CALLED
Seven Trends Shaping the Future of Our Planet
The Little Green Handbook ISBN: 0312425813
(the US edition, 2006)
Ron Nielsen
Ron Nielsens book is a fantastic reference ... Whats amazing about this
book is the amount of data and research material put into it ... it
certainly belongs in any good school or university library. Tony
OLoughlin, Australian Bookseller & Publisher
The Little Green Handbook gives an excellent summary of the essential
facts and figures of global environmental change while giving a broader
view of what these continuing developments will mean for humanity ...
Nielsens attention to detail and breadth of research is extraordinary. His
ability to graph and tabulate complex ideas about social decline or the
energy crisis in an accessible and interesting form make this book a truly
valuable source of information for any environmental or social justice
activist. Sarah Thorne, Socialist Worker
The intelligent organisation of the material, the concern for the
wellbeing of people throughout the world and the easy style kept me engaged
till the end ... This book has disturbed me. I hope you read all of it
too. National Parks Journal
'The Little Green Handbook is an invaluable publication for all who care
about our global environment. It is also a timely call to action in terms
of making healthy choices and lobbying our politicians to do the same - for
all our sakes.' Kerry Hennigan, Travelscene International
While debates about the state of the global environment rage on many
fronts, it is often hard to get accurate and relevant information about
what is happening. Just how serious are our environmental problems? And are
we doing enough to deal with them?
For example, how many people can the planet sustain? What are the long-term
effects of continued environmental damage? How fast is the process of
global warming? What are the implications of our continued dependence on
fossil fuels? How much fresh water is available, and how long will it last?
The Little Green Handbook has the answers. Based on a massive amount of
research, this user-friendly narrative is filled with up-to-date facts and
figures about the most serious trends facing the planet. It is a unique
reference work that draws together scientific evidence across a range of
inter-related fields to present an incontrovertible picture of the state of
our world.
The Little Green Handbook is the essential reference book on the subjects
it deals with. Anyone who needs this kind of information students,
journalists, professionals, policy-makers, and general readers will find
it here.
Dr Ron Nielsen was born and educated in Poland. He conducted research in
the Department of Nuclear Physics at the Australian National University,
and worked in research institutes in Poland, England, Germany and
Switzerland. The author of numerous scientific papers in peer-reviewed
professional international journals, Dr Nielsen is a fellow of the
Australian Institute of Physics and an active member of the New York
Academy of Sciences. His biography appears in several Who's Who publications.
What makes the book so special and why should you be interested to read it?
The unique features of the book include:
Acclaimed by a wide range of readers. This book has now been praised by a
wide range of readers common readers and top academics.
All in one. The book contains a description of all critical global trends.
You don't have to read many books, which discuss isolated issuesyou have
it all here in this one, relatively small volume.
Well packed. This book is packed with information. I've tried to avoid
padding and rambling. This should give you a good value for your money.
Easy to read.The book deals with complex issues from a wide range of
disciplines but it is written in a simple language. Anyone who can read a
newspaper will be able to understand my book.
Reliable. The book contains unbiased information from reliable sources.
Whenever necessary, I have also carried out calculations to check the
claims made by other authors and to extend the existing research by adding
new results.
Reference source. Even though the book is written using a simple language,
it is already used as a reliable source of information by people conducting
research.
Subsections. I have broken the text into short subtitled subsections. You
can read the book from cover to cover or you can read just one subsection
at a time. You do not have to work hard to learn something useful.
Tables and boxes. Each table is self-contained. You do not have to search
laboriously through the text to understand the listed numbers. You can take
any table and you will find that it contains everything you need to have to
understand and to interpret the numbers. The same applies to boxes. So
again, as with the subsections, you don't have to read the whole book or
the whole chapter. You can just read information presented in a single
table or box and understand it.
In conclusion. We all live on the same planet and the current critical
global trends will affect us all to a greater or lesser degree. We all need
to understand what is happening around us and how the critical events shape
our future and the future of our children. You will find everything you
need to know in this one concise and easy-to-read volume.
What prompted me to write this book
I am a nuclear scientist but I am also interested in a wide range of other
fields. I have been interested in environmental and social issues for a
long time but never as strongly as I am now. This renewed interest was
triggered by a public lecture at Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia. At
the end of the lecture a speaker had shown a graph, which was supposed to
illustrate how fast the global population was increasing and how it would
cause a global crash in a certain year. The graph seemed convincing but I
decided to check his claim.
I have found that unfortunately the speaker have not included all the data
points on the global population. His general idea was correct but had he
included all the data points, the graph would have looked less dramatic.
After including all the data points the graph indicated a possibility of a
soft landing rather than of an inevitable crash.
One thing led to another and I found myself analysing an increasing number
of data not only in relation to global or local populations but also in
relation to other environmental and social issues. Doing research is my
passion, and my investigation of environmental and social issues was aimed
at satisfying my curiosity. I wanted to see what is true and what is not
about various claims.
I have soon found that people were interested in what I was doing. This has
led to a long series of radio programs. My listeners were asking me for my
book, which did not exist so I prepared for them a short summary. They
wanted to know more, so I prepared for them another, a little longer
summary. Eventually, all this led to the publication of The Little Green
Handbook.
Am I a green activist?
The title of the book might suggest that I am a green activist, but I am
not. If you look for a way to describe me in connection with this book then
perhaps a concerned scientist could be a sufficiently good description. But
a similar description could also apply to you if you share my concern about
the future of the human race.
I do not belong to any environmental organisation and I do not subscribe to
any dogma about the environmental or social issues. If green or other
activists propagate ideas, which make sense I will accept them. If not I
will reject them.
I'm a scientist with many years of experience in research and one cannot be
a scientist without a good dose of skepticism. Scientists have a habit of
asking penetrating questions. Science is a self-correcting discipline and
scientists have to be critical not only about what other people do but also
about their own research procedures and results.
Above all I also like the truth. Creating fictions stories is good for
fiction writers but not for scientists. And so, when I was doing my
research and when I was writing the book I had no axe to grind, no
preconceived ideas to support, and no cherished theory to defend with a
blind determination.
I do not subscribe to doomsday ideas. The purpose of my book is not to
create panic. This would be counterproductive. The book presents an
unbiased, clinical assessment of the health of our planet, which doesn't
have to be terminal.
Unlike other books on similar topics it contains an objective analysis of
all critical global trends. This is important because if we can see all of
them explained in one place we can have a better picture of the problems we
have to solve and we can better appreciate how important it is to solve them.
I consciously avoided expressing my opinions in the book. I made also an
effort not to become emotionally involved. My aim was not only to present a
truthful account of the state of the world but also to outline what we
should do to create a better future for our children, and what we can
expect if we neglect our duty of care, that is if we do little or nothing
to change the course of the critical global trends.
Are we doomed?
If by being doomed you mean that we are predestinated to perish and if you
ask me for my opinion then the answer is NO. However, we can cause a
doomsday if we continue to behave foolishly. So the choice belongs to us
and if we chose to neglect our opportunity to do what's right we shall only
have ourselves to blame.
Many intellectuals who understand the critical global events are concerned
about the future of our planet. (See the warning of the top world
intellectuals. See also the International Society of Doctors for the
Environment, click The Organisation, then Purpose, and read and Impending
Global Dangers.)
The general consensus is that we do not have much time left to change the
course of the critical global events and that if we don't do what's right
we shall miss the opportunity to solve the critical global issues. Indeed,
there's a justified fear that we might cause our self-extinction or that we
might create unbearable living conditions on our planet possibly within
only a few decades.
It's not for us to decide whether our future is already determined.
Whatever believes and interpretations we might have about the critical
global trends it would be wrong to assume a fatalistic attitude, do
nothing, and wait for the sky to fall on our heads.
We still have many options opened for us, and it is our duty to explore
them. But first we have to understand the problems that need to be solved
and critical issues that threaten our survival. I have written The Little
Green Handbook for this very purpose not to predict the future and not to
tell you what will definitely happen to us, but rather what is likely to
happen if the current critical global trends are allowed to continue
without anyone's interference.
Why we should be interested in critical global trends
Live for today, plan for tomorrow
For the first time in human history the current critical global trends and
events have strong influence on our common future. They affect us all. They
threaten our existence on this planet, and in particular, they threaten the
future of our children and grandchildren. If there is ever a good reason to
pay undivided attention to important issues, we have it now.
Alarming indifference
I am not a crusader but after carrying out research that has led to the
publication of The Little Green Handbook I am disappointed that there is
such little interest in the current critical global developments.
People who hold responsible positions are more interested in scoring points
and in appearing smart than in doing what is right.
Religious leaders who claim to be able to read and interpret signs of the
time and who are supposed to warn the world about incoming dangers do not
keep pace with the current critical global events.
Members of the public are too busy trying to cope with their personal
problems or they look for an escape in easily available attractions and
entertainments.
Those who see dangers and sound the alarm are either ignored and brushed
aside or criticised and condemned. Meanwhile the critical global trends
develop uninterrupted. The associated with them events increase in their
number and intensity.
How many people know about the developing dangers and how many people care?
The general attitude is that surely the state of the world cannot be that
bad. Surely life will go on as before or even better. So why to worry?
Can we create a better future on our planet?
This question opens a long and complex topic but let me try to deal with it
as briefly as I can.
If we consider the natural potential of our planet then the answer is YES.
However, if we introduce human factor, then the answer is less certain.
We crossed the boundary of ecological limits of our planet about 20 years
ago. Under our current management, planet Earth can support a maximum of
only around 2 billion people at a reasonably comfortable style of living.
At present, (i.e. at the time of writing of these comments see the
population counter ) we have around 6.5 billion people living on our
planet. Thus we have a surplus of about 4.5 billion people but they still
desperately cling to life. Many of them live in countries where their
children are so hungry that they behave like birds, picking up even single
grains from a dirty ground.
Over 800 million people, the equivalent of the population living in
affluent countries, live with hunger and many of them die of hunger each
year. About 2.4 billion people, nearly twice the population of
industrialised countries, suffer severe water stress. We do not appreciate
the degree of their depravation because we live in countries where the
standard of living is relatively high.
However, we also do not realise that our planet has a huge hidden potential
to support life. We have an exceptionally rich planet. I see solutions to
most, if not to all, of our current critical problems. Maybe I shall deal
with this topic in my next book.
With our rich natural resources it is possible to create paradise on Earth.
It is possible to have an abundance of food, land, water, and clean energy
for everyone. By using rich resources of nature we could have a world of
beauty and comfort. The possibilities, which are already exploited include
nanotechnology, quantum computers, cures to most if not to all diseases,
and longevity. However, nature is so rich that we can hardly imagine how
much it can offer us.
And so, I have no doubt that we could have a paradise on Earth. However,
the question is: Can we, or will we, create it? Here the answer is not so
clear.
An important step in achieving this end would be to work together. Many
businesses offer environmentally friendly products and services. Many
organisations work on solving critical problems. Many scientist work on
unraveling secrets of nature and on applying them to improve our lives. At
the same time many military strategists work equally hard on using new
discoveries to increase their destructive power.
However, even if we consider environmentally and socially friendly business
or organisations we shall soon discover that they do not work together but
rather in virtual isolation. It is like a group of ants pulling an
attractive and useful object. They pull the same object but they all pull
it in various directions. Their progress, if any, is slow and erratic.
Our progress in solving critical global problems is also slow and erratic.
Meanwhile critical global trends continue along their predictable pathways
and the problems they reflect become progressively more difficult to solve.
Consider, for instance, the problem of climate change. We should now work
vigorously together on reducing and phasing out our use of fossil fuels.
Instead, our use of fossil fuels increases.
The accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases rapidly
and we might have already reached a point of no return. Even if we now
started seriously reducing our use of fossil fuels the damage we have
already created is so great that global climate change will continue for a
long time. Global warming is already so advanced that it is even likely to
develop into a runaway process.
The example about the ants pulling an object reminds me of another similar
and relevant example. I observed an ant pulling a heavy object along the
concrete surface of our patio. The object was at least 5 times larger than
the ant.
Our patio slab is made of a stamped concrete that imitates interlocked
stone slates. The ant therefore had to negotiate not only an uneven surface
but also sizable and formidable crevices. The ant was making a steady
progress in a well-defined direction but the progress was slow and laborious.
Then I saw another ant running happily not far from the first ant. So I
thought: "Why not to bring them together and let them pull the same
object." The second ant looked like the first one so I assumed that they
belonged to the same clan.
It took me awhile to convince the second ant to be interested in what was
going on but eventually the second ant got the message. It recognised the
presence of the first ant, examined the pulled object and left. That was
it. The first ant continued to pull the object. It continued for a
relatively long distance but then abandoned it.
How many good projects are abandoned because individuals or individual
organisation receive no help, no appreciation, and no support.? We might
have good ideas and good intentions but if we do not work together we make
little or no progress.
The inadequate collaboration between environmentally friendly business and
organisations is disturbing but it represents a relatively mild side of the
general problem. Much more sinister and dangerous are individuals and
organisations that work either openly or secretly against each other.
How soon, if ever, can we expect Palestinians to live in peace with
Israelis? How soon can we expect terrorists to become friendly and care for
building a sustainable future for all inhabitants of our planet? How soon
can we expect businesses to be guided not by greed but by what is good for
our planet and for future generations? How soon can we expect politicians
to work together and to care for our common future? How soon can we expect
to see that all weapons of mass destruction and other lethal military
inventions are made redundant?
We can have a paradise on Earth but it sounds like utopia. What will it be?
[permaculture] Seven Trends Shaping the Future of Our Planet, The Little Green Handbook Ron Nielsen,
Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson, 08/22/2006