We Alone: How Humans Have Conquered the Planet and Can Also Save It

Conservation is common to all societies which learned to live within ecosystem limits. In breaking the evolutionary and biological straight-jackets constricting other species, we became the ultimate multi-niche free-ranging species. Our rise to global conquest and ecological emancipation from nature through domestication and manufacturing expanded conservation for survival to saving whales, elephants, the Acropolis and Mono Lisa. The universal rules for overcoming a tragedy of the commons locally offers hope for combating global warming and sustaining the diversity of life globally—if we use our unique capacity for cooperation and planning.