"The God Species" by Mark Lynas (2011)

"For easy reference, here are the planetary boundaries in summary, presented in the same order as chapters in this book and with those already crossed highlighted."

Earth system process	Control variable	Boundary	Pre-industrial	Latest data
Chapter 2: Biodiversity loss	Extinction rate, number of species per million per year	10	1	>100
Chapter 3: Climate change	Atmospheric CO2 concentration, parts per million	350	280	391
Chapter 4: Nitrogen cycle	Amount of N2, removed from the atmosphere, millions of tonnes per year	35	0	121
Chapter 5: Land system change	Percentage of global land-cover converted to cropland, (millions of hectares)	15 (1995)	5 (665)	11.7 (1554)
Chapter 6: Global freshwater use	Consumptive use of public runoff, cubic centimeters per year	4000	415	2600
Chapter 7: Chemical pollution Not yet quantified	_	_	_	_
Chapter 8: Atmospheric aerosol loading Not yet quantified	_	_	_	_
Chapter 9: Ocean acidification	Global oceanic aragonite saturation ratio	2.75	3.44	2.90
Chapter 10: Stratospheric ozone depletion	Stratospheric 02 concentration, Dobson units	276	290	283
Source: Data from J. Rockstrom et al, 2009: “Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity”, Ecology and Society, 14,2, 32, Appendix 1, table S2, except where stated.

Global warming has become one of the dominant themes of our age.  As each day dawns, the world wakes to the presence of yet more souls, and all of the pressures and potentialities that these souls engender upon a world that is only so large, only so rich, and only so able to compensate for all the needs and desires spawned within it.  As many scientists would have it, we are now in the midst of the Athropocene, or the Age of Man, and our actions as both individuals and groups often carry a frightening import for the world in which we find ourselves, the world in which more and more of us find ourselves - each day.  Global warming is but one part of this problem.

But beyond the usual hyperbole, beyond the usual side-taking and leave-taking, what are we to make of global warming?  What are we to make of our increasingly volatile role in the natural world?  Do we resign ourselves to despair?  Or do we take hope and seek to change the seemingly inevitable?  I could understand the despair, but I - perhaps like you - am trying to take hope as well.

The good thing about "The God Species" is that it does indeed offer this kind of hope.  Yet - as Spider-man is apt to say - "With great power comes great responsibility."  At this point in time we have the power to alter our world in irreparable ways, just as we have the power to change it for the better.  It only remains for us to decide what kind of role we wish to play in the climate change debate.  Are we going to roll up our sleeves and forge alliances for the betterment of this planet?  For the betterment of our own environment?  For our own betterment?  Or are we going to continue belaboring the obvious?  It isn't, after all, too late to set the clock back, and it isn't too late to reverse much of the damage we have already caused.  All that is wanting is a more open-minded approach to the problem of climate change, and less of a partisan perspective on the matter.

Much of "The God Species" reflects the author's understanding of "planetary boundaries," or thresholds that we as a species would wish to observe in order to preserve the integrity of our global environment.  He does not rail against capitalism, he does not play favorites, and his only targets are those who would seek to further other interests at the expense of real, measurable environmental progress.  He points out mistakes made by both big business and environmental groups alike, and shows how both sides of this debate are often equally misinformed.

I would encourage you to read this book.  It offers a fresh perspective on environmental policy, and it is also delightfully iconoclastic.  The author employs some odd sentence structures, and some of his arguments could have been presented with fuller evidence, but I think this is the kind of book that more people need to read, on a subject of paramount importance.