Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction: -- Degradation of the environment, improvement of well-being -- Important question -- Problem of "free riders" -- Positive-not alarmist-discourse -- Well-being and the natural environment -- Separation -- Experience Of Nature: -- Disappointing materialism -- Let the statistics speak -- Virtuous quartet -- Biophilia -- Nine perspectives on nature -- Psychology of the environment -- Explicative theories -- Applications -- Exploitation Of Animals: -- Healing through animals -- Cows, chickens, pigs -- Eating less meat -- Healthy eating -- Giant hecatomb -- Animal rights -- Advances in animal well-being -- Our leisure, not that of animals -- Which is happier, the horse or the zebra? -- Less unilateral relationship with animals -- Infectious Environment: -- Emerging diseases -- Neolithic revolution -- Infectious diseases -- Zoonoses -- Gifts from Asia -- Vulnerability -- Threat Of Arthropods: -- Vector-borne diseases -- Malaria and climate change -- Attack of the ticks -- Asian tiger in Europe -- Sometimes it really is the climate -- Disturbing a complex system -- Bill Gates Or Microbes: -- Pandemics -- From monkey to human -- From the pleasure of transcontinental travel -- SARS, super-Asian rapid surge -- Globalization of microbes -- Paradoxical Cities: -- Urbanized world -- Cesspool of the first cities -- Subtraction or addition -- Unbreathable air -- Dying of heat in cities -- Healthy places -- New alliance -- Environmental Conflicts: -- Return of Malthus -- Environmental security -- Theory tested by facts -- Role of institutions -- Too many or too few resources -- First climate conflict? -- Shadow of the military -- Politics rather than the environment -- Environmental Refugees: -- Natural disasters -- Millions of displaced -- Waves of refugees -- Demographic studies -- Politics of asylum, political asylum -- Another advantage for the rich -- When Poor Countries Set An Example: -- Liberalization and intervention in Vietnam -- Ecotourism in Costa Rica -- Middle road in Bhutan -- Several paths -- Conclusion: -- Debriefing -- Happiness of some creates the unhappiness of others -- Five choices for the future -- Five situations with dual advantages -- Happiness and the environment -- Acknowledgments -- Bibliography.

Overview: We know that our gas-guzzling cars are warming the planet, the pesticides and fertilizers from farms are turning rivers toxic, and the earth has run out of space for the mountains of unrecycled waste our daily consumption has left in its wake. We've heard copious accounts of our impact-as humans, as a society-on the natural world. But this is not a one-sided relationship. Lost in these dire and scolding accounts has been the impact on us and our well-being. You sense it while walking on a sandy beach, or in a wild, woody forest, or when you catch sight of wildlife, or even while gardening in your backyard. Could it be that the natural environment is an essential part of our happiness? Yes, says Eric Lambin emphatically in An Ecology of Happiness. Using a very different strategy in addressing environmental concerns, he asks us to consider that there may be no better reason to value and protect the health of the planet than for our own personal well-being. In this clever and wide-ranging work, Lambin draws on new scientific evidence in the fields of geography, political ecology, environmental psychology, urban studies, and disease ecology, among others, to answer such questions as: To what extent do we need nature for our well-being? How does environmental degradation affect our happiness? What can be done to protect the environment and increase our well-being at the same time? Drawing on case studies from Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America, Lambin makes a persuasive case for the strong link between healthy ecosystems and happy humans. Unique in its scope and evenhanded synthesis of research from many fields, An Ecology of Happiness offers a compelling human-centered argument that is impossible to overlook when we marvel at murmurations of starlings or seek out the most brilliant fall foliage: nature makes our steps a little lighter and our eyes a little brighter. What better reason to protect an ecosystem or save a species than for our own pleasure?

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