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The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World Paperback – 30 Aug. 2001

by Bjorn Lomborg (Author)

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The Skeptical Environmentalist challenges widely held beliefs that the environmental situation is getting worse and worse. The author, himself a former member of Greenpeace, is critical of the way in which many environmental organisations make selective and misleading use of the scientific evidence. Using the best available statistical information from internationally recognised research institutes, Bjørn Lomborg systematically examines a range of major environmental problems that feature prominently in headline news across the world. His arguments are presented in non-technical, accessible language and are carefully backed up by over 2500 footnotes allowing readers to check sources for themselves. Concluding that there are more reasons for optimism than pessimism, Bjørn Lomborg stresses the need for clear-headed prioritisation of resources to tackle real, not imagined problems. The Skeptical Environmentalist offers readers a non-partisan stocktaking exercise that serves as a useful corrective to the more alarmist accounts favoured by campaign groups and the media.

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According to The Skeptical Environmentalist the hole in the Ozone Layer is healing. The Amazon has shrunk by only 14 per cent since the arrival of Man. Only 0.7 per cent of species will be driven to extinction over the next 50 years. Even the poorest humans are getting richer by the year. Things are not good enough; but they are far, far better than we have been taught to believe. Lomborg, a professor of statistics and a former Greenpeace member, reveals the complexity, confusion, and (rarely) misuse of data behind the current Litany of approaching environmental Armageddon. But this is not a comforting or reassuring read. Nor is it a bible for lackeys and do-nothings. Lomborg uses the same figures everyone else uses, from national governments to the Kyoto summit to Greenpeace. Rarely have the raw data been discussed in such detail: their history, how they are calculated, their strengths, and their weaknesses. Lomborg argues persuasively that our sense of approaching human and environmental disaster is an artefact of the valid work of modern scientific, environmental and media institutions. There is, he asserts, no one to blame for our growing sense of despair, but everything to learn. We must learn what real risks are, and what we can do about them. (Kyoto? A very bad idea...) We must prioritise. (30p on the organic basil? Or 30p to buy a child clean water in Sierra Leone?) There is, after all, room for manoeuvre; panic achieves nothing. This is our generation's Silent Spring: a book to rewrite the environmental agenda, and a must-buy for any parent who wonders what kind of world we are leaving for our children.--Simon Ings

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'This is one of the most valuable books on public policy - not merely on environmental policy - to have been written for the intelligent reader in the past ten years … The Skeptical Environmentalist is a triumph.' The Economist

'… a superbly documented and readable book.' Wall Street Journal

'The Skeptical Environmentalist should be read by every environmentalist, so that the appalling errors of fact the environmental movement has made in the past are not repeated. A brilliant and powerful book.' Matt Ridley, author of Genome

'The Skeptical Environmentalist is perhaps the most important book about the environment since Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962) awakened the world to the dangers of unrestrained economic growth.' Jason Cowley, New Statesman

'Bjorn Lomborg is an outstanding representative of the 'new breed' of political scientists - mathematically-skilled and computer-adept. In this book he shows himself also to be a hard-headed, empirically-oriented analyst. Surveying a vast amount of data and taking account of a wide range of more and less informed opinion about environmental threats facing the planet, he comes to a balanced assessment of which ones are real and which over-hyped. In vigorous informal style, he indicates what needs to be done to address the real environmental hazards - and what needs not to be done about those turning out to be pseudo-problems.' Jack Hirshleifer, University of California, Los Angeles

'A new book is about to overturn our most basic assumptions about the world's environment. Far from going to hell in a handcart, it is improving by almost all measures. Those things not getting better are getting worse at a slower rate.' Anthony Browne, Observer

'Lomborg's challenge will have to be met … he has given an important challenge to the scientific establishment that is not only good for science, but damned necessary to it.' Fortean Times

'When Lomborg concludes that '… the loss of the world's rainforests, of fertile agricultural land, the ozone layer and of the climate balance are terrible …' I agree. But we also need debate, and this book provides us with that in generous amounts. If you, like I do, belong to the people who dare to think the world is making some progress, but always with mistakes to be corrected, this book makes important reading.' Lars Kristoferson, Secretary General, WWF Sweden

'Lomborg's book has drawn considerable attention. Although it may cause problems for the more militant and political environmentalists, it should be welcomed by anyone genuinely concerned about the environment. … Lomborg's book sheds needed light on the real state of the world. I recommend it to anyone interested in our global environment … The Skeptical Environmentalist is the most valuable book available in many years on public policy in general, not only environmental policy in particular. It should be required reading for all legislators, government bureaucrats and corporate executives who preside over the ever-increasing array of environmental regulations and politics. John P. Bluemle, Geotimes

'Whatever your standpoint, The Skeptical Environmentalist will make indispensable reading.' Mail on Sunday

'A brilliant book … All in all, this is a must-have/must read book. Don't take my word for it. Check it out for yourself.' Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy

'… his book is the Christmas present for a rational future.' The Chemical Engineer

'… it should be welcomed by anyone genuinely concerned about the environment.' Environmental Geology

'The Skeptical Environmentalist marks a critical environmental moment … We can forget those dreary old idols: Paul Ehrlich, Lester Brown with his Worldwatch Institute, Greenpeace and all the others. They have been exiled into the darkness. Eco-optimism can begin to rise over the Earth. After Lomborg, the environmental movement will begin to wither.' National Post

'Bjorn Lomborg's book is hugely beneficial for a debate that has been one-sided.' The Financial Times

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0521010683
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University Press
Publication date ‏ : ‎ 30 Aug. 2001
Edition ‏ : ‎ Reprint
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 515 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780521010689
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0521010689
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 1.11 kg
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.99 x 3.1 x 24.41 cm
Best Sellers Rank: 646,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 44 in Environmental Engineering
- 50 in Environmental Engineering & Technology
- 185 in Mathematics References
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353 ratings

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Bjørn Lomborg

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Dr. Bjorn Lomborg is an academic and the author of the best-selling "The Skeptical Environmentalist" and "Cool It". He challenges mainstream concerns about development and the environment and points out that we need to focus our limited resources and attention on the smartest solutions first. He is a visiting professor at Copenhagen Business School, and president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center which brings together top economists, including seven Nobel Laureates, to set data-driven priorities for the world.

Follow him on twitter: bjornlomborg

Lomborg is a frequent commentator in print and broadcast media, for outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, CNN, FOX, and the BBC. His monthly column is published in 19 languages, in 30+ newspapers with more than 30 million readers globally.

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Customers find this book well-researched and praise its data analysis, with one review highlighting its statistical approach to world issues. They appreciate its environmental perspective, with one customer noting how it debunks myths about global warming. The book receives positive feedback for its pacing, with one customer describing it as truly uplifting.

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Readability Data analysis Environmental concern Pacing

15 customers mention ‘Readability’15 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable and well-researched, with one customer noting its meticulous references.

"A must read for anyone who worries about the state of the world...." Read more

"...This is a thoughtful, carefully argued, exhaustively researched and completely devastating refutation of what might be seen as the standard..." Read more

"...He shows us using irrefutable research data that in reality the world is actually so much better than we are lead to believe by alarmist..." Read more

"Lomborg's book is a fascinating read, and for the most part convincing. However I find it an odd title...." Read more

5 customers mention ‘Data analysis’5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's data analysis, with one customer highlighting its ability to analyze vast quantities of information and provide a balanced assessment of reality versus hype.

"...he's not an oceanographer or meteorologist - but that he can analyse other people's data and see the patterns lying underneath...." Read more

"...His ability to analyse vast quantities of data from research, the media and campaigning organisations (including the massive IPCC reports) is..." Read more

"...That said, the book is full of fascinating arguments and data and his approach - based on statistical evidence and prioritisation - is one I..." Read more

"...This book offers a very wide selection of data (with 80 pages of sources notes) that show that what we think we know..." Read more

5 customers mention ‘Environmental concern’5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's approach to environmental concerns, with one customer noting its proper research on global warming and another highlighting its rational perspective on policies.

"...we likely to, that the world is not overpopulated, that the welfare of almost all people (and not just those in the developed countries) has..." Read more

"...He tackles a wide range of human welfare concerns, from life expectancy and health, through food and hunger to prosperity...." Read more

"...therefore recommend the book as presenting a good case for being rational about environmental policies, but I would also recommend accompanying the..." Read more

"How refreshing to find an unbiased, properly researched book on the environment and "global warming"...." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Pacing’3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's pacing refreshing, with one describing it as truly uplifting.

"...This is a thoughtful, carefully argued, exhaustively researched and completely devastating refutation of what might be seen as the standard..." Read more

"...I found The Skeptical Environmentalist to be a truly uplifting book, convincingly demonstrating how much better our world is than I thought it was!" Read more

"This book is refreshing reading. To start, the title: skepticism is de rigueur in trying to understand scientific problems. Any scientific problem...." Read more

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C. C. Williams
World shaking and life changing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 June 2003
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There are some books that you read, 'The Selfish Gene', for example, that completely change the way that you see yourself and the world around you and this is one of those. This is a thoughtful, carefully argued, exhaustively researched and completely devastating refutation of what might be seen as the standard environmental model. Many have criticized that this book merely confirms its readers' prejudices. Possibly this is true - I was certainly sceptical myself of certain elements of received wisdom. For example, I simply could not believe that a planet, three fifths of which is covered by water more than a mile deep, was actually running short on water. Correspondingly if you hold that mankind is the greatest natural disaster that has ever befallen the planet then this book will not convince you that things are really OK.
He points out things which the reader should already know to be true. I know that the environment of the UK has visibly improved during my lifetime - I grew up in the 1970s - and Lomborg points out that this is true elsewhere. He points out that environmental legislation can only follow prosperity and that the greatest scandal in the world is not deforestation but lack of drinking water and adequate sanitation so that many people in the developing world are poisoned by their own filth.
So far so obvious. However, he gets much more subversive. Lomborg's strength is not that he can conduct primary research - he's not an oceanographer or meteorologist - but that he can analyse other people's data and see the patterns lying underneath. From his analysis, he shows that we are not living through a mass extinction unparalleled since the end of the cretaceous, that we are not running out of natural resources and neither are we likely to, that the world is not overpopulated, that the welfare of almost all people (and not just those in the developed countries) has improved greatly during the last century and will continue to do so, that deforestation is largely illusory, etc. Most importantly, he debunks a lot of myths about global warming and argues - persuasively I believe - that the Kyoto agreement is no more than an expensive and pointless act of public penance for our imagined sins.
His central message is not that controversial and it is this: the world is not perfect and many things can be improved but it is not as bad as many people would have you believe. This needs to be borne in mind by our legislators when they consider implementing policies which will have a negative impact not just on our prosperity but on the prosperity of developing nations as well.

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Philip M
A brilliant, powerful book, and a balanced assessment of reality versus hype.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 March 2019
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According to TIME Magazine, Lomborg is one of 100 most influential people in the world, one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century according to Esquire magazine, and one of the 50 people who could save the planet according to the UK Guardian.

Reading this book, The Skeptical Environmentalist, one can understand why. His ability to analyse vast quantities of data from research, the media and campaigning organisations (including the massive IPCC reports) is breathtaking. His skill in extracting patterns from data to reveal the real world behind the research is remarkable. He shows us using irrefutable research data that in reality the world is actually so much better than we are lead to believe by alarmist propagandists and the media – what Lomborg calls “The Litany”.

He tackles a wide range of human welfare concerns, from life expectancy and health, through food and hunger to prosperity. He then deals with energy, de-forestation, water, pollution, fears about chemicals – and finally global warming. Lomborg tests each case to verify whether the problems are based on fact or myth, and then offers alternatives to how best to deploy resources and funding.

Surprisingly, almost every case is shown to be based on monumental misunderstandings, myths or alarmist misinformation. He repeatedly demonstrates how much better off we are in every respect than any of our predecessors. And finally, he offers sound alternatives to how we could better spend on money to continue improving the welfare of the global population.

I found The Skeptical Environmentalist to be a truly uplifting book, convincingly demonstrating how much better our world is than I thought it was!

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Boglebadger
A good book, but a misnomer
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 December 2012
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Lomborg's book is a fascinating read, and for the most part convincing. However I find it an odd title.

The two relevant definitions from The Free Dictionary of an environmentalist are:

2. a person who is concerned with the maintenance of ecological balance and the conservation of the environment
3. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Environmental Science) a person concerned with issues that affect the environment, such as pollution

Lomborg's overwhelming concern is, however, the well-being of the human race and human happiness. Laudable as this goal is, it is not strictly speaking environmentalism. Lomborg himself admits that the well-being of other species is only considered inasmuch as it affects human endeavour and happiness - and the more human life, the better.

That said, the book is full of fascinating arguments and data and his approach - based on statistical evidence and prioritisation - is one I fundamentally agree with. There is no point in pouring all your resources into attempting to solve something that isn't a problem and ignoring others that are. And the argument that the lot of the human race has improved, and is improving, is quite convincing and in keeping with most people's person experience. Who had it harder, your grandparents or you? Most would agree that health, food, salaries, working conditions and other quality-of-life indicators have all improved over their family's generations.

The chapter on global warming was the one that most failed to convince me. Throughout most of the book, Lomborg quotes the UN, WHO etc. whose conclusions back up his views. But here, Lomborg shows himself at odds with the IPCC, and uses a multitude of arguments as to why their estimates must overshoot the mark. Undoubtedly his arguments are valid ones. But I feel he consistently chooses to only show us uncertainties that may reduce the estimate rather than those that may cause it to be underestimated. In many cases, it almost goes like "we don't know what clouds do, so they must make warming smaller". He may be right, but his bias shows.

Finally, Lomborg is a statistician and an economist. He has a unwavering faith in the good of a free-market economy that I don't quite share. If something isn't happening in a free market, then it cannot (by his definition) be worthwhile. I also feel there's some double-counting of costs going on in places - such-and-such a change will cost this many billions of dollars *and* all these bad things will happen; but it seems more likely that the monetary cost is the fraction of GDP that must be invested to make sure the latter things *do not* occur.

The great thing about this book though is it makes you think and question. Don't take all the arguments given by the environmental movement, or by Lomborg, at face value. Avoid gut reactions and consider what is the most effective way to preserve and protect the environment - *and* improve the human lot.

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Peter Elliott
Five Stars
Reviewed in Australia on 16 March 2016
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Every young person should read this, it will improve their whole outlook on the future.

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Cliente Amazon
Perfect service & conditions
Reviewed in Italy on 17 March 2016
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the book - not new - has been published in 2001. the conditions were very very good, as announced in the offer. delivery was very fast. supplier recommended.

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Patricia G Murray
good book.
Reviewed in Canada on 2 April 2024
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I haven't read this one yet but I'm looking forward to it.

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Mauro F Rebelo
Outstanding!
Reviewed in Brazil on 20 November 2019
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Full of data and backed argumentation, he contests ‘intuitive’ interpretation and fake news (or data) inspired by other motivation. I’m sorry my brain cannot hold all that I’m learning

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Thomas Wikman
A very important master piece
Reviewed in the United States on 5 January 2006
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I was introduced to "The Skeptical Environmentalist" and Bjorn Lomborg by Scientific American. I am a decade long reader of Scientific American, and I still enjoy reading Scientific American. It took me a few years before I decided to read this book. It is a thick book and I was afraid it would be biased. However, I was positively surprised once I read it. This book is one of the most important and interesting books I have ever read. After reading this book I went back and read the critique of the book in Scientific American. I am sorry to say this but the critique in Scientific American was misleading, off target, strong worded, and ridiculous. The critique had nothing to do with Science; it was just a few offended Professors mouthing off. If you read the book carefully, check some of the facts for your self, and then read the critique in Scientific American Bjorn Lomborg will end up looking like the Galileo of our time, or maybe a Giordano Bruno. Many of the claims you will see in the negative reviews below are simply false and many highly exaggerated. Some negative reviewers, however, admit they did not read the book.

Regarding his chapter on Global Warming. Contrary to what some reviewers and critics claim, Bjorn Lomborg does not deny the existence of Global Warming. Neither does he state that it is not partially human induced. However, he puts the effects of Global Warming in perspective and corrects many alarmist myths regarding this subject. He also statistically analyzes the effects of the Kyoto protocol and finds that it is a flawed protocol that does much more harm than good.

Why the book is so important is because the public has been made to believe so much outrageous nonsense with regards to the economy, health, resources, environment, and the state of the world. It is primarily the media and environmental activists that are responsible for this misinformation. However, environmental scientists have not been very eager to correct misconceptions that result in more grants for them. This book is a "just the facts mam" book, and many (I believe the vast majority) of the facts that will surprise you are also agreed on by the very experts that are critical of this book. This is very important to remember. The book contains 173 figures, mostly graphs, nearly 3000 references, and thousands of interesting facts. Some of the claims in the book are under dispute, but for the average reader this is not of great concern. You have been bamboozled and Bjorn Lomborg will set you almost entirely straight.

One great service the book does to the average reader is that it makes you aware of how statistics can be used to manipulate you (this was not a surprise to me). For example, a claim that more people are dying of cancer does not mean that there is a cancer epidemic. Cancer is an old age disease, and we are living longer but the overall mortality rate is still 100%(duh), so that a higher percent is dying from cancer is not strange. You have to adjust the cancer rate and mortality rates for age to see if it has become worse (and it hasn't). Watch out for statistics in the media. Lomborgs analysis of GM food scares/hoaxes was exceptionally interesting.

And finally, here are a few interesting facts selected by me.

>> In 1970 35% of all people in the developing world were starving. In 1996 the figure was 18% and the UN expects that the figure will have fallen to 12% by 2010.

>> The life expectancy in the whole world in 1900 was still around 30. In 1998 it was 65 in the developing world.

>> Water scarcity is a local and logistic problem, not a global resource problem.

>> So2 pollution in London in the mid 1800 was around 40 times higher than it is now. Also economic development leads naturally to less pollution (not the the other way around), except for the very beginning.

>> The price of the vast majority of the important minerals and metals keep going down, and the reserves up (we find more, or extract more efficiently).

>> The worlds known conventional oil reserves has gone up (not down) because we keep finding more. At the year 2000 it stood at 40 more years of consumption.

>> It is estimated that globally there is about 242 times more shale oil than the conventional petroleum resource (we could tap into this when the price goes up more)

>> Do you remember the acid rain scare, it was just that. Acid rain only damages trees under very rare conditions.

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5.0 out of 5 stars World shaking and life changing

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant, powerful book, and a balanced assessment of reality versus hype.

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book, but a misnomer

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5.0 out of 5 stars A very important master piece

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World shaking and life changing

A brilliant, powerful book, and a balanced assessment of reality versus hype.

A good book, but a misnomer

Five Stars

Perfect service & conditions

good book.

Outstanding!

A very important master piece