“A two-story house full of our lives was a two-foot heap of dead smoking ash,” writes the author about his first return to survey the damage. The result is a vividly journalistic graphic narrative of resilience in the face of tragedy, an account of recent history that seems timely as ever. They wreaked destruction over central California in the latter months of 2018, dominating headlines for weeks, barely a year after Fies ( Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?, 2009) lost nearly everything to the fires that raged through Northern California. These days, it seems the fires will never end. The book is not entirely negative final chapters indicate roads of reversal, before it is too late!Ī new life and book arise from the ashes of a devastating California wildfire. Book-of-the-Month distribution in October will spread the message yet more widely. Already the articles taken from the book for publication in The New Yorkerare being widely discussed. It needed to be told-and by a scientist with a rare gift of communication and an overwhelming sense of responsibility. There is enough evidence to point to the far-reaching effects but this is only the beginning,-in cancer, in liver disorders, in radiation perils…This is the horrifying story. And humans? They drink the milk, eat the vegetables, the fish, the poultry. The birds consume the poisons in their insect and earthworm diet the cattle, in their fodder the fish, in the waters and the food those waters provide. Waters, even to the underground water tables, are contaminated soils are poisoned. And ironically, the insects are winning the war, setting up immunities, and re-emerging, their natural enemies destroyed. But with chemicals-increasingly stronger, more potent, more varied, more dangerous-new chain reactions have set in. The war against insects had been under way before, but the methods were relatively harmless to other than the insects under attack the products non-chemical, sometimes even introduction of other insects, enemies of the ones under attack. World War II hastened the program by releasing lethal chemicals for destruction of insects that threatened man’s health and comfort, vegetation that needed quick disposal. Death to our birds, to fish, to wild creatures of the woods-and, to a degree as yet undetermined, to man himself. Understand, yes, and shudder, for she has drawn a living portrait of what is happening to this balance nature has decreed in the science of life-and what man is doing (and has done) to destroy it and create a science of death. It should come as no surprise that the gifted author of The Sea Around Usand its successors can take another branch of science-that phase of biology indicated by the term ecology-and bring it so sharply into focus that any intelligent layman can understand what she is talking about. He explains how global patterns of air circulation are responsible for cyclones and describes the problem faced by weather forecasters because of the famous butterfly effect: how “the smallest unobserved change could make the difference between a sunny day and a massive storm.” Logan celebrates the atmosphere as a medium of communication-transmitting pheromones as well as sound, bird calls, music-and notes that the breath of life separates the living from the dead.Ī tour-de-force journey through the natural world. Logan provides a biting critique of the failure of government officials to be honest with the population of New York City about the dangerous level of pollution following 9/11, when he was able to accurately measure the air quality as he worked to save trees in the area. ![]() In our focus on air quality and global warming, we tend to forget that it is the medium in which spores, fungi, airborne bacteria and pollens circulate-along with soot and other pollutants. Too often we take it for granted, he writes, except when problems arise. It cannot be controlled…It changes the fate of creatures and the destiny of peoples.” The author explains that his purpose is to make us aware of how remarkable the role of the atmosphere is in the evolution of life on Earth and in every aspect of daily existence. As in his earlier works- Dirt (1995) and Oak (2005)-he celebrates the union of the inorganic and organic realms that nurture life: “The air cannot be owned. An examination of the all-encompassing role that the atmosphere plays in shaping our lives.Īrborist Logan weaves together history, philosophy and culture in the third volume of his trilogy.
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