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  • Inheritors of the Earth

  • How Nature Is Thriving in an Age of Extinction
  • By: Chris D Thomas
  • Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
  • Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (28 ratings)
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Inheritors of the Earth

By: Chris D Thomas
Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
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Summary

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Inheritors of the Earth by Chris D. Thomas, read by Leighton Pugh. 

The Times, Economist and Guardian books of the year 2017.

It is accepted wisdom today that human beings have irrevocably damaged the natural world. We have altered our climate, acidified our oceans, and we are in the process of causing the sixth mass extinction. Yet what if this gloomy narrative obscures a more hopeful truth? In Inheritors of the Earth, renowned ecologist and environmentalist Chris D. Thomas overturns this loss-only view of the world's biodiversity, revealing how many animals and plants have benefited from the human-altered planet.

Taking us on a round-the-world journey to meet the enterprising animals and plants that are thriving in the Anthropocene, from York's ochre-coloured comma butterfly to the hybrid American bison and the scarlet-beaked New Zealand pukeko, Thomas questions why we resist the success of so-called 'invasive species', and why we see human activities as fundamentally unnatural. Combining a naturalist's eye for wildlife with an ecologist's wide lens, Chris Thomas forces us to re-examine humanity's relationship with nature, and reminds us that the story of life is the story of change.

©2017 Chris D. Thomas (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"An immensely significant book. It is fluently written, carefully thought through, ruthlessly argued, neatly illustrated with case studies - and shockingly contrarian." (Matt Ridley)

"This is a rich and timely tale, fearless too, with examples and cases drawn from ecosystems across the world." (Prof Jules Pretty, Times Higher Education

What listeners say about Inheritors of the Earth

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original thiking

interesting original ideas backed by scientific evidenceread , read really well and easy to follow

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Excellent book on natural history & future

This book put extinction and new species evolution into perspective. Excellent overview of how natural it is for species to rise and fall over time. Well worth listening to.

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Digestible, informed, entertaining

Apart from saying that man’s actions are natural, sure moving species around fine. But toxicity that we produce - not so natural - plastics, heavy metals, radioactive waste. Cutting down rainforests with heavy machinery, not so natural. Burning the carbon store of coal and oil, not so natural.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Stunning

I absolutely Loved it, write another, I like the bit where they talk about chihuahuas !!

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