Author | Paul Donald |
Language | English |
ISBN | 9781784274849 |
Publisher | Pelagic Publishing |
Pages | 279 |
Size | 20 x 12,7 cm |
Format | Paperback |
Images | B/w images |
Year published | 2024 |
Traffication develops a bold new idea: that the trillions of miles of driving we do each year are just as destructive to our natural environment as any of the better known threats, such as habitat loss or intensive farming. The problem is not simply one of roadkill; the impacts of roads are far more pervasive, and they impact our wildlife in many subtle and unpredictable ways.
Using the latest research, Traffication reveals how road traffic shatters essential biological processes, affecting how animals communicate, move around, feed, reproduce and die. Most importantly, it shows that the influence of traffic extends well beyond the verge, and that a busy road can strip the wildlife from our countryside for miles around. In the UK, almost nowhere is exempt from this environmental toll. Yet the final message here is one of hope: by identifying the car as a major cause of the catastrophic loss of wildlife, the solutions to our biodiversity crisis suddenly become much clearer.
The first step to solving any problem is to recognise that it exists in the first place. But with road traffic, we are not even at that crucial initial stage in our recovery. Quite simply, Traffication does for road traffic what Silent Spring did for agrochemicals: awakening us from our collective road-blindness and opening up a whole new chapter in conservation. This urgent book is an essential contribution to the debate on how we restore the health of our countryside – and of our own minds and bodies.
Table of Contents
Preface: Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre
A note on units, definitions and data sources
Acknowledgements
1. The King of the Road
2. Traffication
3. ‘An Inconspicuous Splotch of Red’
4. Living with Roadkill
5. Traffic Islands and Invasion Highways
6. Thunder Road
7. Emission Creep
8. In the Zone
9. The Sixth Horseman
10. Winners and Losers
11. Five Reasons for Hope
12. The Road to De-Traffication
Notes
List of scientific names
References
Index