"In The Middle Path, geographer Eric Lambin provides a summary of the present state of the environment and considers what must be done if environmental catastrophe is to be avoided. Finding merit in the arguments of both optimists and pessimists, Lambin argues that it is not too late to exploit the inherent tendency of large-scale systems such as the earth's environment toward equilibrium. By relying upon a combination of remedies as global as international cap-and-trade emission treaties and as local as municipal programs promoting the use of bicycles rather than cars, it may yet be possible to rescue humanity from a potentially fatal crisis of its own making."--BOOK JACKET. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

The Middle Path in Buddhism is neither optimistic nor pessimistic but focused on understanding the mutual dependence of opposites. In his book, Lambin (geography, Univ. of Louvain, Belgium; fellow, Ctr. for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford) looks at environmental degradation from the perspectives of both the optimist and the pessimist and steers a balanced path between each. He explores the intricate relationship between human beings and their environment on a global scale and at the community level and discusses the roles of technology, institutions, environmental markets, and cultural change in solving potentially fatal environmental problems. Whether writing about the collapse of a civilization or sustainable development, Lambin employs references to history, scientific studies, theories, and data that in a less-skilled hand might prove too overwhelming to the reader. This is geography at its best. Highly recommended for university libraries and for public and specialized libraries seeking a substantive environmental work for their collections. Robin K. Dillow, Rotary International Archives, Evanston, IL Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

"The middle path" mediates views of the intransigence of environmental problems by combining the realism of pessimists with the hopefulness of optimists. Lambin (geography, Univ. of Louvain, Belgium) traces the roots of environmental degradation and provides a very clear introduction to the major themes and concepts in thinking about natural resources and the environment. The author reviews the changes that have beset the world over the last several centuries and examines the accuracy of claims leveled by optimists and pessimists as to the benefits and costs of modernization, industrialization, growth, and development. Furthermore, he demonstrates that the causes and consequences of environmental change are often not clear and the results may be completely misunderstood. In the end, Lambin challenges the ideological bases of the dominant viewpoints to suggest a "new" pastiche of "non-ideological" incremental personal actions and radical philosophical and cultural shifts needed for humanity to survive potentially catastrophic changes generated by its activities. This thought-provoking, succinct book should serve to seed the policy debates about personal, community-wide, national, and global responses to climate change, resource exhaustion, and environmental catastrophes. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. General Readers; Lower-division Undergraduates; Upper-division Undergraduates; Graduate Students; Researchers/Faculty; Two-year Technical Program Students; Professionals/Practitioners. Reviewed by J. P. Tiefenbacher. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Eric Lambin is professor of geography at the University of Louvain, Belgium. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Preamble	ix
Introduction	1
1 The Acceleration of Planetary Change	11
2 Mankind and Its Environment	29
3 The Mechanisms of Environmental Degradation	49
4 The Causes of Environmental Change	79
5 Ecological Degradation or Restoration	105
6 The Nature of Environmental Change	123
7 Solutions	135
Conclusion	161
Bibliography	169

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