suzanne_between_pages's review against another edition

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2.75

eggcellent_reads's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

alyssam_'s review against another edition

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5.0

It's David Attenborough. Of course it's 5/5.

I listened to this slowly over the course of a few weeks, and noticed how it was shaping my thoughts and perspectives daily as I went about my business.

I loved when he discussed how the world currently measures success by consistent economic growth. Yet the natural world does not. It evolves to a certain point until it reaches equanimity and mutualistic benefit. Until it can SUSTAIN itself. Then it stops. Nothing grows infinitely, not even the economy. When we reached stalemate in economic growth, we went into nature and took from the earth to maintain that growth. We claim 10% annual fiscal gain, but this does not account for the losses to the environment we take to achieve it.

Everyone should consume this book. It is a more in depth and specific/practical portrayal of the state of our planet than the film. He doesn't leave you hanging with a dreadful reality; he thoughtfully offers solutions, current best practices and hope.

everythingcollector's review against another edition

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5.0

jakegh_'s review

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5.0

Everyone should spend the few hours required to read this.

anna_maria_wirth's review against another edition

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4.0

fourcue's review against another edition

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4.0

samidhak's review against another edition

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4.0

“Our future on this planet, the only place as far as we know where life of any kind exists, is at stake”

I am huge fan of The Blue Planet series by David Attenborough. To read this book and go through it while he presents the future of Earth and the history of Holocene is thought provoking, to say the least. The book’s divided into three parts: the first talks about Attenborough’s life leading up to making the documentary but also shows growth of the human population from 1937 all the way to 2020. The second part is the future of the planet, he outlines what catastrophes await us by 2080s. And the third, and in my opinion the most lukewarm part of the book, was where he gives measures to prevent total destruction of the species and instead mend our ways to live in balance with nature. He speaks at length about different sustainable practices and tried and tested govt methods that have yielded beneficial results. This section is the most unstable, Attenborough plays the devil’s advocate too much. He recommends going plant based to reduce the impact on the environment produced by animal/aqua farming industries, but also says it shouldn’t be ruled out that many people depend on meat for their proteins! I don’t want to be the judge of what’s correct and what isn’t when it comes to dietary habits, but I wanted to him to make up his mind and give a definitely answer; not either/or. A lot of his anecdotes, are just that - he never cites actual research or valid sources for most of the things.

Nonetheless, there’s much food for thought here, so I would highly recommend.

hannahdavey's review against another edition

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4.5

emmaryan's review against another edition

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4.0