Countdown
by Alan Weisman · first published 2013
9mentions
2recommended by
3HN commenters
2019–2021first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
A powerful investigation into the chances for humanity's future from the author of the bestseller The World Without Us. In his bestselling book The World Without Us, Alan Weisman considered how the Earth could heal and even refill empty niches if relieved of humanity's constant pressures. Behind that groundbreaking thought experiment was his hope that we would be inspired to find a way to add humans back to this vision of a restored, healthy planet-only in harmony, not mortal combat, with the rest of nature. But with a million more of us every 4 1/2 days on a planet that's not getting an
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…non-coercive policies of Thailand, Iran, Mexico, etc that increased peace, prosperity, and stability. I first learned of successful noncoercive birthrate reducing policies through Alan Weisman's excellent Countdown https://www.amazon.com/Countdown-Last-Best-Future-Earth/dp/0..., and of the critical importance of population through Limits to Growth https://www.amazon.com/Limits-Growth-Donella-H-Meadows/dp/19....…
on “Wildfires Are Raging Outside Every Major City in Australia” ↗…environmental situation, though I consider the most important task now to lead. As far as science books, I'm going to share three titles I read this year I highly recommend, though they're about ten years old - Countdown, by Alan Weisman, for covering (over)population, especially for sharing examples of nations that lowered birthrates without coercion or legislation, yielding greater happiness and prosperity. - The World…
on “Science Books of 2019” ↗…programs to lower birthrate that are as far from China's policy, forced abortions, or eugenics as day from night, and that increased prosperity and happiness, leads you to embrace such programs. The book Countdown by Alan Weiss https://www.amazon.com/Countdown-Last-Best-Future-Earth/dp/0... describes several such programs, including in Thailand, Iran, Costa Rica, Mexico, and others. The most effective solution…
on “The scramble for sand is destroying the Mekong” ↗The best book I've read on population is Countdown by Alan Weiss https://www.amazon.com/Countdown-Last-Best-Future-Earth/dp/0.... If you think we need to grow or that leveling off to 10 billion or even 7 billion helps, you'll appreciate reading the book.…
on “US births decline for fourth year in a row, CDC says” ↗…observation wonk, and have done a tremendous amount of research on the subject. I recommend these two books to those interested: Shrinking-population Economics: Lessons From Japan by Akihiko Matsutani Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth? by Alan Weisman
on “U.S. Birthrates Fall to Record Low” ↗Alan Weisman's book Countdown revealed to me about countries that lowered birth rates without coercion. Before reading it I only know about the one-child policy and some eugenics attempts. I highly recommend the book. I just recorded…
on “What Will Happen in the 2020s” ↗Agreed! A great resource on the subject is Countdown by Alan Weisman. I did a few podcast episodes on my Leadership and the Environment podcast on population: https://shows.acast.com/leadership-and-the-environment/episo... https://shows.acast.com/leadership-and-the-environment/episo...…
on “The global fertility rate is falling” ↗…Natural gas is used to provide the methane and a heat source for the process." You can't just replace that process with 'solar and wind'. I actually didn't realize this myself until I started reading Countdown by Alan Weisman recently, about overpopulation, where he went over this process because it's the only reason why we're able to support and feed so many people today, is because we discovered this process…
on “Nitrogen fertilizer shortage threatens to cut global crop yields – CF Industries” ↗My introduction came from Alan Weisman's book Countdown. I did a couple podcast episodes on it: https://shows.acast.com/leadership-and-the-environment/episo... and https://shows.acast.com/leadership-and-the-environment/episo.... Here's a New York Times article…
on “Just 29k Western Monarch butterflies are left in California” ↗