Global Warning: A Pop-Up Book of Our Endangered Planet

The latest addition to the publisher's science pop-up series ( Weather ; Atlas ; etc.) uses appealing paper-engineering to draw attention to sobering environmental themes. The fact-filled text, in dropped-out type on black pages, discusses such topics as the earth's natural balance and threats to it posed by population explosion, destruction of the rain forestsstet 2 words/rl , global warming and extinction of plants and animals. Pop-ups as well as lift-the-flap and pull-tab devices offset Ransford's arid tone. Not all of these visual extras are particularly illuminating (Does it help to see ultraviolet rays emanate from the sun?), but these flourishes help sustain the reader's interest. The book concludes with some well-intentioned but time-worn and occasionally misdirected advice (``Instead of traveling by car, we can walk, bicycle or use public transportation''). Ages 8-up. (Sept.)