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    Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life
    Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life
    Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life
    Audiobook6 hours

    Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life

    Written by Edward O. Wilson

    Narrated by Jonathan Hogan

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Refusing to accept the mass extinction of species as an inevitability, "the world's greatest naturalist" (Jeffrey Sachs) proposes a plan to save Earth's imperiled biosphere. Half-Earth resoundingly concludes the best-selling trilogy begun by The Social Conquest of Earth and The Meaning of Human Existence, a National Book Award finalist. History is not a prerogative of the human species, Edward O. Wilson declares in Half-Earth, a brave work that becomes a radical redefinition of human history. Demonstrating that we blindly ignore the histories of millions of other species, Wilson warns of a point of no return that is imminent. Angrily challenging the fashionable theories of Anthropocenes, who contend that humans can survive alone in an Edenic bubble engineered for their own survival, Wilson documents that the biosphere does not belong to us. Yet, refusing to believe that our extinction is, as so many fear, predetermined, Wilson has written Half-Earth as a cri de coeur, proposing that the only solution to our impending "Sixth Extinction" is to increase the area of natural reserves to half the surface of the earth. Suffused with a profound Darwinian understanding of our planet's fragility, Half-Earth is a transformative work that reverberates with an urgency like few other books.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 7, 2016
    ISBN9781501911668
    Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life

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    Reviews for Half-Earth

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      E. O. Wilson is the father & its greatest protector; this is truly an exceptional book & our most important call to action!
    • 5/5
      Edward O. Wilson succinctly explains the issues facing us today – notably the destruction of the planet and extinction of species. We are in the Anthropocene, the era of humankind’s influence on the planet. We cannot escape the fact that humankind has altered the planet, but Wilson offers a solution that could solve these problems. Setting aside half the Earth as a resource for the other organisms with which we share this orb is an elegant solution that may be the only way to preserve any biodiversity before it’s too late. Wilson’s book is, as always, full of his signature wit and extensive knowledge of biodiversity. I highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about our planet.
    • 3/5
      A good book about an overarching goal to save global biodiversity... in parts.

      Sometimes comments were too sweeping... as evidence grows of man's influence during the last ice age I felt the 'pristine wilderness' idyll outmoded.
    • 4/5
      I was somewhat disappointed in this book. The first 2 sections are wonderfully written and I highly recommend the book on the basis of these two sections. The book falls short in the third section. It is a call for action in response to climate change; however, it really falls short especially after the release of the latest climate report.
    • 4/5
      Wilson's entirely sensible and probably over-ambitious manifesto in favor of setting aside half the world's surface as a preserve. Perhaps not written for the right audience, unfortunately. 
    • 3/5
      I think most of the problems with this book have already been pointed out in previous comments. That said, and having read several of Wilson's books previously, I was hoping to find a well-structured message for, and specially for, the people who have the power or influence to make and change policies that will affect the future of this planet. Alas, not so much so. I think this book needs an exhaustive revision so that the problems, consequences and solutions are presented with coherent flow, momentum, grip and clarity. So that the people who are not already convinced about the seriousness of the situation can be engaged. It is already a bad thing that most of the public reading this kind of literature are the ones that do not need to be convinced. And finally, since this subject is so important I will nevertheless recommend this book and advice some lenience.
    • 4/5
      Incredibly depressing but a very worthy must-read. Highlights included the list of natural history ecosystems worth saving and visiting. Weakness: The last chapter, an odd discourse on biotech and artificial intelligence.
    • 3/5
      Human activity is causing extinctions and rapid change to ecosystems. We all knew that already. What may be a revelation to some readers is how little we truly understand about what it is we are doing or what the results might be. We can only estimate the number of species we have driven to extinction because we still don't have anywhere near a complete account of all those that exist today. We can be reasonably certain that this list will be shorter tomorrow, however.

      Our understanding of how all these species interact with each other and their environment is also incomplete. Local ecosystems and the larger biosphere seem intricately balanced, so sudden changes can have unforeseen and catastrophic consequences. One of the species we drive to extinction may be our own.

      In this book, Wilson argues that our knowledge must be expanded. But at the rate species are disappearing, we won't be able to accomplish anything approaching a complete understanding before many species and their habitats disappear. He suggest that human development be restricted over 50% of the planet, specifically from those places that still can be returned to a state in which they existed prior to human encroachment.

      My first reaction to this was, "Yeah, great idea, but that ain't going to happen." Wilson, however, suggests that it might. With just a bit of regulation, and with technological, economic, and cultural changes already underway, humanity is likely to become less wasteful. We will engineer and grow more nutritious crops in vertical farms, which require less land to feed a population that, he says, should stabilize at around 10 billion people. We will use fewer natural resources and use them more efficiently. We will draw our energy from renewable sources....

      Well, maybe. Our species is capable of cooperation, reason, and foresight. Sadly, our capacity for aggressive competition, greed, and blind stupidity often gets in the way. We'll see which prevails in the coming years.
    • 5/5
      Wilson paints a picture of Earth and it's future that is sad and disheartening while also sounding hopeful and optimistic themes. He is recognized as one of the world's preeminent scientists. His long career in science as well as his life-long commitment to conservation make his positions valid and impactful on a world wide basis. While this is not an easy read it was well worth it. Anyone interested in nature, the future of our biosphere, and conservation should elevate this book to "must read" status - BUT - reading is not enough. This book is a call to action and involvement. We should all seek out ways to contribute (words and deeds) to our fragile global biosphere.
    • 4/5
      Got every reason Earth to be madEdward O. Wilson is angry, and so is his book. No one is listening and things have gotten unbelievably worse. There’s no evidence to provide any real hope. He describes future paleontologists easily identifying the sedimentary layers of our era by the amount of chemicals and plastics in the soil strata, by the fragments of machines and weapons everywhere, and the lack of varied species identified. This is our legacy.As I have written elsewhere, it took the Earth four billion years to reach the Holocene, an era where climate, ice, water and life achieved a state of pleasant equilibrium, with jet streams and ocean currents arranged in a virtuous circle. In just the last 150 years, Homo sapiens has upset the entire system, killing off the Holocene in favor of the Anthropocene, in which one invasive species rules, and any other species that does not add to its immediate benefit can be eliminated. And if even if it does add to its benefit, if it hasn’t been domesticated, it can still face extinction. We are clear-cutting the biosphere.The book is a relentless, hardhitting – make that pounding – indictment of our custodianship. We are far worse than negligent; we are malevolent. We think it does no harm to remove a species from its environs – and its role. The way it really works is there are no species living on the periphery; every species depends on other species or is critical to the survival of others. Our total disregard of this simple rule causes disaster. Wilson has been a naturalist all his long life, and it pains him to find things in this state. His childlike appreciation comes through, often overtaking his anger with the wonder of various species and how they live and contribute so differently. That we lose them daily before we even know how they fit in is criminal to him.Wilson has introduced me to an ugly new subspecies. I will call it the Anthropocene Apologist. AA appears to be a subset of scientists and ignorant people whose attitude is yes, we’ve already wrecked this planet, so let’s just take what we want now and not worry about it. AAs say we should welcome all the invasive species because they fill gaps left by species we made extinct. That they will figure out what to do about the mess when the time comes. It infuriates Wilson. He keeps bringing it up in different contexts, probably because after a lifetime of watching the degradation, he can’t believe there are actual AA scientists promoting it.His solution is to set aside far more than the 15% now dedicated to wilderness areas and parks. He says we need 50%. This is obviously not going to happen, as populations explode at the same time as land mass disappears (in the rise of the oceans), and less of what’s left is habitable. The book ends very weakly with a plea: Do no further harm to the biosphere.David Wineberg