What Has Nature Ever Done for Us?: How Money Really Does Grow on Trees
by:
Tony Juniper (author)
From Indian vultures to Chinese bees, Nature provides the 'natural services' that keep the economy going. From the recycling miracles in the soil; an army of predators ridding us of unwanted pests; an abundance of life creating a genetic codebook that underpins our food, pharmaceutical industries...
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From Indian vultures to Chinese bees, Nature provides the 'natural services' that keep the economy going. From the recycling miracles in the soil; an army of predators ridding us of unwanted pests; an abundance of life creating a genetic codebook that underpins our food, pharmaceutical industries and much more, it has been estimated that these and other services are each year worth about double global GDP. Yet we take most of Nature's services for granted, imagining them free and limitless ...until they suddenly switch off. This is a book full of immediate, impactful stories, containing both warnings (such as in the tale of India's vultures, killed off by drugs given to cattle, leading to an epidemic of rabies) but also the positive (how birds protect fruit harvests, coral reefs protect coasts from storms and how the rainforests absorb billions of tonnes of carbon released from cars and power stations). Tony Juniper's book will change whole way you think about life, the planet and the economy.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9781846685606 (1846685605)
Publish date: January 1st 2013
Publisher: Profile Books
Pages no: 324
Edition language: English
Excellent book about the benefits, functions and well... all the stuff that nature does for us. Each chapter deals with a different aspect of nature and what it does for us. The book is written in easy to understand language without "dumbing down" and minimal biographical waffling by the author. ...