Dianne Dumanoski's Books

The End of the Long Summer

Why We Must Remake Our Civilization to Survive on a Volatile Earth

By: Dianne Dumanoski

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The End of the Long Summer

Why We Must Remake Our Civilization to Survive on a Volatile Earth

By: Dianne Dumanoski

For the past twelve thousand years, Earth’s stable climate has allowed human civilization to flourish. But this long benign summer is an anomaly in the Earth’s history and one that is rapidly coming to a close. The radical experiment of our modern industrial civilization is now disrupting our planet’s very metabolism; our future hinges in large part on how Earth responds. Climate change is already bearing down, hitting harder and faster than expected. The greatest danger is not extreme yet discrete weather events, such as Hurricane Katrina or the calamitous wildfires that now plague California, but profound and systemic disruptions on a global scale. Contrary to the pervasive belief that climate change will be a gradual escalator ride into balmier temperatures, the Earth’s climate system has a history of radical shifts–dramatic shocks that could lead to the collapse of social and economic systems. The question is no longer simply how can we stop climate change, but how can we as a civilization survive it. The guiding values of modern culture have become dangerously obsolete in this new era. Yet as renowned environmental journalist Dianne Dumanoski shows, little has been done to avert the crisis or to prepare human societies for a time of growing instability. In a work of astonishing scope, Dumanoski deftly weaves history, science, and culture to show how the fundamental doctrines of modern society have impeded our ability to respond to this crisis and have fostered an economic globalization that is only increasing our vulnerability at this critical time. She exposes the fallacy of banking on a last-minute technological fix as well as the perilous trap of believing that humans can succeed in the quest to control nature. Only by restructuring our global civilization based on the principles that have allowed Earth’s life and our ancestors to survive catastrophe——diversity, redundancy, a degree of self-sufficiency, social solidarity, and an aversion to excessive integration——can we restore the flexibility needed to weather the trials ahead. In this powerful and prescient book, Dumanoski moves beyond now-ubiquitous environmental buzzwords about green industries and clean energy to provide a new cultural map through this dangerous passage. Though the message is grave, it is not without hope. Lucid, eloquent, and urgent, The End of the Long Summer deserves a place alongside transformative works such as Silent Spring and The Fate of the Earth.

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Page Count

322

Publisher

Crown

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307396096

ISBN 13

9780307396099

Our Stolen Future

Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?--A Scientific Detective Story

By: Theo Colborn,Dianne Dumanoski,John Peterson Myers

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Our Stolen Future

Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?--A Scientific Detective Story

By: Theo Colborn,Dianne Dumanoski,John Peterson Myers

A critically important book that forces us to ask new questions about the synthetic chemicals that we have spread across this earth."—former vice president Al Gore, author of An Inconvenient Truth Our Stolen Future examines the ways that certain synthetic chemicals interfere with hormonal messages involved in the control of growth and development, especially in the fetus. The developing fetus uses these natural hormonal messages, which come from both from its own hormone system and from its mother, to guide development. They influence virtually all of the growing individual's characteristics, from determining its sex to controlling the numbers of toes and fingers to shaping intricate details of brain structure. Scientific research over the last 50 years has revealed that this hormonal control of development is vulnerable to disruption by synthetic chemicals. Through a variety of mechanisms, hormone-disrupting chemicals (also known as endocrine disrupting chemicals or endocrine disruptors) interfere with the natural messages and alter the course of development, with potential effects on virtually all aspects of bodily function. Our Stolen Future explores the scientific discovery of endocrine disruption. The investigation begins with wildlife, as it was in animals that the first hints of widespread endocrine disruption appeared. The book then examines a series of experiments examining endocrine disruption of animals in the laboratory which show conclusively that fetal exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals can wreak life-long damage. These experiments also reveal some of the biological processes by which these chemicals have their effects, and that endocrine disruption effects can be caused by exposure to infinitesimally small amounts of contaminant. Moving from animals to people, Our Stolen Future summarizes a series of well-studied examples where people have been affected by endocrine disrupting chemicals, most notably the synthetic hormone dietheylstilbestrol (DES), to which several million women were exposed through misguided medical attempts to manage difficult pregnancies in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Our Stolen Future then asks a broader, more difficult and more controversial set of questions. Given what is known from wildlife and laboratory studies, and from examples of well-studied human exposure, and given that exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals in the real world is widespread at levels comparable to those sufficient to cause animal harm, what effects should health scientists be looking for in people in general? Effects to be expected include declines in fertility and other impacts on the reproductive system of both men and women, impairments in disease resistance, and erosions in intelligence.

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Page Count

337

Publisher

Penguin

Published Date

ISBN 10

0452274141

ISBN 13

9780452274143

The End of the Long Summer

Why We Must Remake Our Civilization to Survive on a Volatile Earth

By: Dianne Dumanoski

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The End of the Long Summer

Why We Must Remake Our Civilization to Survive on a Volatile Earth

By: Dianne Dumanoski

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

322

Publisher

Crown

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307396096

ISBN 13

9780307396099

Our Stolen Future

Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?--A Scientific Detective Story

By: Theo Colborn,Dianne Dumanoski,John Peterson Myers

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Our Stolen Future

Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?--A Scientific Detective Story

By: Theo Colborn,Dianne Dumanoski,John Peterson Myers

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

337

Publisher

Penguin

Published Date

ISBN 10

0452274141

ISBN 13

9780452274143

Book's by Dianne Dumanoski

The End of the Long Summer

The End of the Long Summer

Our Stolen Future

Our Stolen Future

The End of the Long Summer

The End of the Long Summer

Our Stolen Future

Our Stolen Future

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