The Vanishing Face of Gaia
A Final Warning
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Narrated by:
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Simon Vance
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By:
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James Lovelock
About this listen
In The Vanishing Face of Gaia, British scientist James Lovelock predicts global warming will lead to a Hot Epoch. Lovelock is best known for formulating the controversial Gaia theory in the 1970s, with Ruth Margulis of the University of Massachusetts, which states that organisms interact with and regulate Earth's surface and atmosphere. We ignore this interaction at our peril.
An “unwilling Cassandra,” he is nevertheless an "an optimistic pessimist" and thinks we will survive the coming Hot Epoch, but predicts climate change will reduce our population from 9 billion to around one billion or less."I don't think nine billion is better than one billion," Lovelock writes. He compares humans to the “first photosynthesisers, which, when they first appeared on the planet, caused enormous damage by releasing oxygen a nasty, poisonous gas.” Oxygen turned out to be beneficial to the life forms that evolved to utilize it, including us, but a global anaerobic ecosystem gave way in the face of this atmospheric change. If simple microbial life forms could effect such a change, why is it hard to believe that humans could do so, too? And we are, unwittingly at first, but many have recognized the danger for some time now, and time is running out.
There are factions at work today trying to convince the public that global warming is a leftwing conspiracy, a liberal hoax. They claim that scientists perpetuate this “myth” to obtain government grants, and point to “independent” scientists (usually funded by the oil industry) who refute climate change science. Dr. Lovelock may be the antidote to these claims, as he is a truly independent scientist. Lovelock, a chemist and inventor by profession and a climate activist, is not beholden to any government, university, or granting agency. Let those determined to bury their heads in the sands of right wing silliness do so. The rest of us, young and old, have work to do. Lovelock's book sets out an important agenda to follow.
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- By: Martin Rees
- Narrated by: Martin Rees, Samuel West
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Humanity has reached a critical moment. Our world is unsettled and rapidly changing, and we face existential risks over the next century. Various outcomes - good and bad - are possible. Yet our approach to the future is characterized by short-term thinking, polarizing debates, alarmist rhetoric, and pessimism. In this short, exhilarating book, renowned scientist and best-selling author Martin Rees argues that humanity’s prospects depend on our taking a very different approach to planning for tomorrow.
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Science, the future, and great wisdom
- By Philomath on 10-29-18
By: Martin Rees
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Apocalypse Never
- Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All
- By: Michael Shellenberger
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Michael Shellenberger has been fighting for a greener planet for decades. He helped save the world’s last unprotected redwoods. He co-created the predecessor to today’s Green New Deal. And he led a successful effort by climate scientists and activists to keep nuclear plants operating, preventing a spike of emissions. But in 2019, as some claimed "billions of people are going to die", contributing to rising anxiety, including among adolescents, Shellenberger decided that he needed to speak out to separate science from fiction.
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Environmentalist with integrity!
- By Wayne on 07-01-20
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Overheated
- How Climate Change Will Cause Floods, Famine, War, and Disease
- By: Andrew T. Guzman
- Narrated by: Fleet Cooper
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Deniers of climate change sometimes quip that claims about global warming are more about political science than climate science. They are wrong on the science, but may be right with respect to its political implications. A hotter world, writes Andrew Guzman, will bring unprecedented migrations, famine, war, and disease. It will be a social and political disaster of the first order.
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A must read!
- By Ted on 03-22-15
By: Andrew T. Guzman
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Harmony
- A New Way of Looking at Our World
- By: Charles HRH The Prince of Wales
- Narrated by: Charles HRH The Prince of Wales
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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For the first time, HRH The Prince of Wales shares his views on how our most pressing modern challenges - from climate change to poverty - are rooted in mankind's disharmony with nature, presenting a compelling case that the solution lies in our ability to regain a balance with the world around us. With its holistic approach, this provocative and well-reasoned book takes the discussion of sustainability and climate change in a new direction.
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An Excellent Exploration
- By Sara on 03-31-16
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The Nature of Nature
- Why We Need the Wild
- By: Enric Sala
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In this inspiring manifesto, an internationally renowned ecologist makes a clear case for why protecting nature is our best health insurance, and why it makes economic sense.
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Amazing
- By Lars Pardo on 11-21-24
By: Enric Sala
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How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
- The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
- By: Bill Gates
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton, Bill Gates
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Bill Gates shares what he's learned in more than a decade of studying climate change and investing in innovations to address the problems, and sets out a vision for how the world can build the tools it needs to get to zero greenhouse gas emissions. Bill Gates explains why he cares so deeply about climate change and what makes him optimistic that the world can avoid the most dire effects of the climate crisis. Gates says, "We can work on a local, national, and global level to build the technologies, businesses, and industries to avoid the worst impacts of climate change."
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Be curious, not furious
- By Axel Merk on 02-20-21
By: Bill Gates
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Pandora's Seed
- The Unforeseen Cost of Civilization
- By: Spencer Wells
- Narrated by: Spencer Wells
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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This new book by Spencer Wells, the internationally known geneticist, anthropologist, author, and director of the Genographic Project, focuses on the seminal event in human history: mankind's decision to become farmers rather than hunter-gatherers.
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Short and unfocused, but often quite interesting.
- By Alan on 06-23-10
By: Spencer Wells
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The Vertical Farm
- Feeding the World in the 21st Century
- By: Dickson Despommier
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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When Columbia professor Dickson Despommier set out to solve America's food, water, and energy crises, he didn't just think big - he thought up. The vertical farm has excited scientists, architects, and politicians around the globe. These farms, grown inside skyscrapers, would provide solutions to many of the serious problems we currently face.
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Excellent Brainstorming - Not reality
- By Texas Community Project on 01-25-11
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Water in Plain Sight
- Hope for a Thirsty World
- By: Judith D. Schwartz
- Narrated by: Tia Rider
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Water scarcity is on everyone's mind. Long taken for granted, water availability has entered the realm of economics, politics, and people's food and lifestyle choices. But as anxiety mounts - even as a swath of California farmland has been left fallow and extremist groups worldwide exploit the desperation of people losing livelihoods to desertification - many are finding new routes to water security with key implications for food access, economic resilience, and climate change.
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Crucial solutions
- By Shane Emanuelle on 07-25-19
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Coal
- A Human History
- By: Barbara Freese
- Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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The fascinating, often surprising story of how a simple black rock altered the course of history. Yet the mundane mineral that built our global economy, and even today powers our electrical plants, has also caused death, disease, and environmental destruction. In this remarkable book, Barbara Freese takes us on a rich historical journey that begins three hundred million years ago and spans the globe.
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Uses Coal to push her Political Agenda
- By Kismet on 08-22-06
By: Barbara Freese
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Dark Winter
- How the Sun Is Causing a 30-Year Cold Spell
- By: John L. Casey
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Climate change has been a perplexing problem for years. Casey's research into the Sun's activity, which began almost a decade ago, resulted in discovery of a solar cycle that is now reversing from its global warming phase to that of dangerous global cooling for the next 30 years or more. This new cold climate will dramatically impact the world's citizens.
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Global Warming Is A Hoax
- By Catamount on 11-20-17
By: John L. Casey
What listeners say about The Vanishing Face of Gaia
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Charles Carlson
- 05-08-21
A Remarkably Insightful Book That Derives from the Emergent Conditions of Our Time
Written by the inventor of Gaia, Jame Lovelock, this book walks the reader through the remarkable period of scientific discovery in the 19th and 20th centuries, to arrive at the crystal clear recognition of the human plight of the 21st century. We are the unmatched dominant carnivores on the planet, and we’ve done so with the power of our brains, and our collective ability to act harmoniously with others of our species. This power derived from and coupled with genetic heritage has caused to vastly over-populate the very planet and systems that gave rise to us. There are immutable consequences that emerge from this condition.
Much of this story, or stories aren’t particularly new, but it’s nice to have them summed so well into a highly readable book. Hopefully, it makes us more intelligent, and humble with respect to our future decisions and actions.
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- Elan Sun Star
- 05-18-19
Brilliant research and documentation
From james Lovelock, possibly the most influential tinker we have regarding the true implications of
climate change and what we can do about it. this book is particularly prescient.
I highly suggest all of Lovelock's books
Wish there were more in audio format.
this book is rich with insight and authoritative examples and possible solution.
Truly we must act and wisely
Bravo!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Thomas
- 01-29-12
A New Perspective - A Must Listen - Very Moving
Where does The Vanishing Face of Gaia rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This is probably the most important book I've ever listened to. I still have not finished processing all the information and concepts presented by Lovelock. This book should be required listening for every world leader.
What did you like best about this story?
I like the new perspective that James Lovelock brings to the topic of global warming. He really makes a great case of focusing on what's truly important.
What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Simon Vance is amazing. He delivers the words, with so many voices, in such a way as to make me believe that this is exactly how James Lovelock would have read it.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I had to turn this book off several times; it's too powerful to listen in a single sitting.
Any additional comments?
I have a new perspective on the world and mankind, as a result of this book.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Tim Garrett
- 07-08-20
Essential and entertaining
This is an interesting look into global heating from one of the cleverest people on the planet.
You have to read this.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Audrey
- 01-20-21
Poetic version of climate change
I have always been deeply influenced by James Lovelock “Gaia as living Earth” since young, thus I stopped using straws > 20 years ago, before it became trendy.
I truly believe that population explosion is the cause of climate change, thus I chose not to have kids. He has always been brave in stating his belief to let nature select. Guess with COVID-19, Gaia is doing her “selecting”. It is sad that so many people died, no doubt about it. On the other hand, it’s Gaia and COVID-19 that moved the balance a bit, much more so than the young Swedish girl and her publicity stints.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Dana
- 02-16-12
An unexpectedly narrow perspective
What would have made The Vanishing Face of Gaia better?
The author should have looked more closely into the Fukushima accident in Japan. As a resident of Japan, I find his rendering of the various accidents that have occurred here as very cavalier and not well-informed. His ever condescending tone is tiresome and detracts from the credibility of his arguments. I would recommend listeners to choose authors who give their audience more credit for intelligence.
What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?
I liked his pacing and understanding of the material.
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
The parts where the author had some personal experience were informative.
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4 people found this helpful