Read Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism

Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism

Jacob Darwin Hamblin

4.9/5 (34066 ratings)

Description:When most Americans think of environmentalism, they think of the political left, of vegans dressed in organic-hemp fabric, lofting protest signs. In reality, writes Jacob Darwin Hamblin, the movement--and its dire predictions--owe more to the Pentagon than the counterculture.In Arming Mother Nature, Hamblin argues that military planning for World War III essentially created catastrophic environmentalism: the idea that human activity might cause global natural disasters. This awareness, Hamblin shows, emerged out of dark ambitions, as governments poured funds intoenvironmental science after World War II, searching for ways to harness natural processes--to kill millions of people. Proposals included the use of nuclear weapons to create artificial tsunamis or melt the ice caps to drown coastal cities; setting fire to vast expanses of vegetation; and changinglocal climates. Oxford botanists advised British generals on how to destroy enemy crops during the war in Malaya; American scientists attempted to alter the weather in Vietnam. This work raised questions that went beyond the goal of weaponizing nature. By the 1980s, the C.I.A. was studying thelikely effects of global warming on Soviet harvests. Perhaps one of the surprises of this book is not how little was known about environmental change, but rather how much, Hamblin writes. Driven initially by strategic imperatives, Cold War scientists learned to think globally and to grasphumanity's power to alter the environment. We know how we can modify the ionosphere, nuclear physicist Edward Teller proudly stated. We have already done it.Teller never repented. But many of the same individuals and institutions that helped the Pentagon later warned of global warming and other potential disasters. Brilliantly argued and deeply researched, Arming Mother Nature changes our understanding of the history of the Cold War and the birth ofmodern environmental science.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism. To get started finding Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Pages: —

Format: PDF, EPUB & Kindle Edition

Publisher: —

Release: —

ISBN: 0199740054

Description: When most Americans think of environmentalism, they think of the political left, of vegans dressed in organic-hemp fabric, lofting protest signs. In reality, writes Jacob Darwin Hamblin, the movement--and its dire predictions--owe more to the Pentagon than the counterculture.In Arming Mother Nature, Hamblin argues that military planning for World War III essentially created catastrophic environmentalism: the idea that human activity might cause global natural disasters. This awareness, Hamblin shows, emerged out of dark ambitions, as governments poured funds intoenvironmental science after World War II, searching for ways to harness natural processes--to kill millions of people. Proposals included the use of nuclear weapons to create artificial tsunamis or melt the ice caps to drown coastal cities; setting fire to vast expanses of vegetation; and changinglocal climates. Oxford botanists advised British generals on how to destroy enemy crops during the war in Malaya; American scientists attempted to alter the weather in Vietnam. This work raised questions that went beyond the goal of weaponizing nature. By the 1980s, the C.I.A. was studying thelikely effects of global warming on Soviet harvests. Perhaps one of the surprises of this book is not how little was known about environmental change, but rather how much, Hamblin writes. Driven initially by strategic imperatives, Cold War scientists learned to think globally and to grasphumanity's power to alter the environment. We know how we can modify the ionosphere, nuclear physicist Edward Teller proudly stated. We have already done it.Teller never repented. But many of the same individuals and institutions that helped the Pentagon later warned of global warming and other potential disasters. Brilliantly argued and deeply researched, Arming Mother Nature changes our understanding of the history of the Cold War and the birth ofmodern environmental science.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism. To get started finding Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Special Offer | $0.00

Special Offer! | $0.00

Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism

Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism

More Books

Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism by Jacob Darwin Hamblin (2013-05-02)

Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism by Jacob Darwin Hamblin (2013-05-02)

Poison in the Well: Radioactive Waste in the Oceans at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age

Poison in the Well: Radioactive Waste in the Oceans at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age

Oceanographers and the Cold War: Disciples of Marine Science

Oceanographers and the Cold War: Disciples of Marine Science

The Wretched Atom: America's Global Gamble with Peaceful Nuclear Technology

The Wretched Atom: America's Global Gamble with Peaceful Nuclear Technology

Science in the Early Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia (History of Science)

Science in the Early Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia (History of Science)

Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism [Hardcover] [2013] Jacob Darwin Hamblin

Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism [Hardcover] [2013] Jacob Darwin Hamblin

Making the Unseen Visible: Science and the Contested Histories of Radiation Exposure

Making the Unseen Visible: Science and the Contested Histories of Radiation Exposure