Elemental : How Five Elements Changed Earth's Past and Will Shape Our Future / Stephen Porder.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Porder, Stephen, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Evolution (Biology).

Life--Origin.

Life.

Ecology.

Civilization.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (241 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2023]

Summary:

"Over the past four billion years of Earth's history, three organisms-cyanobacteria, plants, and humans--have altered the planet in profound ways by harnessing the availability of five key elements. Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus are the most common elements in all forms of life on Earth, and all five circulate between the biotic and abiotic world in biogeochemical cycles. When organisms tap into stores of these elements and change these cycles, they change the atmosphere, climate, and, by extension, the trajectory of life on earth. In the first part of the book, Porder explains how cyanobacteria and plants harnessed critical elements and how their success in doing so was followed by environmental collapse in the form of ice ages. Porder then turns to human-caused climate change. He explores the dramatic ways humans have altered the cycles of these five essential elements and explains the profound effect our actions have on the planet. Porder concludes by exploring how we can reduce our impact on the Earth-both individually and societally-by reorienting ourselves toward recycling critical elements instead of extracting them from more and more obscure sources. Ultimately, understanding the role of element cycling is essential to understanding how humans came to be so successful and to putting us on a path to a sustainable future"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Introduction: World-Changers

Part I. Lessons from the Past

1. The Biggest Environmental Change of All

2. Plants Colonize the Continents

Part II. Are We so Different?

3. Life's Battery and Earth's Blanket

4. How We Know What We Know about Climate Change

5. The Goldilocks Element

6. White Gold, Finite and Irreplaceable

7. Water, the Key to Life on Land

Part III. A Way Forward?

8. Biogeochemical Luck

9. Some Remaining Puzzles

Acknowledgments

Works Cited

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691248363

0691248362

OCLC:

1381711591