Table of Contents
Foreword Alfred Runte ix
Introduction: Science, Religion, and Folkways xiii
Myth 1 We Are the Only Species That Has Ever Had Global Effects on the Environment 1
Myth 2 Life Is Fragile, Requires Specific Conditions, and Can't Adjust Easily to Change 9
Myth 3 Extinction Is Unnatural and Bad, but Easy to Accomplish 19
Myth 4 The Balance of Nature Exists and Dominates All Life and All Environments 35
Myth 5 The Balance of Nature Is the Best and Only Condition for All Life 49
Myth 6 Beauty in Nature Only Happens in Areas Completely Undisturbed by Us 57
Myth 7 An Ecosystem Is Any Kind of Group, and a Biological Ecosystem Is a Fixed Group of Species 69
Myth 8 People Are Outside of Nature 77
Myth 9 The Only Reason to Conserve Nature: Every Species Has a Moral Right to Exist 85
Myth 10 People Have Changed the Environment Only Since the Industrial/Scientific Age 95
Myth 11 Without Human Interference, Earth's Climate Is Stable 103
Myth 12 People Are the Most Important Factor Determining Earth's Climate 111
Myth 13 Climate Change Will Lead to Huge Numbers of Extinctions 127
Myth 14 Recent Weather Is Proof of Long-Term Climate Change 139
Myth 15 Consensus Is Science 143
Myth 16 Computer Models Are True 153
Myth 17 All Populations Are Always Bound to Grow So Rapidly That They Exceed the Ability of Their Environment to Support Them and Then Go Extinct. This Will Be the Inevitable Fate of the Human Population 163
Myth 18 Predators Are Absolutely Necessary to Control the Populations of Their Prey 177
Myth 19 Maximum Sustainable Yields Are Possible for Fish and All Wildlife 189
Myth 20 We Can't Do Much about Environmental Risks-From Smaller Ones like a Local River Flooding to Large Ones like Hurricanes 199
Myth 21 Smokey Bear Is Right: Only You Can Prevent Wildfires 211
Myth 22 Forests Are an Important Place for Long-Term Carbon Storage 225
Myth 23 Solar and Wind Energy Require Huge Areas 235
Myth 24 Large-Scale Solar Energy Projects Work Only in Very Hot Climates 239
Myth 25 Compared to Climate Change, All Other Environmental Issues Are Minor 249
Final Overview 263
Endnotes 275
