Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit | Al Gore

Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit | Al Gore | What a great book

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Earth in the Balan...

	Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit Al Gore Rodale Books, 2006 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 19 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Re-released on the heels of Al Gores #1 New York Times bestseller, An Inconvenient Truth, comes the paperback edition of his classic bestseller, Earth in the Balance. First published in 1992, it helped place the environment on the national agenda; now, as environmental issues move front-and-center in the public consciousness, the time is right to reflect deeply on the fate of our planet and commit ourselves to its future. While An Inconvenient Truth closely examines one menace to our environmentglobal warmingEarth in the Balance takes a broader approach, focusing on the threats that everyday choices pose to our climate, water, soil, and diversity of plant and animal life. A passionate, lifelong defender of the environment, Gore describesin brave and unforgettable termshow human actions and decisions can endanger or safeguard the vulnerable ecosystem that sustains us.

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Earth In The Balance

Incredibly informative . Puts perspective on the Earth's history of climate change and how it affects civilizations.

What a great book

Having seen the film "An Inconvenient Truth", I assumed this would make for interesting reading. This book proved to be that and more. Throughout the book's noticeably-long length, Al Gore introduces the reader to the concept of humanity affecting the earth's environment. By making personal connections to himself and his experiences traveling through remote locales (including Antarctica and the dry seas of central Asia), Gore introduces us to the very real facts of global warming and international climate change. It's clear he's done his homework, too. In chapter three, he analyzes every major catastrophic disaster in Earth's history and displays scientific evidence to how the climate directly or indirectly caused them.

The factoids (I say "factoids" because that's essentially what the book consists of-there's no real plot) get a bit redundant and annoying around chapter's five and six, and all of the pessimism begins to bear down on the reader's enjoyment of the book. If one can survive until chapter seven, however, the book changes tone as Gore begins relating all of the pessimism to the humans on Earth. Here, we learn that Gore is neither blaming us nor making excuses: he is looking for answers. The book's general concept (not to give too much away) is that we as human beings are more closely related to the planet than we think, and that we all need to reconsider our actions RIGHT NOW and live more closely to our planet, so we can take a different sort of attitude and understand more thoroughly life's essential necessities for existence.

If there is one thing that Gore never becomes in this book, it is unconvincing. Gore's words are extremely powerful and calculated; the reader can instantly tell Gore is speaking from his heart. There are a few poor points-he drags on around the end of the first third of the book, and the final chapter extends (in my edition) to over sixty pages. Despite the book's slight shortcomings, Gore's raw emotion combined with an intelligent punch make for a convincing, intruiging read that will open the reader's eyes regardless of one's political or religious views.

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A milestone in the environmental debate

I won't summarise the arguments of Earth in the Balance here as other reviewers have done that very well already.
This is an important book, as much for its context in the history of the environmental movement as for its content. People forget that during his Presidential Campaign some cynics thought that Al had abandoned his green ideology. Others, and I agree with them, thought that he was simply trying not to sound too radical to business interests: the real deciders of elections in the States. The strategy being, get into the White House first by not sounding too revolutionary but once in power the real revolution begins. And that is the message behind this book: only the greatest revolution in human history, a truly global revolution, will have a chance of curing the planet's problems. What's more it has to begin in America where the greatest environmental harm is being done, not just through its consumption patterns but through its philosophy. The reality check means this: the American dream and the survival of the planet are incompatible. So change the American dream. That is why, 15 years after it was published, I suggest that Al Gore should add a new epilogue entitled "what I'd have done if I'd won." And here is an interesting question: would he have achieved more for the environmental in the White House or out of it?

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An OK read...

So this book was written in 1990...things have changed a lot since then - some for better some for worse. So keep that in mind while reading this book. But some good facts in the book though from extensive research. That is the selling point for this. However, I think the presentation and writing style made it a little difficult to maintain focus. I might have felt differently had I read this in 1990.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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