What is *Under a White Sky* by Elizabeth Kolbert about?

*Under a White Sky* explores humanity’s attempts to solve environmental crises caused by previous interventions, like introducing invasive species or geoengineering. Elizabeth Kolbert examines projects such as electrified barriers to block Asian carp and CRISPR-modified cane toads, framing a paradox: technological fixes often spawn new problems. The book critiques the “control of the control of nature” in the Anthropocene era.

Who should read *Under a White Sky*?

Environmental enthusiasts, policy makers, and fans of Kolbert’s prior work (*The Sixth Extinction*) will find this book essential. It appeals to readers interested in climate change solutions, geoengineering debates, and the ethical complexities of human-driven ecosystems. Critics note its relevance for those grappling with unintended consequences of technological fixes.

Is *Under a White Sky* worth reading?

Yes—it’s a Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s critical examination of humanity’s fraught relationship with nature. Praised for its rigorous journalism and thought-provoking case studies, the book was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize and named one of *The Washington Post*’s “10 Best Books of 2021”.

What are examples of geoengineering in *Under a White Sky*?

- **Solar radiation management**: Reflecting sunlight to cool Earth, potentially turning skies white. - **Gene drives**: Editing invasive species’ DNA to curb populations (e.g., Australia’s cane toads). - **Assisted evolution**: Breeding heat-resistant corals to save reefs.

What is the “irony loop” discussed in the book?

The “irony loop” refers to solutions creating new problems that demand further intervention. For example, introducing Asian carp to control weeds led to invasive fish threatening the Great Lakes, requiring electric barriers to contain them. Kolbert frames this as a hallmark of the Anthropocene.

How does *Under a White Sky* critique technological solutions?

Kolbert highlights the risks of over-reliance on technology, such as gene drives accidentally disrupting ecosystems or solar geoengineering causing unpredictable climate shifts. She questions whether we’re solving problems or compounding them, urging humility in innovation.

What famous quotes are from *Under a White Sky*?

- **“People trying to solve problems created by people trying to solve problems”** - **“The control of the control of nature”** These lines capture the book’s central tension between human ingenuity and unintended consequences.

How does *Under a White Sky* compare to Kolbert’s earlier works?

While *The Sixth Extinction* documented mass biodiversity loss, this book focuses on human responses to ecological crises. It shifts from diagnosing problems to analyzing high-stakes interventions, maintaining Kolbert’s signature blend of reporting and skepticism.

白色天空之下

未来的本质

伊丽莎白·科尔伯特

4.1(12860 Reviews)

《白色天空之下》概述

伊丽莎白·科尔伯特（Elizabeth Kolbert）的《白天空下》（*Under a White Sky*）探讨了人类试图用技术修复自然的矛盾尝试。比尔·盖茨称其为“对人类与自然关系最直截了当的审视”，这段发人深省的旅程揭示了我们为了拯救被自己危及的星球，而进行的绝望的技术豪赌。

选择讲述方式

一本书，多种聆听方式。

来自《白色天空之下》的相同理念。选择适合你的声音、深度和节奏，随时切换。

第 1 章

The Paradox of Human Control: Engineering Our Way Through Ecological Crisis

Have you ever considered that our attempts to fix the environment might be making things worse? Elizabeth Kolbert's "Under a White Sky" takes readers on a global journey through humanity's most ambitious environmental engineering projects, revealing a troubling paradox: the more we try to control nature, the more control we seem to need. The book has become something of a modern environmental classic, praised by Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of 2021 and winning the California Book Award. Its title refers to a potential future where our atmosphere is so engineered that the sky itself turns white from reflective particles designed to cool our overheated planet. With her characteristic blend of meticulous reporting and wry humor, Pulitzer Prize-winner Kolbert shows us that in the Anthropocene-our human-dominated geological epoch-the line between saving nature and replacing it has become dangerously blurred.

第 2 章

The River That Flows Backward: Chicago's Massive Hydrological Experiment

The Chicago River stands as perhaps humanity's most audacious attempt to control water. In the early 20th century, engineers accomplished something that would have seemed miraculous to previous generations: they reversed an entire river's flow. This wasn't a small creek but a significant waterway that had defined Chicago's development. The city's "Sanitary and Ship Canal" represented the era's largest public works project, requiring new earth-moving technologies and displacing 43 million cubic yards of material-all to flush Chicago's waste away from Lake Michigan toward the Mississippi. This massive intervention solved one problem but created cascading consequences that upended the hydrology of two-thirds of the United States. Today, we face the unintended results of this engineering marvel: invasive species moving between previously separate watersheds. The Army Corps of Engineers now operates electric fish barriers on the canal, creating graduated electric fields to prevent Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes. These barriers represent our latest attempt to control nature with more control-what Kolbert calls our "no-analog predicament." The Asian carp story illustrates the compounding nature of ecological interventions. These fish-actually four different Chinese species collectively known as the "four famous domestic fishes"-arrived in America partly because of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which advocated biological controls instead of chemicals. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service imported grass carp in 1963 to manage aquatic weeds, while silver and bighead carp were introduced to control nutrients in sewage treatment ponds. Both efforts backfired spectacularly when the fish escaped into the Mississippi River system. Today, these carp dominate many waterways, comprising up to 75% of fish biomass in some areas. Silver carp, infamous for leaping from the water when startled by boat motors, have injured numerous boaters-one fisherman described being knocked unconscious, while another had "lost count" of his carp injuries. Their ecological impact is equally dramatic, outcompeting native species and threatening North America's diverse freshwater mussel populations. As one journalist observed, they don't just invade ecosystems-"they conquer them."

边听边看，每个词都清晰呈现

轻松跟读，《白色天空之下》中的每个词都会随音频实时高亮。

第 3 章

The Disappearing Delta: Louisiana's Land Loss Crisis

Flying over Louisiana's coast reveals a shocking reality: what appears on maps as a thick, muscular arm thrust into the Gulf is actually an emaciated limb. Plaquemines Parish, the southeasternmost tip of Louisiana, is practically all river with just two skinny strips of land clinging to its banks. Beyond these strips lies only open water and patchy marsh, crisscrossed with channels dug for oil extraction. This region has the dubious distinction of being among the fastest-disappearing places on earth. NOAA has officially retired thirty-one place names in Plaquemines Parish because those places no longer exist. Every hour and a half, another football field's worth of land vanishes; every few minutes, a tennis court's worth. The boot-shaped state now has its sole, heel, and much of its instep in tatters. The essential cause of this "land-loss crisis" is the very engineering marvel built to protect the region: thousands of miles of levees and flood control structures that have "harnessed, straightened, regularized, shackled" the Mississippi. Before flood control engineering, spring surges would spread millions of tons of sediment across thousands of square miles, creating new soil to counter natural subsidence. Now, thanks to floodgates and spillways, there's no spillover, no havoc, and crucially, no land-building. The history of human intervention began with the French, who founded New Orleans in 1718 and called it "L'Isle de la Nouvelle Orleans" for its watery surroundings. When the settlement flooded the very next year, rather than retreat, they built artificial levees atop the natural ones formed by river sediment-work largely performed by enslaved Africans. By the 1730s, slave-built levees stretched nearly fifty miles along both banks, establishing an enduring pattern: rather than moving to accommodate the river, humans would force the river to stay put. Today, Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) is attempting to solve problems caused by previous interventions with even more ambitious engineering. Their "bold" solution involves punching ten giant holes through Mississippi and Atchafalaya levees-gated, channelized openings to "reestablish the natural sediment deposition process," though only in the sense that electrifying a river might be called natural.

第 4 章

Sinking Cities and Rising Waters: New Orleans' Precarious Future

New Orleans, nicknamed both the "Crescent City" and the "bowl," is sinking beneath its residents' feet at one of the fastest rates on earth-almost half a foot per decade in some areas, with some neighborhoods sinking even faster. Evidence of subsidence appears everywhere-enormous potholes that can swallow entire cars, manhole covers protruding like medieval turrets above street level, and once-elevated neighborhoods now sitting fifteen feet below sea level. Historic buildings that once stood proudly at street level now require steps down to their entrances, while century-old oak trees lean precariously as their root systems shift in the unstable soil. The city's celebrated drainage system, pioneered by A. Baldwin Wood's revolutionary Screw Pumps in 1920, has become what coastal geologist Alex Kolker calls a "Trojan solution." By pumping water out of marshy soils, the system accelerates compaction and sinking, creating a vicious feedback loop: "The more water that's pumped, the faster the city sinks. And the more it sinks, the more pumping is required." This system, once hailed as engineering genius, now processes over 250 billion gallons annually through its network of 24 pumping stations and 13,000 drainage pipes. Hurricane Katrina, striking in August 2005, wasn't even a worst-case scenario for New Orleans, yet it proved catastrophic. The storm drove water into the city's eastern shipping channels, causing multiple levee failures on the Industrial Canal that sent a twenty-foot wall of water through the Lower Ninth Ward at speeds reaching 8 feet per second. As water surged into Lake Pontchartrain and back through drainage canals, floodwalls collapsed along three major canals, leaving 80% of the city underwater for weeks. Over 1,800 people lost their lives, and property damage exceeded $125 billion. In the aftermath, experts like geophysicist Klaus Jacob advocated for "carefully planned deconstruction" of the city, suggesting vulnerable areas could become "a city of boathouses" while allowing the Mississippi to refill the bowl with fresh sediment naturally. But retreat, though geophysically sensible, was politically impossible in a city deeply rooted in its location and culture. Instead, the Corps built even more massive structures: the $1.1 billion West Closure Complex with the world's largest pumping station (capable of filling an Olympic pool in four seconds) and the $1.3 billion Lake Borgne Surge Barrier, stretching nearly two miles across the Golden Triangle marsh. These pharaonic defenses have kept the city dry through recent storms but may ultimately prove a trap as coastal land loss brings the Gulf twenty miles closer to the city-effectively raising storm surge threats by seven feet. Louisiana loses a football field worth of wetlands every 100 minutes, eliminating crucial natural storm barriers. Meanwhile, communities like Isle de Jean Charles, home to the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe, have already lost 98% of their land since 1955, shrinking from 22,000 acres to just 320. These communities serve as a stark warning of what awaits New Orleans if current trends continue, forcing difficult conversations about adaptation versus retreat in America's most vulnerable major city.

从《白色天空之下》中收获更多

每日获取新洞见，探索 10 万+ 条课程内容
文字实时高亮，与音频同步
保存你的书库，在所有设备上随时访问

第 5 章

The Devils in the Details: Preserving Earth's Rarest Fish

In the scorching heat of Death Valley, a team of biologists carefully counts one of Earth's rarest creatures-the Devils Hole pupfish. These sapphire blue, inch-long fish inhabit what is believed to be the smallest range of any vertebrate-a 60-foot-long, 8-foot-wide pool that serves as a portal to a vast underground aquifer. First discovered by gold-seekers in 1849, these fish have become a symbol of conservation in the Anthropocene. The entire Devils Hole pupfish population weighs about 100 grams total-slightly less than a McDonald's Filet-O-Fish sandwich. They've evolved to survive in harsh 93F water with low oxygen levels, conditions that would be fatal to most fish. This stressful environment likely caused them to lose their pelvic fins, as producing extra appendages wasn't worth the energy expenditure. The pupfish's troubles coincide with the dawn of the Anthropocene. In January 1952, President Truman added Devils Hole to Death Valley National Park specifically to protect this "peculiar race of desert fish." That same spring, the Department of Defense began detonating nuclear bombs at the Nevada Test Site just 50 miles north. As development encroached, groundwater pumping for agriculture threatened the pupfish's habitat, dropping water levels dramatically and shrinking their spawning area. After a landmark Supreme Court case that divided Nevadans between those with "Save the Pupfish" and "Kill the Pupfish" bumper stickers, the fish gained legal protection. Today, to preserve the species, scientists have constructed an exact replica of Devils Hole-a $4.5 million concrete reproduction that meticulously recreates the essential conditions for pupfish survival, from water temperature to the contours of their spawning shelf. This facility employs four full-time staff (roughly one person per thirteen fish) to maintain the artificial environment and manage unexpected complications-like a beetle from the genus Neoclypeodytes that began reproducing rapidly and preying on pupfish larvae. Staff now set daily traps to control the beetles, painstakingly removing each tiny insect with tweezers-a stark reminder that it's far easier to damage an ecosystem than to manage one. The Devils Hole pupfish exemplifies what might be called a "Stockholm species"-utterly dependent on its former persecutors. Such conservation-reliant species now number in the thousands, requiring interventions from captive breeding to predator-avoidance training, blurring the line between preservation and perpetual life support.

第 6 章

Super Coral and Assisted Evolution: Designing Reefs for a Warming World

Marine biologist Ruth Gates fell in love with the ocean watching Jacques Cousteau on television. During her career spanning from the 1980s through the 2010s, she witnessed the catastrophic decline of coral reefs worldwide-from Caribbean white-band disease to global bleaching events caused by rising ocean temperatures and acidification. Despite the grim outlook, Gates maintained her self-described "glass half full" perspective. Noticing that some reefs were recovering, she developed the concept of breeding "super coral"-identifying and enhancing traits that made certain corals more resilient to climate change. Her work, supported by a $4 million grant, aimed to use "assisted evolution" to create corals that could survive in our changing oceans. At Australia's National Sea Simulator near Townsville, researchers are putting these ideas into practice. During the annual coral spawning event, scientist Kate Quigley orchestrates cross-breeding experiments between distant coral colonies that would never naturally mate. Her team collects gamete bundles from different reef regions, manually separates eggs and sperm, then creates specific crosses to produce heat-resistant offspring. These embryos later face stress tests and symbiont inoculation to identify "the best of the best" for reef restoration. This approach draws inspiration from Charles Darwin, who was similarly fascinated by coral reefs. Darwin's groundbreaking explanation of how atolls form-as coral grows upward around sinking volcanoes-became his first major scientific work, published the same month he sketched his revolutionary ideas about evolution. Darwin believed evolution occurred too gradually to observe directly, so he turned to pigeon breeding as evidence for his theory of natural selection, reasoning: "If feeble man can do so much by his powers of artificial selection," there was "no limit to the amount of change" possible through natural selection. A century and a half later, Darwin's analogy remains compelling, though the boundaries between natural and artificial selection have blurred as human activity-climate change, deforestation, pollution, introduced species-exerts unprecedented selective pressures on the natural world. As Gates explained before her death: "I cannot continue to hope that our planet is not going to change radically. Our project is acknowledging that a future is coming where nature is no longer fully natural."

边听边看，每个词都清晰呈现

轻松跟读，《白色天空之下》中的每个词都会随音频实时高亮。

第 7 章

Genetic Interventions: Editing Evolution to Save Ecosystems

In Oakland, California, a company called The Odin sells genetic engineering kits to the public. For $209, I purchased their "bacterial CRISPR and fluorescent yeast combo kit" and successfully created antibiotic-resistant E. coli in my kitchen by replacing a single DNA letter. This democratization of genetic technology reflects how far we've come since the first engineered bacterium in 1973, with CRISPR now allowing scientists to "rewrite the very molecules of life any way we wish." This technology is being applied to ecological problems like Australia's cane toad invasion. These enormous, warty amphibians were imported to Australia in 1935 to combat beetle grubs threatening sugar cane. Though they failed at this task, the toads thrived, producing millions of offspring and spreading across the continent at an accelerating pace-evolving significantly longer legs that increased their movement from six miles per year to thirty. What makes cane toads particularly devastating in Australia is their toxicity. When threatened, they release a milky poison that can cause cardiac arrest in predators. Since Australia has no native toads, local wildlife never evolved wariness of them, leading to population crashes in numerous species from freshwater crocodiles to northern quolls. At the Australian Animal Health Laboratory, researchers are developing genetic solutions. Postdoctoral researcher Caitlin Cooper has created "detox toads" by deleting the gene for bufotoxin hydrolase, the enzyme that amplifies the toad's poison potency. These detoxified toads could serve as educational tools, allowing predators to learn toad avoidance without dying. Cooper is also exploring ways to genetically reduce toad fertility by modifying the gel coat on their eggs. Even more powerful genetic technologies are emerging through "gene drives"-systems that can spread engineered traits through wild populations at rates exceeding natural inheritance. While standard genetics teaches that each gene variant has a 50% chance of being passed to offspring, driving genes can achieve transmission rates exceeding 90%. Scientists have already created synthetic gene drives in yeast, fruit flies, and mosquitoes. The first mammal to receive a CRISPR-assisted gene drive will almost certainly be a mouse. Paul Thomas at Adelaide's South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute is developing an "X-shredder" mouse whose Y chromosome carries instructions to destroy X-bearing sperm. Such mice would produce only male offspring, who would themselves produce only sons, creating a growing sex imbalance until no females remain to reproduce. Mathematical models suggest just 100 gene-drive mice could eliminate a population of 50,000 ordinary mice within years. This technology could address invasive rodents that have devastated island ecosystems worldwide. On Gough Island, mice have been recorded attacking and eating endangered Tristan albatross chicks alive. While conservationists have traditionally used anticoagulant poisons against these invaders, gene drives offer targeted impacts without poison's collateral damage.

第 8 章

Engineering the Atmosphere: Carbon Removal and Solar Geoengineering

I signed up with Climeworks, a company that promised to scrub my carbon emissions from the air and turn them into stone. After a year of monthly payments, I visited their operation at Iceland's Hellisheii Power Station, where geothermal energy powers direct air capture units that suck in atmospheric CO2. The captured carbon is dissolved in water and injected underground where it mineralizes in basalt rock within months-compressing what would naturally take millennia. This technology addresses our atmospheric transformation. Since the Industrial Revolution, human CO2 emissions have risen from 15 million tons annually to nearly 40 billion, raising global temperatures by 1.1C and triggering increasingly severe climate impacts. To stay under the 2C threshold for catastrophe requires emissions to approach zero within decades; for 1.5C, within a single decade. Carbon dioxide removal offers a mathematical solution-"negative emissions" could balance positive ones, potentially allowing us to cross thresholds temporarily before sucking carbon back from the air. However, the scale required is daunting. Physicist Klaus Lackner calculates that 100 million trailer-sized carbon capture units could offset annual emissions-a massive but not impossible undertaking. The COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020 demonstrated a harsh reality about carbon dioxide: despite a record 17% emissions drop in April, atmospheric CO2 still reached a new high of 417.1 parts per million in May. This illustrates carbon's stubborn persistence-emissions are cumulative, like water filling a bathtub that never drains. Even halving emissions wouldn't reduce CO2 levels; they'd simply rise more slowly. As emissions reductions prove insufficient, some scientists are researching more radical interventions. Harvard's Solar Geoengineering Research Program is exploring stratospheric aerosol injection-essentially creating artificial volcanoes by spraying reflective particles into the upper atmosphere to cool the planet. The concept builds on observations of volcanic eruptions like Mount Tambora in 1815, which caused global cooling and led to 1816 being known as "the year without summer." Frank Keutsch, leading Harvard's Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx), explains that his anxiety about geoengineering has grown alongside continued climate inaction. He worries that without proper research, we might resort to hasty, poorly understood stratospheric interventions when climate impacts become severe enough that desperate populations demand immediate action. While geoengineering appears surprisingly feasible-researchers estimate developing specialized aircraft would cost about $2.5 billion, with operating costs around $20 billion per decade-it isn't truly a solution. It addresses symptoms rather than causes, creating dependency as particles must be constantly replenished. If the program were suddenly halted, "termination shock" would occur as all masked warming manifested at once. Harvard scientist Dan Schrag offers a sobering perspective: even if we stopped CO2 emissions immediately, warming would continue for centuries due to ocean thermal inertia. He believes we're "going to be lucky to stop at 4C" of warming-well into unthinkable territory. He argues that solar geoengineering research isn't opening Pandora's box but acknowledging reality: "We don't get to decide" whether it will be used, and scientists must urgently "figure out all the different ways this could go wrong."

从《白色天空之下》中收获更多

每日获取新洞见，探索 10 万+ 条课程内容
文字实时高亮，与音频同步
保存你的书库，在所有设备上随时访问

第 9 章

The Control of the Control: Humanity's Uncertain Future

Throughout "Under a White Sky," Kolbert reveals a disturbing pattern: humans intervene in nature, creating problems that require increasingly complex interventions. The Chicago River reversal stands as a prime example - an engineering feat that connected two previously separate watersheds, inadvertently creating a superhighway for invasive species like Asian carp. These aggressive fish now threaten the Great Lakes ecosystem, requiring the installation of sophisticated electric barriers costing millions annually. Similarly, in New Orleans, the extensive levee system that protects the city from flooding has interrupted the Mississippi River's natural sediment distribution, leading to rapid coastal erosion at a rate of a football field every hour. This erosion now necessitates massive sediment diversion projects costing billions of dollars. The preservation of endangered species increasingly demonstrates this cascade of intervention. The Devil's Hole pupfish of Nevada survives only through constant monitoring and a backup population maintained in an artificial tank system that perfectly replicates their natural habitat. The California condor requires extensive human management, from GPS tracking to lead-poisoning treatment. These species have become, in essence, permanent wards of human conservation. This escalating cycle of intervention raises profound questions about humanity's relationship with nature. Stewart Brand, the influential environmentalist, boldly declared, "We are as gods and have to get good at it." His organization, Revive & Restore, champions genetic interventions including ambitious de-extinction projects. They're working to resurrect the passenger pigeon using DNA from museum specimens and create blight-resistant American chestnuts by introducing genes from wheat - projects that represent unprecedented levels of ecological engineering. However, this techno-optimistic approach faces strong opposition. E.O. Wilson, the renowned biologist, warns that "We are not as gods. We're not yet sentient or intelligent enough to be much of anything." Environmental writer Paul Kingsnorth offers an even darker assessment: "We are as gods, but we have failed to get good at it...We are Loki, killing the beautiful for fun." These critics point to numerous historical failures of biological intervention. The cascade of unintended consequences is perhaps best illustrated by Hawaii's ecological disasters. The introduction of African snails led to the import of carnivorous rosy wolf snails to control them. Instead, these predators devastated the islands' native snail species, creating what Wilson termed "an extinction avalanche." Similar stories have played out with mongoose introductions, cane toads in Australia, and kudzu in the American South. Kolbert leaves us confronting an unprecedented dilemma: in a world irreversibly altered by human activity, simply stepping back won't restore pristine nature. The choice isn't between maintaining an untouched wilderness and human intervention - that ship has sailed. Instead, we must choose between allowing countless species to vanish or embracing increasingly ambitious technological interventions, each carrying its own risks of unintended consequences. As we contemplate engineering solutions as dramatic as solar radiation management - literally whitening our skies to cool the planet - we must grapple with whether our greatest challenge isn't controlling nature, but rather controlling our own impulse to control. The Anthropocene may ultimately test not our ability to dominate nature, but our wisdom in knowing when to stop trying.

★★★★★

你已读完《白色天空之下》

深受 100 万+ 学习者喜爱

“坚持使用 23 天了，我每天都会打开它。它现在已经成为我的日常习惯。”

jayallen

《白色天空之下》核心主题

ecological intervention
anthropocene engineering
unintended consequences
climate mitigation
human dominance

《白色天空之下》经典语录

they don't just invade ecosystems-"they conquer them."
retreat, though geophysically sensible, was politically impossible.
The boot-shaped state now has its sole, heel, and much of its instep in tatters.
The more water that's pumped, the faster the city sinks.

《白色天空之下》主要人物

Elizabeth KolbertAuthor and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Rachel CarsonAuthor of Silent Spring who advocated bio-controls

关于作者

伊丽莎白·科尔伯特（Elizabeth Kolbert）是普利策奖得主、《白天空下：未来的本质》（Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future）一书的作者，也是环境新闻和气候报道领域的领军人物。自1999年以来，科尔伯特一直担任《纽约客》（The New Yorker）的专职撰稿人，她的作品将严谨的科学性与叙事驱动的故事讲述相结合，探讨了人类对地球产生的深远影响。

她的普利策奖获奖作品《第六次大灭绝：不自然的历史》（The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History，2014年）奠定了她在研究生物多样性丧失方面的声誉，而《灾难现场笔记》（Field Notes from a Catastrophe，2006年）则确立了她在气候危机早期的权威地位。《白天空下》延续了这一轨迹，调查了从地球工程到基因救援等旨在对抗生态崩溃的高科技干预措施。

科尔伯特的职业生涯始于《纽约时报》（The New York Times），在那里她负责政治报道，随后转向环境报道。她为《纽约客》撰写的开创性系列报道“人类的气候”（“The Climate of Man”，2005年）获得了美国科学促进会奖，预示了她对人为气候破坏的关注。她的作品曾两次获得国家杂志奖，并获得亨氏环境成就奖，已被翻译成25多种语言。《白天空下》被《华盛顿邮报》（The Washington Post）评为2021年十大最佳书籍之一，巩固了科尔伯特作为人类世值得信赖的记录者的地位。

下载《白色天空之下》摘要

免费获取《白色天空之下》摘要的 PDF 或 EPUB 版本。可打印或随时离线阅读。

用户还喜欢

The sixth extinction

Elizabeth Kolbert

We Are the Weather

Jonathan Safran Foer

The World Without Us

Alan Weisman

The Soil Will Save Us

Kristin Ohlson

A World Without Ice

Henry Pollack

Unsettled

Steven E. Koonin

Oryx and Crake

Margaret Atwood

The Uninhabitable Earth

David Wallace-Wells

关于本书的常见问题

发现更多

学习计划

Nature's Lethal Ambition

This plan offers a unique look at how humanity has harnessed nature's toxins for power, war, and status. It is ideal for history buffs, science enthusiasts, and true crime fans interested in the dark evolution of toxicology.

1 h 12 m•3 章节

学习计划

The Biology of Human Empire

This plan bridges the gap between evolutionary biology and historical geopolitics to explain why human societies rise and fall. It is ideal for history buffs, sociologists, and strategists looking to understand the primal drivers of power and systemic collapse.

1 h 30 m•3 章节

学习计划

The Physics of Thin Air

This learning plan bridges the gap between atmospheric science, human physiology, and aeronautical engineering. It is essential for aspiring pilots, mountaineers, or science enthusiasts who want to understand how life and technology function in extreme, low-pressure environments.

1 h 30 m•3 章节

学习计划

The Science of Building Skins

This plan is essential for architects and engineers seeking to master high-performance building envelopes. It bridges the gap between environmental physics and architectural design, making it ideal for professionals focused on sustainable, human-centric construction.

1 h 15 m•3 章节

学习计划

The Culture: AI Minds and Human Purpose

This plan explores the intersection of advanced technology and social philosophy through the lens of Iain M. Banks's universe. It is ideal for sci-fi enthusiasts, futurists, and ethicists interested in the long-term implications of AI governance.

2 h•4 章节

学习计划

Unus Mundus: Bridging Psyche and Cosmos

This plan is essential for those seeking to bridge the gap between analytical science and deep psychological exploration. It is ideal for students of Jungian psychology, physics enthusiasts, and anyone looking to achieve personal healing through the lens of universal interconnectedness.

2 h•4 章节

学习计划

The Human Story Across Scales

This plan offers a high-level synthesis of anthropology, history, and strategy for those seeking to understand the drivers of human progress. It is ideal for leaders, strategists, and curious minds who want to apply historical patterns to modern challenges.

2 h 30 m•5 章节

学习计划

The Antediluvian Blueprint

This plan bridges the gap between historical philosophy, genetics, and catastrophe theory to uncover the hidden foundations of human history. It is designed for researchers and history enthusiasts eager to explore the intersection of myth, science, and the antediluvian past.

1 h 30 m•3 章节

由哥伦比亚大学校友在旧金山创建

LOVED BY

1,000,000+ curious minds.

4.7

avg rating

1M+ learners

"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."

@Moemenn

"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."

@Chloe, Solo founder, LA

117

"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

@Raaaaaachelw

"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum

108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC

254

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore

"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

@Pitiful

4.5K

"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."

@SofiaP

"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"

@Jaded_Falcon

201

"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."

@OojasSalunke

"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."

@Leo, Law Student, UPenn

483

"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"

@Cashflowbubu

查看更多网络上关于 BeFreed 的讨论

由哥伦比亚大学校友在旧金山创建

LOVED BY

1,000,000+ curious minds.

4.7

avg rating

1M+ learners

"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."

@Moemenn

"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."

@Chloe, Solo founder, LA

117

"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

@Raaaaaachelw

"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum

108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC

254

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore

"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

@Pitiful

4.5K

"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."

@SofiaP

"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"

@Jaded_Falcon

201

"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."

@OojasSalunke

"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."

@Leo, Law Student, UPenn

483

"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"

@Cashflowbubu

"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."

@Moemenn

"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."

@Chloe, Solo founder, LA

117

"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

@Raaaaaachelw

"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum

108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC

254

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore

"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

@Pitiful

4.5K

"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."

@SofiaP

"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"

@Jaded_Falcon

201

"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."

@OojasSalunke

"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."

@Leo, Law Student, UPenn

483

"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"

@Cashflowbubu

"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."

@Moemenn

"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."

@Chloe, Solo founder, LA

117

"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

@Raaaaaachelw

"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum

108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC

254

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore

"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

@Pitiful

4.5K

"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."

@SofiaP

"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"

@Jaded_Falcon

201

"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."

@OojasSalunke

"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."

@Leo, Law Student, UPenn

483

"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"

@Cashflowbubu

查看更多网络上关于 BeFreed 的讨论

开启你的学习之旅，就是现在

第 9 章

白色天空之下

概述《白色天空之下》概述

一本书，多种聆听方式。

The Paradox of Human Control: Engineering Our Way Through Ecological Crisis

The River That Flows Backward: Chicago's Massive Hydrological Experiment

边听边看，每个词都清晰呈现

The Disappearing Delta: Louisiana's Land Loss Crisis

Sinking Cities and Rising Waters: New Orleans' Precarious Future

从 《白色天空之下》中收获更多

The Devils in the Details: Preserving Earth's Rarest Fish

Super Coral and Assisted Evolution: Designing Reefs for a Warming World

边听边看，每个词都清晰呈现

Genetic Interventions: Editing Evolution to Save Ecosystems

Engineering the Atmosphere: Carbon Removal and Solar Geoengineering

从 《白色天空之下》中收获更多

The Control of the Control: Humanity's Uncertain Future

你已读完 《白色天空之下》

《白色天空之下》核心主题

《白色天空之下》经典语录

《白色天空之下》主要人物

关于作者

下载《白色天空之下》摘要

用户还喜欢

关于本书的常见问题

What is Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert about?

Who should read Under a White Sky?

Is Under a White Sky worth reading?

What are examples of geoengineering in Under a White Sky?

发现更多

1,000,000+ curious minds.

1,000,000+ curious minds.

一本书，多种聆听方式。

The Paradox of Human Control: Engineering Our Way Through Ecological Crisis

The River That Flows Backward: Chicago's Massive Hydrological Experiment

边听边看，每个词都清晰呈现

The Disappearing Delta: Louisiana's Land Loss Crisis

Sinking Cities and Rising Waters: New Orleans' Precarious Future

从 《白色天空之下》中收获更多

The Devils in the Details: Preserving Earth's Rarest Fish

Super Coral and Assisted Evolution: Designing Reefs for a Warming World

边听边看，每个词都清晰呈现

Genetic Interventions: Editing Evolution to Save Ecosystems

Engineering the Atmosphere: Carbon Removal and Solar Geoengineering

从 《白色天空之下》中收获更多

The Control of the Control: Humanity's Uncertain Future

你已读完 《白色天空之下》

用户还喜欢

发现更多

《白色天空之下》概述

从《白色天空之下》中收获更多

从《白色天空之下》中收获更多

你已读完《白色天空之下》

从《白色天空之下》中收获更多

从《白色天空之下》中收获更多

你已读完《白色天空之下》