America's Environmental Report Card: Are We Making the Grade? (The MIT Press)

Americans today are increasingly concerned about the state of the environment. Polls show that a remarkable 63 percent would roll back recent tax cuts to finance environmental protection and that fully 95 percent want environmental education included in the public school curriculum. America's Environmental Report Card offers answers to some of our most pressing environmental questions, providing a timely reminder of what we need to accomplish to achieve a sustainable environment. It lays out the scientific facts about water and air pollution, energy, global warming, and the ozone layer in a lively, conversational style, enhanced by illustrations, and charts a course of action for protecting the environment.America's Environmental Report Card focuses on the environmental issues that polls show are most important to Americans today. It looks at water pollution and the safety of the water supply (20 percent of Americans refuse to drink tap water, at least partly because they doubt its safety), the dangers of floods (increased by the clearing of forests for farms and timber), the leaching of garbage buried in landfills, and pesticide runoff in irrigation waters from agriculture. It examines the ways we generate energy and the resulting global warming, air pollution (much of the 2,500 gallons of air we inhale each day contains exhaust fumes, lead, and asbestos), and ozone depletion and its relationship to skin cancer, and offers a detailed account of nuclear energy production and the radioactive waste it generates. Most important, it outlines ways to deal with these problems -- workable and reasonable solutions that individuals, industry, and government can effect without unreasonable hardship, solutions that map the course to a sustainable future. Americans today are increasingly concerned about the state of the environment. Polls show that a remarkable 63 percent would roll back recent tax cuts to finance environmental protection and that fully 95 percent want environmental education included in the public school curriculum. 'America's Environmental Report Card' offers answers to some of our most pressing environmental questions, providing a timely reminder of what we need to accomplish to achieve a sustainable environment. It lays out the scientific facts about water and air pollution, energy, global warming, and the ozone layer in a lively, conversational style, enhanced by illustrations, and charts a course of action for protecting the environment. 'America's Environmental Report Card' focuses on the environmental issues that polls show are most important to Americans today. It looks at water pollution and the safety of the water supply (20 percent of Americans refuse to drink tap water, at least partly because they doubt its safety), the dangers of floods (increased by the clearing of forests for farms and timber), the leaching of garbage buried in landfills, and pesticide runoff in irrigation waters from agriculture. It examines the ways we generate energy and the resulting global warming, air pollution (much of the 2,500 gallons of air we inhale each day contains exhaust fumes, lead, and asbestos), and ozone depletion and its relationship to skin cancer, and offers a detailed account of nuclear energy production and the radioactive waste it generates. Most important, it outlines ways to deal with these problems -- workable and reasonable solutions that individuals, industry, and government can effect without unreasonable hardship, solutions that map the course to a sustainable future. A timely analysis of the state of America's environmental health addresses some of our most pressing environmental concerns, including air and water pollution, energy consumption, global warming, the ozone layer, climate change, and species depletion, and outlines workable and reasonable solutions that can map a course to a sustainable future A timely survey of the state of America's environment: how we can take action to achieve a sustainable future.Americans today are increasingly concerned about the state of the environment. Polls show that a remarkable 63 percent would roll back recent tax cuts to finance environmental protection and that fully 95 percent want environmental education included in the public school curriculum. America's Environmental Report Card offers answers to some of our most pressing environmental questions, providing a timely reminder of what we need to accomplish to achieve a sustainable environment. It lays out the scientific facts about water and air pollution, energy, global warming, and the ozone layer in a lively, conversational style, enhanced by illustrations, and charts a course of action for protecting the environment. America's Environmental Report Card focuses on the environmental issues that polls show are most important to Americans today. It looks at water pollution and the safety of the water supply (20 percent of Americans refuse to drink tap water, at least partly because they doubt its safety), the dangers of floods (increased by the clearing of forests for farms and timber), the leaching of garbage buried in landfills, and pesticide runoff in irrigation waters from agriculture. It examines the ways we generate energy and the resulting global warming, air pollution (much of the 2,500 gallons of air we inhale each day contains exhaust fumes, lead, and asbestos), and ozone depletion and its relationship to skin cancer, and offers a detailed account of nuclear energy production and the radioactive waste it generates. Most important, it outlines ways to deal with these problems—workable and reasonable solutions that individuals, industry, and government can effect without unreasonable hardship, solutions that map the course to a sustainable future.

a Timely Survey Of The State Of America's Environment: How We Can Take Action To Achieve A Sustainable Future.

publishers Weekly

nostalgia For A Lost Natural World And/or Ire At Industry Waste And Government Failures Inform Many A Book About The Environment, But Blatt Examines The World's Most Pressing Environmental Problems In A Balanced, Learned Tone. A Longtime Geology Professor Currently Teaching In Israel, Blatt Breaks Down Environmental Issues Into Their Components, Describing Different Aspects Of The Problem, Offering Solutions And Suggesting A Prognosis. When It Comes To America's Attempts To Decrease Air Pollution And Protect The Ozone Layer, Blatt Gives Surprisingly Good Grades (a And A-). The World's Rapid Response To The Ozone Problem, He Says, Is A Fine Example Of What Can Be Accomplished When Cooperation Prevails Among Nations. But From Failing To Ratify The Kyoto Treaty To Failing To Discourage Suburban Sprawl (which Means, Among Other Things, Longer Drive Times And Larger, More Energy-inefficient Houses), Americans Aren't Doing Enough To Stop Global Warning, He Says. We Should Practice Better Private Conservation-e.g., Use Shower Heads That Save Water-but What's Required Is Systemic Change. Frank But Hopeful, Serious But Readable, This Is An Excellent Environmental Science Primer. (dec.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Preface......Page 8 Introduction......Page 10 1 Water: Is There Enough and Is It Drinkable?......Page 18 2 Floods: Too Much Water......Page 50 3 Garbage: The Smelly Mountain......Page 68 4 Soil, Crops, and Food......Page 88 5 Energy Supplies......Page 112 6 Global Warming: The Climate Is Changing......Page 144 7 Air Pollution and Your Lungs......Page 172 8 Skin Cancer and the Ozone Hole......Page 194 9 Nuclear-Waste Disposal: Not in My Backyard......Page 212 10 Conclusion......Page 236 Appendix A Sustainable Energy Coalition......Page 256 Notes......Page 264 Additional Readings......Page 278 Index......Page 288 "America's Environmental Report Card offers answers to some of our most pressing environmental questions providing a timely reminder of what we need to accomplish to achieve a sustainable environment. It lays out the scientific facts about water and air pollution, energy, global warming, and the ozone layer in a lively, conversational style, enhanced by illustrations, and charts a course of action for protecting the environment." "America's Environmental Report Card focuses on the environmental issues that polls show are most important to Americans today."--BOOK JACKET.