Tales of the Earth: Paroxysms and Perturbations of the Blue Planet

This book deals (on a general-public level) with various catastrophes, geologic and otherwise, that have impacted life on earth. There are separate chapters on volcanoes, earthquates, floods, pandemics, mass extinctions, etc. One should bear in mind the author's long standing opposition to the Alvarez hypothesis of meteoric impact as the defining cause of the Cretaceous Mass Extinction. They give only one side of the story. And their objections to the now widely accepted Alvarez Theory have all been satisfactorily answered. Aside from this, however, this is a well worthwhile book. It's later chapters are devoted to human impact on nature, ozone depletion, carbon dioxide build up, and the exponential curves of population growth, energy consumption. "Ignorance is the essence of the problem that humanity faces..." is how they phrase the current problem, finally concluding that now is the time to "Think Globally and Act Globally". One can only too heartily agree.