Ben Goldfarb travels throughout the United States and around the world to investigate how roads have transformed our planet. A million animals are killed by cars each day in the U.S. alone, but as the new science of road ecology shows, the harms of highways extend far beyond roadkill. Creatures from antelope to salmon are losing their ability to migrate in search of food and mates; invasive plants hitch rides in tire treads; road salt contaminates lakes and rivers; and the very noise of traffic chases songbirds from vast swaths of habitat.
Fascinating and compassionate ... He also does an admirable job of detailing the ways that highways and freeways divide our cities along racial lines ... It’s rare for a work so focused on wildlife conservation to also treat race.
Lively ... Mr. Goldfarb goes into the field with a number of practitioners, whom he captures in wry strokes punctuated by excellent quotations ... Perceptive ... Well-paced and vivid, an engaging account of a potentially dull subject, but it is sprinkled with strained flourishes ... Sensible.
