Did dinosaurs contribute to global warming? What is rubbish theory and what indeed is rubbish? And how did the whale become a cuddly toy? And why did we decide to saturate our land and food with pesticides?

Dirty Words examines all of these questions and also includes a study of pollution in fiction, from the fogs of Dickens to the smog of Chandler, advice on how to be an environmental troublemaker, and a suggestion of our choice of futures: the world as an icebox or a greenhouse.

This entertaining and provocative collection of pieces by a group of environmental experts challenges the reader to take a closer look at the current pollution debate.

Originally published in 1991

Authored by Bradby, Hannah

Introduction
Acknowledgments
1. Life and Climate
Simon F. Watts
2. Life between Greenhouse and Icebox
Philip Stewart
3. Environmental Troublemaking
Walter C. Patterson
4. Changing Public Perception of Air Pollution
Nigel Dudley
5. Agricultural Pollution: The Price of Progress?
Janet Rowe
6. Writing on Smoke
Peter Brimblecombe
7. The Management of Hazardous Waste and Hazards of Wasteful Management
Michael Thompson
8. Sheepfarming after Chernobyl: a Case Study in Communicating Scientific Information
Brian Wynne