THE FRAGILE EARTH

Well stated current wisdom on the environmental crisis. Effectively answering the question, ``Why be concerned with environmental problems?'', Amdur presents a mainstream scientific/environmentalist perspective on dangers to life on Earth. Devoting more than half the book to theories of how the Earth was formed and how life appeared and evolved, he goes on to show how human industries have ``plundered'' the planet, with now-familiar results: pollution, resource depletion, and the accelerated loss of species now threaten the very lives that were to have been improved by industrialization. Repeatedly emphasizing the fragility of the complex balance of conditions necessary to sustain life as we know it, Amdur also tackles such difficult social problems as rich countries dictating ``solutions'' to poor ones and the continuing menace of nuclear weapons. Pro-business views are scanted, but scientists will appreciate the breadth of coverage and effective inter-relating of issues. Utilitarian b&w photos; list of environmental organizations; metric conversion table; bibliography; glossary; index. (Nonfiction. 12+)