Tales of the Earth: Paroxysms and Perturbations of the Blue Planet - Softcover

..Officer and Page prance from topic to topic across the aeons, providing an irresistable combination of history, speculation, humour, and "hard science explanation" (Washington Post Book World)

In Tales of the Earth the authors describe some of the great events of environmental history, from natural catastrophes such as the Tambora eruption, the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 (which is the greatest in recorded history), and the ice ages, to disasters such as the nuclear fallout from Chernobyl, acid rain, and the progressive depletion of the ozone layer. Much of the narrative is presented through eye-witness accounts or through the commentary of prominent figures. The authors also provide fascinating discussions of meteorites and comets; the demise of mammoths, mastodons, and dinosarus; and of the earth's great floods throughtout the centuries. Tales of the Earth goes on to describe how human activity has also made trouble for nature, for example in the depletion of natural resources and in all kinds of manmade pollution. The global impact of such phenomena as the disappearing ozone layer, acid rain, and the population boom are explored in detail. This book will interest anyone concerned with the environment and the natural world that surrounds us.