There is no Plan(et) B : a handbook for the make or break years / Mike Berners-Lee.

Feeding the world, climate change, biodiversity, antibiotics, plastics - the list of concerns seems endless. But what is most pressing, what are the knock-on effects of our actions, and what should we do first? Do we all need to become vegetarian? How can we fly in a low-carbon world? Should we frack? How can we take control of technology? Does it all come down to population? And, given the global nature of the challenges we now face, what on Earth can any of us do? Fortunately, Mike Berners-Lee has crunched the numbers and plotted a course of action that is practical and even enjoyable. There is No Planet B maps it out in an accessible and entertaining way, filled with astonishing facts and analysis. For the first time you'll find big-picture perspective on the environmental and economic challenges of the day laid out in one place, and traced through to the underlying roots - questions of how we live and think. This book will shock you, surprise you - and then make you laugh. And you'll find practical and even inspiring ideas for what you can actually do to help humanity thrive on this - our only - planet.

Vendor-supplied metadata.

Introduction. Welcome to a new era ; A handbook of everything ; When it's all so global, what can I do? ; What values underpin this book? ; What can we aim for? ; Not the last word ... -- 1. Food. How much food energy do we need to eat? ; How much food do we grow worldwide? ; What happens to the food we grow? ; Given the global surplus, why are some people malnourished? ; Why don't more people explode from over-eating? ; How many calories do we get from animals? ; How much do animals help with our protein supply? ; Do we need animals for iron, zinc or vitamin A? ; How much of our antibiotics are given to animals? ; How much deforestation do soya beans cause? ; What's the carbon footprint of agriculture? ; What are the carbon footprints of different foods? ; Should I go veggie or vegan? ; What can shops do about meat and dairy habits? ; What can restaurants do? ; What can farmers and governments do? ; How could one crop save us over half a billion tonnes CO2e? ; Is local food best? ; Where does fish fit in? ; When is a seabass not a seabass? ; How can we sustain our fish? ; What food is wasted, where and how? ; How can we cut the world's waste? ; Why don't supermarkets care more about their waste? ; When food can't be sold or eaten, what should be done with it? ; How much food goes to biofuel? ; How many farmers does the world need? ; How can new technologies help feed the world? ; How can we produce enough food for 9.7 billion of us in 2050? ; Why do we all need to know our food supply chains? ; What investments are needed into food land and sea? ; Food action summary : What can I do and what can be done?

2. More on climate and environment. What are the fourteen things that every politician needs to know about climate change? ; What are the biodiversity stats? And why do they matter? ; What is Ocean Acidification and why does it matter? ; How much plastic is there in the world? ; Is fossil fuel better burned or turned into plastic? -- 3. Energy. How much do we use? ; How has our use changed over time? ; What do we use it for? ; Where do we get it all from? ; How bad are fossil fuels? ; How much energy comes from the sun? ; Can the sun's energy be harnessed? ; How much solar power could we ever have? ; Which countries have the most sunlight? ; Which countries have the least sun per person? ; What about when the sun isn't shining? How useful is wind energy? ; Which countries have the most wind per person? ; Why is sun better than rain? ; Is nuclear nasty? ; Would fusion solve everything? ; Are biofuels bonkers? ; Should we frack? ; Does more renewables mean less fossil fuel? ; What is the catch with energy efficiency? ; Given the catch, what can efficiency do for us? ; Why is cleaning our electricity just the easy part of the transition from fossil fuels? ; How can we keep the fuel in the ground? ; Who has the most fossil fuel and how will they cope? ; Will we need to take carbon back out of the air? ; How much energy are we on track to use in 2100? ; Can enough energy ever be enough? ; Energy solution summary ; Energy : What can I do?

4. Travel and transport. How much do we travel today? ; How much travel will we want in the future? ; How many travel miles can we get from a square meter of land? ; How can we sort out urban transport? ; Will shared transport make life better or worse? ; Should I buy an electric car? ; How urgently should I ditch my diesel? ; Could autonomous cars be a disaster? Or brilliant? ; How can we fly in the low carbon world? ; Should I fly? ; Do virtual meetings save energy and carbon? ; How bad are boats? And can they be electrified? ; E-bikes or pedals? ; When might we emigrate to another planet? -- 5. Growth, money and metrics. Which kinds of growth can be healthy in the Anthropocene? ; Why is GDP such an inadequate metric? ; How do our metrics need to change? ; What metrics do we need to take more note of? ; What metrics do we need to downgrade? ; Can the free market deal with Anthropocene challenges? ; Which is better, the market economy or the planned economy? ; What is trickledown and why is it dangerous? ; Why might wealth distribution matter more than ever? ; How is the world's wealth distributed? ; Why are most Americans so much poorer than most Italians? ; How has wealth distribution been changing? ; When is wealth distributed like the energy in a gas? (And when is it not?) ; How can human wealth become more like the energy in a gas? ; What should we invest in? ; How can these essential investments be funded? ; Why does the right tax make us better off? ; Do we need a carbon price? ; How expensive will carbon need to become? ; How should I spend my money?

6. People and work. Does it all come down to population? ; What can I do to help with population? ; When is a 'job' a good thing? ; How much of a person should come to work? ; Why would anyone work if they already had a citizen's wage? ; What are my chances of being in prison? -- 7. Business and technology. When is it good that an organisation exists? ; How can businesses think about the world? How can a business think systemically? ; What is a science-based target? ; What is so special when science-based targets are applied to the supply chain? ; Do we drive technology growth, or does it drive us? ; How can we take control of technology?

8. Values, truth and trust. What is the evidence base to choose some values over others? ; What values do we need to be the new global cultural norms? ; Can we deliberately change our values? ; What makes our values change? ; Is there even such a thing as 'truth' or 'facts'? ; Is 'truth' personal? ; Why is dedication to 'truth' more important than ever? ; What is a culture of truth? ; Is it possible to have a more truthful culture? ; What can I do to promote a culture of truth? ; What can journalists do to promote truth? ; What can politicians do? ; How can I work out who and what to trust? ; What are some bad reasons for placing trust? ; How can I tell whether to trust anything in this book? -- 9. Conclusion: Thinking skills for today's world. What new ways of thinking do we need in the twenty-first century? ; How can twenty-first century thinking skills be developed? ; Where is religion and spirituality in all this? ; What questions were missing? What answers were wrong? -- Big picture summary -- What can I do? Summary -- Appendix: Climate change basics -- Alphabetical quick tour.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Added to collection customer.56279.3