Breathing Space: The Natural and Unnatural History of Air

Air is vital to human existence—it protects us from radiation, maintains climate and weather patterns, disperses seeds and pollen, and serves as an alternative energy source. Despite all of this, air remains neglected in environmental policy, with its ownerless, borderless nature making it difficult to campaign and legislate.
 
Breathing Space is the first book to properly integrate air into the wider environmental discourse. Mark Everard assesses the atmosphere’s structure and its role within our overall environment and argues persuasively for the necessity of governments’ and activists’ recognition of air as a vital resource, as well as the dire need for more effective worldwide policies on air regulation. This work is long overdue and a must-read for scholars, environmental activists, and anyone interested environmental policy.