package demonstrates a single critical mentoring behavior in the context of a collaborative mentor-mentee relationship. Scenes are highly realistic role-plays that model ideal mentoring behaviors for learners. Individuals or mentoring pairs will find these materials ideal for self-directed learning activities.

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Becoming effective fathers and mentors: A workbook that prepares Black men to be fathers and mentors (Project manhood)
Sheldon D Nix
Manufacturer: Renaissance Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0006QKXWI

Book Description

This volume provides principles and practices for ecologically based weed management in a wide range of temperate and tropical farming systems. The authors describe how tillage and cultivation practices, manipulations of soil conditions, competitive cultivars, crop diversification, grazing livestock, arthropod and microbial biocontrol agents, and other factors can be used to reduce weed germination, growth, competitive ability, reproduction, and dispersal. Special attention is given to the evolutionary challenges that weeds pose and the roles that farmers can play in the development of new weed management strategies.

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Concerns over environmental and human health impacts of conventional weed management practices, herbicide resistance in weeds, and rising costs of crop production and protection have led agricultural producers and scientists in many countries to seek strategies that take greater advantage of ecological processes and thereby allow a reduction in herbicide use. This book provides principles and practices for ecologically based weed management in a wide range of temperate and tropical farming systems. After examining weed life histories and processes determining the assembly of weed communities, the authors describe how tillage and cultivation practices, manipulations of soil conditions, competitive cultivars, crop diversification, grazing livestock, arthropod and microbial biocontrol agents, and other factors can be used to reduce weed germination, growth, competitive ability, reproduction, and dispersal. Special attention is given to the evolutionary challenges that weeds pose and the roles that farmers can play in the development of new weed management strategies.

Customer Reviews:

ESTE LIBRO HACIA FALTA.......2002-04-06

Este libro lo estabamos esperando desde hace tiempo, pues reune toda la informacion generada hasta el momento sobre el manejo ecologico de las malezas. Es especialmente bueno por la amplitud de su contenido, aborda de manera coherente y extendida el tema. Pronto se convertira en la referencia obligatoria para todos aquellos interesados en el manejo ecologico de arvenses. Solo tengo una queja: EL PRECIO ES ALTO.

Weed Management in Agroecosystems: Ecological Approaches

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Weed Management in Agroecosystems: Ecological Approaches
Miguel A. Altieri
Manufacturer: Crc Pr I Llc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Most Americans equate space exploration with NASA, but the general public is largely unaware that hundreds of passionate individuals and private organizations are working to allow ordinary people the opportunity to tour near space and to create permanent human settlements on Mars and other celestial bodies. Through a series of fascinating interviews, this book introduces the scientists, astronauts, engineers, and entrepreneurs behind the private space movement and offers a clear-eyed assessment of their prospects for success. The legal, ethical, and political challenges facing the exploitation of space resources are also explored, and issues such as environmental responsibility, safety, law enforcement, property rights, patents, and government policy are discussed.

Customer Reviews:

Sets the stage.......2006-01-21

So much has happened since this book was written. The Space Shuttle Columbia, sadly, was lost on reentry. Scaled Composites won the X-Prize. The X-prize organizers founded the Rocket Racing League (RRL). These are major power quakes in the space field. You'd think Berinstein's book would now be hopelessly out of date. Not so.

In these pages, you'll find the back story behind many of the ideas and personalities driving private space activity today. The interviews are really insightful, and the author profiles just about everybody: Buzz Aldrin, Jim Benson (whose SpaceDev built the engines for Scaled Composites's X-prize winning flights), Peter Diamandis (X-prize and RRL founder), Prof. John Lewis (asteroid expert and author of Mining the Sky), Denis Tito (first private space traveler), Robert Zubrin (author, The Case for Mars) and many more. She lets everyone tell their own story, then provides her own viewpoint, which is sometimes slightly critical (though for truly deep criticism, see Weil's "They All Laughed at Christopher Columbus" or Benjamin's "Rocket Dreams").

Berenstein does leave out a few important figures, such as hotelier Robert Bigelow and Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. But it was not for lack of trying. Bezos is still keeping mum about his secret rocket company (Blue Origin) and Bigelow wasn't talking much about his inflatable space stations in 2002.

Berenstein's book sets the stage for today's flurry of activity in private space. If you want a good introduction to the people behind it, this is a great place to start.

A good survey book.......2005-01-09

This is a good survey book for getting up to speed on what's happening in private space development. It's quite exciting to see all the different activities currently happening with private space.

Berinstein covers many different bases. She talks to people inside and outside of NASA and the aerospace establishment, and people from countries other than the US and Russia. She covers politics, with Charles Miller's Prospace organization. She discusses a wide variety of private space efforts, including the Space Frontier Foundation, the Mars and Moon societies, Applied Space Resources, and Spacedev. She also delves into less technical subjects such as ethics, philosophy and property rights.

Some of the most interesting parts of the book are on the history of private space through the post-Apollo letdown of the 70's and 80's. Some recent successes have been many years in the making, in particular NASA's recent friendliness to private space.

It's also fascinating to see the personal histories of space activists. Knowing what Peter Diamandis, Rick Tumlinson, Jim Benson and others have been up to for the last 10 or 20 years makes them all the more interesting, and in some cases inspiring.

My only qualm with the book would be that Berinstein sometimes gets off on tangents, or poses lots of open-ended questions. She does a fairly detailed analysis showing that women are underrepresented in space, and technical fields in general. An important subject, but this is hardly news, and it seemed to distract from the focus of the book.

As of Jan 2005, the book has become somewhat dated. Sometimes in pleasant ways, as with Scaled Composites' X prize win. I'm also unable to find any current info on google about Applied Space Resources, a company featured prominently in the book.

Aside from a couple minor qualms, this is an expansive book, one that makes it easy to get excited about the opportunities for private space. A good jumping-off point for getting more involved in this area.

Coming: Access to Orbit.......2003-02-16

"Making space happen" is for me a phrase that conjures up visions of the world as portrayed in "2001: A Space Odyssey". But of course the world portrayed in that 1968 film -- one with routine space travel -- has not come to pass. Now, 45 years beyond our first, tentative journeys into space, that situation begs the question: Why not?

Paula Berinstein's book is a valuable component of the answer to that question. One reason is that Ms. Berinstein understands business and finance. Indeed, she makes her living advising others on business ventures. For this book (her sixth), she spent three years researching the economics of such ventures as tourism in space, and interviewing many of the movers and shakers in this burgeoning, but largely unnoticed, area.

Its publication is well-timed, for today the biggest barriers to getting into space are not technical ones; they are political and economic ones. This is why business sense is the important asset. Good businessmen with an interest in space -- space entrepreneurs -- are not so common as the techies; but they do exist. This book profiles a number of them, revealing that while getting into space is no cakewalk, it need not be as difficult as the powers that be maintain. One example is the chapter on Jim Benson. He took a look at NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission, with its $250 million price tag, and decided it could be done a lot cheaper by the private sector. A feasibility study done in 1997 by industry experts confirmed that $25 million would do it. An order-of-magnitude cost reduction is not bad. (And note that this is with the existing stable of launch vehicles -- themselves much more expensive than they might be.)

Each chapter deals with one aspect of the problem (human health in microgravity, funding space ventures, insurance, laws, etc.) and profiles an individual or team of individuals actively working in that area. Those profiles include generous portions of the interviews with the subjects. Along with these interviews, some surprisingly candid, come cogent discussions of the relevant issues, supported where applicable by numbers. At the end of each chapter, Ms. Berinstein gives her own opinion of the facts and views just presented. These opinions reflect her admitted bias in favor of routine space travel, but are often skeptical about specific points.

Following the 20 chapters and an epilog on Dennis Tito, there are four appendices that go into greater detail about space tourism market issues, market surveys, regulatory issues, and propulsion. A bibliography, a glossary, a biographical sketch of the author, and a very thorough index round out the book. There are also 29 color and three black-and-white plates, many from photogrpahs taken by Ms. Berinstein herself.

I'd say this very readable book is a worthwhile introduction to some people who, relatively obscure today, might be making us all sit up and take notice in just a few years.

Out of this World.......2002-12-27

This is a great book for long time space enthusiasts as well as those who have just caught the space bug.

This isn't a book about NASA or its programs, though she does discuss them. This is about private citizens who are trying to make space accessible to you and me.

She brings most of the players (individuals and organizations) into this book and what the current burning issues are. There are some people that I wish she would put into the book but this is a very minor quibble.

Her book is an easy read. It doesn't get bogged down in technobabble. She lets the people profiled in this speak themselves through long interviews.

The statistics and data she presents are well placed thus not becoming a distraction or interrupting the flow of reading the book.

There are some people that I didn't know even though I keep up to date on private endeavors. She also brings people in other countries who are involved in private space efforts which is good. We need to know more about what's going on in other nations and what their attitudes are regarding private space efforts and opinions on space generally.

This is a very informative book. She's fair and balance presenting the pros and cons of what it takes for private citizens to get into space.

She presents her opinions at the end of most chapters in a section clearly highlighted as opinion. Her book has helped me crystallized some half form opinions about some of the individuals and organizations that are involved in private space efforts.

If you're interested in who's making things happen space for us and what their technology, plans, and goals are, this is the book.

Good job, Paula!

A remarkable book on the "Other Space Program".......2002-07-24

Making Space Happen fills an important void in the dialog and literature on space exploration, exploitation and the future. Reading the visions and realizing how much is underway to achieve dramatic new breakthroughs is exhilarating. Telling these stories by bringing the cast of characters from out of the mainstream fully into the discussion provides many new insights -- and with solid credibility.

I learned an awful lot about some important and exciting initiatives I'd not been aware of -- though I consider myself a fairly serious student of space development and space issues. My assessment is that the two segments of the space industry -- the mainstream and these entrepreneurs in the Making Space Happen story -- have significant voids in their understanding of one another. This book can address one side of that imbalance -- if it is embraced by the mainstream.

I am impressed with how Paula Berninstein has been able to jump into such a complex field as space and in a very short time, capture so broadly and comprehensively the essence of today's challenges in space exploration. It's not that governments -- and particularly the U.S. -- have not "made space happen" in the past 4-5 decades nor realistically that governments ever will be out of the equation. However, her marvelous research and presentation has reinforced my firm conviction that it will ultimately be the private sector lead by entrepreneurs who, through space exploitation, will force the acceleration of space activities and bring the benefits of space finally back down to Earth in a substantial way.

Paula has taken a segment of the rapidly growing space industry that has been largely ignored by all the space "high-rollers" and put it on the map. It's disappointed me in the past to see senior "aerospace industry leaders" ignore and even belittle the creative thinkers and free-spirits who are suggesting unconventional approaches to long-standing space challenges. If these leaders had all the answers, the challenges would not remain so fundamental as high costs of getting to space and generating healthy return on investments -- from other than public coffers. NASA and the aerospace industry personify the bureaucratic approach to space exploration and real breakthroughs and progress will only come with the high-risk, creative directions such as those she's chosen to describe in this book.

Tom Rogers, for example, is one of the best thinkers of our time with regard to space tourism and the potential impact this new industry can have on our capability to get to space. He also has been justifiably critical of how the billions in public resources have been applied to advancing human presence in space. For this, he has not been well received by the establishment. Well, the establishment and all thinking people need to hear what Tom Rogers and the others in this very informative book have to say -- and moreover what they are actually doing to change the future. Then maybe the two segments of the space business will figure out how to cooperate and together make the next great leaps in space really happen.

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A very entertaining book!

Going to Mars: The Stories of the People Behind NASA's Mars Missions Past, Present, and Future
Garfield Reeves-Stevens , Judith Reeves-Stevens , and Brian Muirhead
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Roving Mars : Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet

High Velocity Leadership : The Mars Pathfinder Approach to Faster, Better, Cheaper

ASIN: 0671027964

Customer Reviews:

A very entertaining book!.......2006-04-02

Being written by two science fiction writers (Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens) and a scientist (Brian Muirhead, who worked and still works with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory), this book is both unconventional and highly entertaining. Not only the technical dimension of space exploration is highlighted, but also the human aspect. What makes people want to explore space? How is an idea translated into an actual mission? How are the new BFC-missions (Better, Faster, Cheaper) managed? Etc. etc.

This book gives a lot of information on past, present and future missions to Mars, information that is often not covered in other books.

As Brian Muirhead was flight system manager of the team that developed the Mars Pathfinder, the first rover that landed on Mars in 1997, a substantial portion of the book is dedicated to this mission.

The book contains many black-and-white photographs of (only) reasonable quality. In the middle of the book are 32 pages with really very high quality photographs and artwork.

All in all to me this book deserves a full five stars. I really enjoyed reading it.

Space And Astronomy: The People Behind The Science (Pioneers in Science)

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Space And Astronomy: The People Behind The Science (Pioneers in Science)
Scott McCutcheon , and Bobbi McCutcheon
Manufacturer: Facts on File
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0816054673

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