Showing posts with label Natalie Capannelli. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Natalie Capannelli. Show all posts

Saturday, January 25, 2020

If We Were Gone by John Coy, Natalie Capannelli


Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

Written by Coy and illustrated finely by Campannelli this book begs us to pay attention to what we're doing to the planet. Does it need us? No! We need it. Humans, even for as many of us as there are now, make up only a ten-thousandth of Earth's Biomass yet we've wiped out over eighty percent of all mammals to say nothing of other classes of life. And still, hunting is legal. The last time CO₂ was this high, humans hadn't even evolved. if all of Earth's history was compressed into a year, then humans wouldn't show up until after teatime on December 31st. That's how late we came ot the party. That's how little Earth needs us!

This book discusses that. Coy's incisive text and Capanelli's excellent (and slightly depressing, I have to say!) artwork depicts how little we would be missed if we disappeared. In fact, from the planet's perspective, right now it would be better if we did disappear. But this book isn't a manifesto to ban humans; it is a plea for humans to wake up and hear those chimes at midnight, and do something to help Earth before it's too late. We need it, and we're going to harm ourselves if we don't do something soon. I commend this book as a dire warning and a worthy read.