Here On Earth

If you know what science is telling us about the planet, you know that this is a hinge moment for human civilization. It’s one of those rare times in history – the nuclear-arms threat and the discovery of the ozone hole were two recent others – when everything really is at stake, when civilization will swing one way or another but not both. Will we continue to thrive as a species? Or will we die off by the billions, scattering to the winds our 50,000 tumultuous years of work and play here on Earth?

Such an essential moment calls out for a special, ambitious response, one that can both explain the true nature of the hinge and prophesy the future. Australian biologist Tim Flannery’s Here on Earth is that response. Just as his previous big book, The Weather Makers, appeared uncannily at the right time to explain global climate change, Here on Earth has shown up at the perfect moment.

Yes, it explains, elegantly. More important, this bravura synthesis spanning scientific disciplines and billions of years tells us why we can hope.