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Mark Hertsgaard, called "one of Americas finest reporters" by Barbara Ehrenreich, covers climate change for Vanity Fair, The Nation, and L'Espresso. He is the author of six books, which have been translated into sixteen languages, including Earth Odyssey.

Inkluderar namnen: Mark Hertsgaard, Mark Hertsgaarde

Foto taget av: itsyourworld.org

Verk av Mark Hertsgaard

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The Best American Travel Writing 2000 (2000) — Bidragsgivare — 346 exemplar

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1956-12-29
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male
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journalist

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The contribution of this book seems to be the focus on adaptation. Of course we need to prevent climate change to whatever extent we can, but that extent is limited. Climate change is already underway and will continue for decades, no matter how we act in the future.

The posture of the book is prescriptive. It is about what we ought to do. Hertsgaard describes many different projects around the world, e.g. the work in the Netherlands to prevent sea level rise from destroying their country. These exemplary projects then point the way we need to follow.

Here we are some 14 years later. It's not like nothing has happened. Electric cars, electric bicycles, electric lawnmowers, etc. Wind turbines are all over the place, as are solar panels. It looks like CO2 emissions per capita in the USA have dropped maybe 15% since 2010. That is a significant decrease! On the other hand, climate denialism is as rampant as ever. The planetary response to environmental stresses seems to be violence and authoritarianism as much as anything helpful.

Here's a next step of analysis that Hertsgaard didn't really take up. We will adapt to climate change. Mostly far too late, but still. But... how will we adapt? This descent into violence shows that a lot of our adaptation will be stupid and ugly. From a climate perspective though, the key question is: will our adaptation promote mitigation or conflict with it. For humans to solve a problem in a way that makes the problem worse.... we are certainly capable of digging ourselves into pits like that. Can we avoid it?
… (mer)
 
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kukulaj | 8 andra recensioner | Jan 11, 2024 |
This book was required reading for me in a colloquium entitled "America's Role in the World." The course explored not only the idea of globalization but also the ways in which the United States is perceived versus how we, as American citizens, believe or want it to be viewed, making this an excellent choice of text.

Hertsgaard approaches the topic as unbiasedly as I think he can as an American himself. His visits with individuals from around the world provide interesting and sometimes eye-opening ideas and it's easy to get the sense that he was learning just as much as the reader through his conversations. The cultural comparisons as well as the discussions of specific actions and policy choices are indeed enlightening as is the way in which many of the interviewees make a stark differentiation between their views of America and AmericaNs.

While I think this book might be difficult for some people, as we often let our ethnocentrism get in the way of considering outside perspectives, it is indeed a very different one. While the description of the book does reference September 11, 2001, it's not the focus of the book itself or of the conversations, necessarily, that Hertsgaard relates in the text.
… (mer)
 
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crtsjffrsn | 2 andra recensioner | Aug 27, 2021 |
I have almost no recollection of this book other than reading it on the beach during Spring Break of 8th grade and loving it... So I guess that's something?
 
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LibroLindsay | 1 annan recension | Jun 18, 2021 |
Sort of interesting book about a topic I'm deeply interested in. All secondhand sources. The Snowden stuff was all rehashed; there was some boring stuff about much earlier whistleblowers. The Drake/Wiebe/Loomis Roark part has been thoroughly covered elsewhere and wasn't well covered here. The only really interesting part for me was short bit about John Crane (DOD IG office), who hasn't been covered as well elsewhere.
 
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octal | Jan 1, 2021 |

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