The End: Natural Disasters, Manmade Catastrophes, and the Future of Human Survival

by Marq de Villiers

Book Overview

"What is the fate of the world as we know it?"Tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, pandemics, cosmic radiation, gamma bursts from space, colliding comets, and asteroids--these things used to worry us from time to time, but now they have become the background noise of our culture. Are natural calamities indeed more probable, and more frequent, than they were? Are things getting worse? Are the boundaries between natural and human-caused calamities...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312365691
• ISBN13: 9780312365691
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 362 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

How Long Can We Avoid The End?

In an interesting and comprehensive book, de Villiers provides a look at all the potential catastrophes facing humanity, both those of our own doing and those we have no control over. /The End/ points out that we have been living at an unusually stable time in our planet's history, between ice ages, comet and asteroid strikes, and earthquake and volcano activity. There have been many periods of mass extinction throughout the ages, and there will be more to come. Our own activity may be exacerbating the warming situation, but according to de Villiers, unconstrained population growth is likelier to be a cause of crisis as we run out of room, resources, and create new potential for pandemics. While not a category of possible "ends" for human life, it is a good overview of all the natural and historic catastrophes we've been able to avoid thus far. He also finishes the book with suggestions on how we can lessen natural disasters and undo much of the damage we are currently causing. How much of it is practical, may not be determinable for years to come, but here is a good start to looking for ways to avoid our own potential extinction.