Our Precarious Habitat ... It's In Your Hands

by Melvin A. Benarde (Temple Univ.)

• ISBN13: 9780471740650
• ISBN10: 0471740659
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-09-01
• Publisher: Wiley-Interscience

Summary

This new and expanded Fourth Edition of Dr. Benarde's myth-defying book uses an evidence-based approach to refute today's pervasive, environmental doomsday hype. With up-to-date information consolidated from authoritative scientific journals and presented in highly readable form, Our Precarious Habitat . . . It's In Your Hands: covers hot-button issues like global warming, nuclear energy, electromagnetic fields, alternative health practices, and more; covers illnesses such as SARS, avian flu, West Nile virus, and prion diseases like mad cow; and includes facts, figures, tables, and charts derived from respected scientific sources and presented in easy-to-understand terms. New to this edition are sections on alternative energy sources, climate change, and creationism vs. evolution, plus expanded information on food safety that covers genetically modified foods, organic foods, free-radicals and antioxidants, and dietary supplements. This book is a great resource for environmental science professionals and a thought-provoking textbook for students in medicine and public health, the social sciences, earth science, and other areas. Most of all, it's an eye-opening reference for concerned officials and citizens who want a clear, unbiased perspective on environmental issues in order to separate scientific fact from alarmist propaganda.

Author Biography

MELVIN A. BENARDE, PhD, is the author of ten books, including Global Warning, Global Warming (Wiley) and previous editions of Our Precarious Habitat. He is the former director of Temple University's Environmental Resource Center and a professor in their Graduate Program in Industrial Hygiene, professor and acting chairman in the Department of Community Medicine at Hahnemann Medical School, and Associate Director of the Environmental Studies Institute at Drexel University. Dr. Benarde has studied environmental issues and their impact on human health for more than three decades.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
America the Heathful: Its Vital Signs	p. 1
No Proof in the Puddings: Alternative Health Practices	p. 51
Microbes Among Us	p. 101
Food Uncovered	p. 155
Climate Change and Global Warming: Will the Greenhouse Become a Hothouse?	p. 209
Tapping the Atom	p. 243
Powering the World: Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources	p. 291
Environmental Issues: Perceptions and Political Aspects	p. 335
Science for the People; the People for Science	p. 405
Index	p. 441
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