The End of Nature

10th Anniversary Edition

by Bill McKibben

Anchor Books, 240 pp., $14 (paper)

Ever marvel at the ubiquity of modern conveniences? At how we can simply plug into the planet to power our needs and desires? Ever feel an accompanying twinge of profound dread? Ten years ago, this book arrived to remind everyone who would listen that comfort has a price. What Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring did for our blind reliance on DDT, this book intends for the chemical degradation of the outer stratosphere occurring today (primarily from the release of carbon dioxide, methane, and CFCs that results from virtually every single thing we do as a species). With impassioned reason and remarkable good humor, McKibben faces down the big questions: What is nature and why do we need it? What is happening to our climate? What can we do? He remains sensitive to the precarious beauty of life and ultimately appeals for an existence where “our desires are not the engine.” Although when speculating on biotechnological ethics McKibben’s astonishing envirocentric acuity lists a little romanticward, this powerfully persuasive work invaluably informs our authority of the current intensifying climatic situation.

This article appears in November 12 • 1999.

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