Will I love Under a White Sky?

I have to start with a confession: I buy many books on the climate and biodiversity crisis—as this is my main focus as a science journalist—but in many cases, I have to quit reading after several chapters. Even if they are of relevance—they often are simply too depressing and a mere accumulation of horrible facts.

This does not apply to the books of Elizabeth Kolbert—which is all the more amazing as her topic is hard stuff: How men alter and destroy nature, which we depend on. But nonetheless: I can´t stop reading it. Kolbert travels far and takes her readers… show more.

In her portrayal of the vortex of technological fixes and counter-fixes that characterise modern humans' relationship with nature, Kolbert betrays a dark sense of humor. In a deadpan manner, she describes the unforeseen consequences of human ingenuity when applied to the natural world. In the end, she leaves us with no other outlook than that worse is still to come -- unless we fundamentally change our ways.