Sign up for free
This is a preview of the Shortform book summary of Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert.
Read Full Summary

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Under a White Sky

Initiatives to oversee and regulate natural occurrences

Human attempts to manipulate and mold natural systems in response to environmental challenges have been varied and creative, but these initiatives have also encountered unforeseen complexities and outcomes.

Initiatives focused on regulating natural systems are undertaken to tackle ecological issues.

The modification to reverse the Chicago River's direction was carried out to address problems associated with sewage and the contamination of water.

To safeguard the city's drinking water, the flow of the Chicago River was deliberately altered, preventing sewage from entering Lake Michigan. The seven-year-long, ambitious public-works initiative led to the development of innovative technology for earth relocation. Efforts to alter the river's path brought about unexpected ecological and financial difficulties, underscoring the significant consequences of human interventions in water's inherent course.

The Army Corps of Engineers, known for their extensive construction projects, installed barriers that use electric currents in the Sanitary and Ship Canal to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes, thereby maintaining their legacy of addressing Chicago's sewage challenges.

The Army Corps of Engineers has undertaken measures to control the Mississippi River's current and reduce the threat of flooding.

The Corps has undertaken a variety of projects, including the building of levees, spillways, and barriers, to control the Mississippi River. In 2011, the activation of a flood control mechanism near New Orleans highlighted the critical need to protect urban areas from flooding. The river's course alteration has...

Want to learn the ideas in Under a White Sky better than ever?

Unlock the full book summary of Under a White Sky by signing up for Shortform.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x better by:

  • Being 100% clear and logical: you learn complicated ideas, explained simply
  • Adding original insights and analysis, expanding on the book
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
READ FULL SUMMARY OF UNDER A WHITE SKY

Here's a preview of the rest of Shortform's Under a White Sky summary:

Under a White Sky Summary Efforts to maintain endangered species and rehabilitate natural environments

In the face of environmental challenges, there has been a ramping up of initiatives aimed at preserving at-risk species and restoring natural habitats. Efforts to conserve wildlife include a range of strategies, such as breeding species in controlled environments, alongside managing their natural habitats, with initiatives varying in complexity aimed at mimicking the ecosystems found in nature.

Efforts to safeguard rare, threatened, and endangered species by breeding them in controlled environments and managing their natural habitats.

Efforts to conserve the unique Devils Hole pupfish, along with other indigenous fish species from the desert region, are underway.

Attention has been drawn to efforts to conserve the Devils Hole pupfish, a species described as a "conservation-reliant" or "Stockholm species," heavily dependent on human intervention after near extinction. Jenny Gumm is a specialist in charge of Devils Hole, a constructed environment designed to consistently sustain a warmth of 93 degrees Fahrenheit, which includes a fabricated shelf that aids in the breeding of the fish. This artificial refuge, known as Devils Hole Jr., offers protection for the pupfish,...

Try Shortform for free

Read full summary of Under a White Sky

Sign up for free

Under a White Sky Summary Exploring technological interventions for ecological challenges, such as extracting carbon and implementing geoengineering strategies.

A variety of technological solutions are available to tackle environmental challenges, with a special focus on carbon removal and the implementation of large-scale ecological engineering methods.

Extracting carbon dioxide from the air and then securing its storage underground.

Capturing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and storing it in geological formations offers potential methods for reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

In Iceland, a pioneering initiative is leading the way by testing the infusion of carbon dioxide into basaltic structures.

Climeworks is demonstrating an impressive project in Iceland, where the company is actively seizing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and securely depositing it beneath the surface, where it eventually petrifies, as a method to counteract climate change.

Progressing the development of...

Under a White Sky

Additional Materials

Clarifications

  • The Chicago River's direction was reversed to prevent sewage from contaminating Lake Michigan, a significant engineering feat with unexpected ecological and financial challenges. The Army Corps of Engineers implemented measures like electric barriers to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. Projects on the Mississippi River, including levees and flood control mechanisms, aim to manage its flow and reduce flooding risks. Technological interventions like the Lake Borgne Surge Barrier can disrupt natural river flows and ecosystems, highlighting the complexities of balancing human needs with environmental impacts.
    • "Stockholm species": This term is used to describe species that heavily rely on human intervention for their survival after facing near-extinction. These species are named after the city of Stockholm, where the concept was first discussed in conservation biology.
  • "BA-39": BA-39 is a restoration project in Louisiana aimed at rebuilding marshlands and wetlands to...

Counterarguments

  • While altering the Chicago River's direction addressed immediate sewage issues, it transferred the problem downstream, affecting other communities and ecosystems.
  • The barriers installed to prevent Asian carp invasion may disrupt other aquatic life and could be considered a temporary fix that doesn't address the root causes of invasive species spread.
  • Controlling the Mississippi River's current with levees and spillways can lead to sediment deprivation downstream, contributing to coastal erosion and loss of wetlands.
  • Technological interventions in ecosystems can lead to a false sense of security, potentially reducing the urgency for more sustainable, long-term environmental practices.
  • Efforts to alter the dynamics of rivers and lakes may...

Related Shortform Content

Merchants of Doubt
Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway

Merchants of doubt are people or organizations who discredit science that threatens their agenda or ideology. The first merchants of doubt were members of the tobacco industry—when scientists discovered that smoking caused cancer, that was bad for businesses. It was also bad for capitalism in general because it suggested that the market wasn’t self-regulating, and lack of regulation was killing people. Other defenders of the free market started using the tobacco industry’s techniques, such as funding new (and hopefully more favorable) studies or calling for balanced media coverage.

In Merchants of Doubt, science historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway study the doubt-mongering techniques used in several other important “debates”—nuclear disarmament, acid rain, the ozone layer, climate change, and the pesticide DDT. These techniques are still in use today.

Apocalypse Never
Michael Shellenberger

Though it’s become widely accepted that climate change is real, the questions still remain of what steps we should take to fix the damage and whether they'll be enough. Many scientists and activists believe that the climate has already passed a tipping point and that environmental catastrophe is inevitable. In Apocalypse Never, award-winning science writer Michael Shellenberger says that it’s time to assess the crisis from a rational perspective. He argues that we’re in a much better position to curb climate change than alarmists would have us believe, and that people who bend scientific truth in order to spur environmental action are doing more harm than good.

In this guide, we’ll explain Shellenberger’s argument that environmental alarmists overstate their claims and that there’s ground for hope for our planet’s future. We’ll also look at counter-arguments to Shellenberger’s claims and examine what independent research says about the solutions he suggests. We’ll point to recent developments in industry, agriculture, and the political climate that frame the conversation around climate change.

Homo Deus
Yuval Noah Harari

For millennia, humans struggled with three serious problems—famine, plagues, and war—which led to the deaths of millions of people and to the rise and fall of global empires. People coped with these problems and answered life's questions with religion. However, in the modern era, we no longer rely on prayer—we’ve mostly overcome these three problems through the development of technology and medical knowledge.

In Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari, a professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, envisions a future in which technology replaces humanist ideals and liberal government. Dissecting the concepts of religion, immortality, and technology, Harari argues that the world of the future may be run by advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence, not human beings.

Get access to the context and additional materials

So you can understand the full picture and form your own opinion.
Get access for free

What Our Readers Say

This is the best summary of How to Win Friends and Influence People I've ever read. The way you explained the ideas and connected them to other books was amazing.
Learn more about our summaries →