SKOKIE, Ill., Jan. 25, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- David F. Arieti is an environmental scientist whose hands-on experience with the natural world has prompted him to delve deeper into the dangerous effects humans have had on the environment. His new book, The Earth is My Patient (now available through AuthorHouse), is a comprehensive, eye-opening book about the numerous ways people are damaging the earth's ecosystem.
The Earth is My Patient offers a unique look at both the science behind the disruption of the world's natural processes and the social and political trends that are directly causing it. After laying out the plethora of ways the earth is being harmed, the author begins a no-holds-barred, honest commentary of the poor choices and cultural phenomena that are directly connected to this degradation.
Arieti moves beyond what people usually assume causes environmental destruction. There are deeper reasons that the world has millions of gas-guzzling SUVs, agricultural waste and the elimination of the rain forests, he writes. They relate to human apathy, need for convenience, laziness, social inequality and other topics.
"Every day in the newspapers we read some catastrophe caused by our insatiable desire for cheap energy over over-consumption encouraged by a constant drumbeat of advertising encouraging us to buy the newest widget for our palm-held gooseberry," Arieti writes.
In the section, "The Cure," he outlines proposed solutions to the problems with an emphasis on modifications of behavior, especially in the United States, where the price of fuel is extraordinarily low, consumer spending is high and disregard for environmental concerns is disturbingly low, he writes.
Written by a scientist who has seen firsthand the startling changes in the earth's ecosystem, The Earth is My Patient is a complete guide for the lay person to fully grasp the startling reality of the impact of humans on their environment.
A native of New York City, Arieti has extensive research and teaching experiences in the sciences. After graduating from the University of Denver, he studied algae in Israel's Sea of Galilee. He received a master's degree in marine science from Long Island University. He has studied fish impingement on the Hudson River's Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, served as faculty research assistant at the University of Maryland working on chlorine-produced oxidants in Chesapeake Bay and was research director of the Baltimore Environmental Center studying hazardous waste issues. He is currently an adjunct professor at five colleges in the Chicago vicinity teaching environmental science and biology-related courses.
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