The Closing Circle: Nature, Man, and TechnologyFrom Chapter One: This book . . . begins with the ecosphere, the setting in which civilization has done its great—and terrible—deeds. Then it moves to a description of some of the damage we have done to the ecosphere—to the air, the water, the soil. However, by now such horror stories of environmental destruction are familiar, even tiresome. Much less clear is what we need to learn from them, and so I have chosen less to shed tears for our past mistakes than to try to understand them. Most of this book is an effort to discover which human acts have broken the circle of life, and why. I trace the environmental crisis from its overt manifestations in the ecosphere to the ecological stresses which they reflect, to the faults in productive technology—and in its scientific background—that generate these stresses, and finally to the economic, social, and political forces which have driven us down this self-destructive course. All this in the hope—and expectation—that once we understand the origins of the environmental crisis, we can begin to manage the huge undertaking of surviving it. |
Contents
1 | |
The Ecosphere | |
Nuclear Fire | |
Los AngelesAir | |
Lake Erie Water | |
7 | |
the Ecosphere 8 Population and Affluence | |
The Social Issues 11 The Question ofSurvival 12 The Economic Meaning | |
The Closing Circle | |
Notes | |
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accumulate activities agricultural air pollution algal andthe animals atomic automobile bacteria Barry Commoner basic become biological bythe capital carbon dioxide cent changes chemical complex cost crop degradation detergents developing displaced earth economic system ecosphere ecosystem effects emission energy engine environment environmental crisis environmental impact environmental pollution eutrophication example fallout feedlots fibers fish fromthe human increased industry inorganic inthe intothe isan isthe itis Lake Erie living things manufacture materials mercury molecules nations natural nitrate nitrogen oxides nonreturnable nuclear power nutrients onthe operation organic matter over-all oxygen pesticides phosphate photochemical smog plastic political pollution levels pollution problem population growth processes production profit quotation radiation radioactive recent reduced reported result scientific scientists sewage smog social soil statistics strontium strontium 90 substance sulfur dioxide surface waters survival synthetic thatthe theenvironment theenvironmental thesoil tothe United UnitedStates wastes water pollution withthe world’s resources