Author(s): David T. Suzuki

Sciences

With breathtaking speed our species has undergone fundamental changes that have transformed us into what David Suzuki and Holly Dressel call a superspecies. As we enter the new millennium our impact on the ecological features of this planet will dominate our priorities and actions. Nevertheless, as we hurtle towards catastrophic breakdown of the earth's life support systems, social, political and economic leaders and scholars continue to ignore the central role of the environment in their decisions and actions. Naked Ape to Superspecies takes an unflinching look at where we are at this unprecedented moment in history. Suzuki and Dressel reveal that a clear and present environmental danger is staring us in the face, a danger which is all the greater in view of our confidence in the strength and the speed of our technological advances. But there is good news. Experts maintain we still have time to avoid this breakdown if we slow down and turn onto alternative roads, roads that will lead to a life still rich in opportunity, choice and quality. But to begin applying the brakes and turning aside we must see with clarity the path we're on now, how we got there, and what the other possibilities are. The first part of this book brings in the views of a number of respected environmentalists, researchers and scientists-from E.O. Wilson and Carl Sagan to Richard Leakey, Paul Ehrlich, Noam Chomsky and, nearer to home, Marilyn Waring. The book goes on to look searchingly at issues which have only recently assumed such vital importance such as globalisation, the information explosion, and the breakdown of the old order of two Super Powers into numerous potentially warring factions. David Suzuki is an internationally renowned broadcaster and the author of numerous bestselling books including Metamorphosis, Wisdom of the Elders, Earth Time and The Sacred Balance. He is also Chairman of the David Suzuki Foundation, an organisation dedicated to identifying the causes of-and finding solutions to-environmental problems. Holly Dressel is a journalist and researcher. Table of Contents: There used to be: the future eaters Roots: humanity's origins Exponential growth: the population explosion New musclepower: science and technology Home shift: from village to city A new role: citizen to consumer The new road: information explosion Globalisation: a new economy Governance: inescapable flaws The ecological millennium: a new opportunity About the Author: David Suzuki is the internationally renowned author, broadcaster and environmentalist and Chairman of the David Suzuki Foundation, an organisation dedicated to identifying the causes of - and finding solutions to - environmental problems. Holly Dressel is a journalist and researcher, who has worked on David Suzuki's television series The Nature of Things and The Memoirs of Pierre Elliott Trudeau.