This text has a controversial message - that humankind will cope with the environmental disasters which appear in the media with increasing frequency. It re-evaluates global questions such as feeding the world, energy, pollution and green consumerism. It argues that the fashionable view that progress opposes caring for the environment should be laid to rest. Instead, it suggests that people should reject unrealistic ideas about paradise on earth, and be satisfied with a permanent change in their environment in the name of science. In addition, the book turns around a series of case studies - the Braer disaster, the Camelford water disaster, the American rangelands and rainforest deforestation from being chronicles of doom to instead argue for a positive and constructive view of the modern world.