The Ecology Book

218 65 million years ago

something killed half

of all the life on

the Earth

Mass extinctions

224 Burning all fuel

reserves will initiate

the runaway greenhouse

Environmental

feedback loops

THE HUMAN

FACTOR

230 Environmental pollution

is an incurable disease

Pollution

236 God cannot save these

trees from fools

Endangered habitats

240 We are seeing the

beginnings of a rapidly

changing planet

The Keeling Curve

242 The chemical barrage

has been hurled against

the fabric of life

The legacy of pesticides

248 A long journey

from discovery

to political action

Acid rain

250 A finite world can support

only a finite population

Overpopulation

252 Dark skies are now

blotted out

Light pollution

254 I am fighting

for humanity

Deforestation

260 The hole in the ozone

layer is a kind of

skywriting

Ozone depletion

262 We needed a mandate

for change

Depletion of natural resources

266 Bigger and bigger boats

chasing smaller and

fewer fish

Overfishing

270 The introduction

of a few rabbits could

do little harm

Invasive species

274 As temperatures increase,

the delicately balanced

system falls into disarray

Spring creep

280 One of the main threats

to biodiversity is

infectious diseases

Amphibian viruses

281 Imagine trying to build

a house while someone

keeps stealing your bricks

Ocean acidification

282 The environmental

damage of urban sprawl

cannot be ignored

Urban sprawl

284 Our oceans are turning

into a plastic soup

A plastic wasteland

286 Water is a public trust

and a human right

The water crisis

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