-
- Australia
- Canada
- UK
- USA
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- American Samoa
- Andorra
- Angola
- Anguilla
- Antarctica
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Aruba
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bermuda
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Brunei Darussalam
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Cape Verde
- Cayman
- Central African R
- Chad
- Chile
- China
- Cocos (Keeling)
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Congo, The DR
- Congo, Rep of
- Cook Is
- Costa Rica
- Cote d'Ivoire
- Croatia/Hrvatska
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Czech Repu
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican R
- Timor-Leste
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Ethiopia
- Falklands (Malvinas)
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- French Guiana
- French Polynesia
- French Southern Territories
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Greenland
- Grenada
- Guadeloupe
- Guam
- Guatemala
- Guernsey
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Heard and McDonald Is
- Holy See (Vatican City State)
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Isle of Man
- Israel
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jersey
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Korea, DPR
- Korea, Repub of
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lao
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Montenegro
- Macau
- Macedonia
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Marshall Is
- Martinique
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mayotte
- Mexico
- Micronesia, Federal State of
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montserrat
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- Netherlands Antilles
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Niue
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Palestinian Territories
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Pitcairn
- Poland
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Reunion
- Romania
- Russian Federation
- Rwanda
- Serbia
- St Kitts and Nevis
- Snt Lucia
- Sa Vincent and the Grenadines
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Slovak R
- Slovenia
- Solomons
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- S Helena
- S Pierre and Miquelon
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Svalbard and Jan Mayen
- Swaziland
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Togo
- Tokelau
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Turks and Caicos
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- Unitd Arab Emirates
- UK
- USA
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Virgin Is, British
- Virgin Is, U.S.
- Wallis and Futuna
- Western Sahara
- Western Samoa
- Yemen
- Yugoslavia
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- Gift certificates
- Academic eBooks
- My account
- Help
- Wishlist
- Feedback
- Sign up
The Leading eBooks Store Online
for Kindle Fire, Apple, Android, Nook, Kobo, PC, Mac, Sony Reader...
The Doomsday Book
Scenarios for the End of the World
US$ 16.99
(+ tax)
Preview (read now)
Add to my own site
Give this ebook to a friend
Add to my wishlist
Author's page
Publisher's page
Devices
- iPad
- PC
- e-readers with Adobe Digital Editions installed
- Mac
See the full list
Available Devices
X
This book is available for the following devices:
- iPad
- Windows
- Mac
- Sony Reader
- Cool-er Reader
- Nook
- Kobo Reader
- iRiver Story
File Formats
Download: secure PDF.
You can also read this book online in eb20 format without having to download anything.
You can also read this book online in eb20 format without having to download anything.
Permissions
Printing
Copy/Paste
Read Aloud
Printing
Copy/Paste
Read Aloud
Looking at the threats to civilisation, this book explains the story and the science behind each one, and provides an assessment of how serious they are and what can and is likely to be done about them. Examining the fate of ancient civilsations and explaining the lessons they teach us, it explores the likelihood of survival when disaster hits.
Excerpt
more
Hardly a day goes by without an article or news item about the latest catastrophe to threaten civilisation. Climate change is at the top of the agenda, but even a casual acquaintance with the media over the last year will have exposed you to alarming reports about pollution, declining soil fertility, looming flu pandemics, disappearing fish, species threatened with extinction, planet-killing asteroids and nuclear proliferation, among others. In particular, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami brought home the deadly power of nature and the threat from geophysical disasters, sparking a flurry of interest in related hazards such as super-volcanoes or island collapses leading to mega-tsunami. With headlines such as ‘Space rock threatens Earth’ or ‘Where will the next Big One strike?’ on offer, it is hardly surprising that newspapers struggle to restrain the sensationalist doom-mongering. But they are not making this stuff up. Scientists and, increasingly, the public are coming to realise that disasters do strike, and in particular that civilisation has been remarkably fortunate for millennia in avoiding catastrophe on a global, extinction-threatening level. The history of civilisation has been characterised by a remarkably long period of comparative climate stability (dubbed ‘The Long Summer’, by the historian Brian Fagan), and no civilisation has ever had to deal with a global-scale disaster. In fact the last time such an event affected our species was 73,500 years ago, when a super-volcano erupted in Indonesia. That cataclysm nearly wiped out mankind, and concerned scientists are keen for policy-makers to realise that similar threats – both natural and man-made – are not confined to the prehistoric past or the distant future, but pose a clear and present danger.
