Learn more about climate literacy and an archive of environmental learning resources.
Thank You, Earth by
Winner of the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature "[A] splendid marriage of poetry and photography." --School Library Journal (starred review) Acclaimed children's book author and photographer April Pulley Sayre's love letter to Earth is a stunning exploration of the beauty and complexity of the world around us. Remarkable photographs and a rich, layered text introduce concepts of science, nature, geography, biology, poetry, and community, perfect for classrooms and homeschooling. This nonfiction picture book is ideal for Earth Day and for celebrating the planet all year long. April Pulley Sayre, award-winning photographer and acclaimed author of more than sixty-five books, introduces concepts of science, nature, and language arts through stunning photographs and a poetic text structured as a simple thank-you note. Touching on subjects from life cycles to weather, colors, shapes, and patterns, this is an ideal resource for science and language art curriculums and a terrific book for bedtime sharing. Thank You, Earth is a great choice for Earth Day celebrations, as well as family and group read-alouds. Includes backmatter with kid-friendly ideas for conservation projects information about the photographs, and additional resources. Winner of the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature and a Green Earth Book Award Long List title!
A Little Bit of Dirt by
Dandelion Bubbles, Rain Drums, Seed Bomb Lollipops and more! Bursting with creative hands-on outdoor science and art activities, A Little Bit of Dirt is full of motivation to get outside and explore. Whether you're investigating the health of your local stream, making beautiful acrylic sunprints with leaves and flowers, running an experiment with your backyard birds, or concocting nature potions, you'll be fostering an important connection with nature. The engaging activities encourage the use of the senses and imagination and are perfect for all ages. Discover more about the natural world waiting just outside your door!
Earth by
Caldecott Honor winner Steve Jenkins introduces By the Numbers infographic readers chock full of incredible infographs and stunning, full-color cut-paper illustrations.Earth will focus on the fascinating ins-and-outs of earth science. Through infographics, illustrations, facts, and figures, readers will learn about the complex and wonderful place we call home, Earth. Discover some of the most fascinating aspects of our planet through astonishing numbers: the stretch of time from Earth's formation to the present, the misleading way the surface area of a continent can appear on a map, the angle of Earth's axis that creates the seasons, what percentage of Earth's land is covered in deserts or forests or cities, and so much more. With his signature style, Steve Jenkins explores the most fascinating fields of natural science.
Aquicorn Cove by
"Enchanting." - KIRKUS Unable to rely on the adults in her storm-ravaged seaside town, a young girl must protect a colony of magical seahorse-like creatures she discovers in the coral reef. From the Eisner Award-winning author of The Tea Dragon Society and Princess Princess Ever After comes AQUICORN COVE, a heartfelt story about learning to be a guardian to yourself and those you love. When Lana and her father return to their seaside hometown to help clear the debris of a big storm, Lana remembers how much she's missed the ocean--and the strong, reassuring presence of her aunt. As Lana explores the familiar beach, she discovers something incredible: a colony of Aquicorns, small magical seahorse-like creatures that live in the coral reef. Lana rescues an injured Aquicorn and cares for it with the help of her aunt, who may know more about these strange creatures than she's willing to admit. But when a second storm threatens to reach the town, choices made many years ago about how to coexist with the sea start to rise to the surface. Lana realizes she will need to find the strength to stand on her own, even when it means standing up to the people who she has always relied on to protect her. "Highly recommended for all-ages graphic novel collections, especially those where O'Neill's earlier works are popular." - SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (starred review)
All Around Us by
"All Around Us begs to be shared over and over."--Yuyi Morales "A transcendent, perfectly gorgeous book."--Naomi Shihab Nye ALSC Notable Children's Book 2018 Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book2018 American Indian Youth Literature Award: Picture Book Honor Best Picture Book, Texas Institute of Letters 2017 Tomás Rivera Children's Book Award Grandpa says circles are all around us. He points to the rainbow that rises high in the sky after a thundercloud has come. "Can you see? That's only half of the circle. That rest of it is down below, in the earth." He and his granddaughter meditate on gardens and seeds, on circles seen and unseen, inside and outside us, on where our bodies come from and where they return to. They share and create family traditions in this stunning exploration of the cycles of life and nature. This is a debut picture book for Xelena Gonzalez and Adriana Garcia.
Planet Earth by
Discover the wonder and learn the truth about our rocky home.Why does life exist on Earth but nowhere else in our solar system? What causes Earth's seasons? What makes up the Earth's interior? This book answers these questions and many more about our rocky home. From Earth's place in space, to its atmosphere and time zones, everything readers need to know about planet Earth is covered!Planets and stars, moons and galaxies! The universe is a vast and mysterious place with much to explore. And there's no better way to make amazing discoveries about space than with this reimagined series. With the latest NASA imagery, the classic structure and features of A True Book, and lively text, the titles in Our Universe bring the awe of the cosmos directly to readers. Students will come away with a wealth of knowledge about the incredible celestial bodies in our universe.This series covers Next Generation Science Standards core ideas including "The Universe and its stars" and "Earth and the solar system."
The Sun in Me by
From the rainforests of Africa to the mountains of Japan, Judith Nicholls has brought together a diverse selection of poems from many cultures that celebrate the beauty and fragility of our planet. Beth Krommes's distinctive, eye-catching illustrations act as beautiful accompaniments to the text.
National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry by
When words in verse are paired with the awesomeness of nature, something magical happens! Beloved former U.S. Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis curates an exuberant poetic celebration of the natural world in this stellar collection of nature poems. From trickling streams to deafening thrunderstorms to soaring mountains, discover majestic photography perfectly paired with contemporary (such as Billy Collins), classics (such as Robert Frost), and never-before-published works.
Infographic Guide to the Globe by
Which ocean is the largest? What pet is most popular in different parts of the world? How far away is each planet from the sun? Learn these and dozens of other fascinating facts about our planet and its inhabitants in Lonely Planet Kids'Infographic Guide to the Globe, a dynamically-illustrated guide full of graphs and charts. Colorful graphics featuring fun facts keep kids entertained and learning. Plus, you'll find engaging questions on every page that encourage readers to assess the information and draw conclusions about our world. Whether you're wondering how many years the average American goes to school compared to the average Nigerian or what percentage of the globe is covered with salt water,Infographic Guide to the Globe has the answer! About Lonely Planet Kids: Lonely Planet Kids - an imprint of the world's leading travel authority Lonely Planet - published its first book in 2011. Over the past 45 years, Lonely Planet has grown a dedicated global community of travelers, many of whom are now sharing a passion for exploration with their children. Lonely Planet Kids educates and encourages young readers at home and in school to learn about the world with engaging books on culture, sociology, geography, nature, history, space and more. We want to inspire the next generation of global citizens and help kids and their parents to approach life in a way that makes every day an adventure. Come explore!
The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge by
Trust the bestselling science series of all time to get down to the facts on global warming, so kids can understand the crisis - and how they can help solve it. Like it or not, global warming is a hot topic, and it will affect the younger generation the most. So why not turn to the teacher kids like the most, Ms. Frizzle! Only the Friz can boil all the hoopla down to the scientific facts in a fun and informative way. With trademark simplicity and wit, Joanna Cole explains why the earth is getting warmer, and Bruce Degen's bright, action-filled illustrations make the science easy to understand and fun to learn. This team brings a new, improved understanding to climate change, engaging kids and empowering all. Teachers will cheer!
Green City by
In 2007, a tornado destroyed Greensburg, Kansas, and the residents were at a loss as to what to do next--they didn't want to rebuild if their small town would just be destroyed in another storm. So they decided they wouldn't just rebuild the same old thing; this time, they would build a town that could not only survive another storm, but one that was built in an environmentally sustainable way. Told from the point of view of a child whose family rebuilt after the storm, this companion toEnergy Island is the inspiring story of the difference one community can make--and it includes plenty of rebuilding scenes and details for construction lovers, too!
DKfindout! Climate Change by
This timely entry into the award-winning DKfindout! Series, explores the past, present, and future of our climate. In 2019 kids around the world went on strike for the future of our planet, and for their own futures. This amazing book on climate change for kids covers what we can do every day as potential activists to help prevent further damaging changes to the climate. The subject matter of this book has become a very hot topic! Find out why climate change is such a big deal. It contains a wealth of facts about the world, figures, predictions and graphical data to help you understand exactly what it all means. It is a great addition to any bookshelf, and a valuable and contemporary resource for all ages. Climate change is now one of the biggest issues we face as a society, and the British and Irish governments have become the first in the world to declare a climate emergency. This book lays out the science behind this natural process that has been exponentially sped up by humans. It explains the different ways in which we have caused the Earth to heat up, from traffic pollution to animal farming, and the vast, widespread effects we are causing. It covers key developments such as the industrial revolution, the advent of air travel, and climate activism, such as the People's Climate March to Greta Thunberg and the Extinction Rebellion. Come to understand the facts about climate change in these pages and discover what we can do to improve the human impact on our environment. Find Out How To Save The World! A small book filled with fun facts and big ideas! Over 64 pages are packed with information covering all the aspects of climate change including a timeline dating from the 1760s all the way through to 2050, to living with climate change and what we can do about it. Dkfindout! Climate Change encourages children to think more about the world around them and is a great aid for any school project on climate change. Inside you will: -Learn about deforestation, the greenhouse effect and transport -Discover the polar crisis, changing sea levels and sinking islands -Explore activism, collective change, and small ways to make a difference Dkfindout! Climate Change is one title in the Dkfindout! series of educational books for kids, and Silver award winner in the MadeForMums Awards 2017 children's books series category. Kids around the world are obsessed with this gorgeous collection, so much so that a range of massive DKfindout! posters for bedroom walls are sold separately. Add to your collection and nurture your little one's interest in the world. Other titles include DKfindout! Solar System, Birds, Castles, Science, Pirates, Coding, Ancient Egypt, Engineering, Reptiles and a whole lot more!
Voyagers: Escape the Vortex (Book 5) by
The action is on the page, on your device, and out of this world! This multiplatform series is part sci-fi, all action-adventure. And you don't have long to wait--six books are coming all in one year! Earth is in danger! The only thing that can save our planet are six essential elements that can fuse into a new source of clean energy. But the elements are scattered throughout the galaxy. And it's up to the Voyagers--a team of four remarkable kids and an alien--to gather them all and return to Earth. The Voyagers' fifth stop is Planet Tundra and it may look like a giant marshmallow, but this is no winter wonderland--it's a winter nightmare! This frozen landscape is the deadliest the Voyagers have encountered yet. Then, when the Omega team finds themselves in trouble, only Team Alpha can save them. But if the tables were turned, would the Omegas do the same? Do you have what it takes to be a Voyager? Find out at VoyagersHQ.com.
The Fire Eternal by
A new magic is stirring in the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling Last Dragon Chronicles!A stirring of new magic at the poles makes a fiery tale for readers in the 4th book in the NY TIMES bestselling Dragons series!Five years have passed since David Rain, now a bestselling author, disappeared mysteriously in the Artic. Slowly the ice is changing; bears are starving; dragons are rising; and the spirit Gaia, goddess of the Earth, is restless, wanting to act upon these changes. But all living things may suffer if she does. As the weather grows wilder and the ice caps melt, all eyes turn from the north to David's daughter, Alexa. She is the key to stopping it. . . . Can one girl save the world from the forces of evil before she disappears like her father?Don't miss Chris d'Lacey's addition to his rich dragon mythology in his next series, The Erth Dragons!
On Our Nature Walk by
This illustrated nonfiction picture book by child psychologist Dr. Jillian Roberts introduces children to the important topic of the environment. Crafted around a conversation between a grade-school-aged child and an adult, this inquiry-focused book using age-appropriate language and tone will help children shape their understanding of the natural world and how they participate in protecting it. Dr. Roberts starts the discussion with the types of pollution and trash that children might notice on a nature walk or a trip to the beach, how they are caused and how to work to improve things in their own lives and communities.The World Around Us series introduces children to complex cultural, social and environmental issues they may encounter outside their homes, in an accessible way. Sidebars offer further reading for older children or care providers who have bigger questions. For younger children just starting to make these observations, the simple question-and-answer format of the main text will provide a foundation of knowledge on the subject matter.This is the newest title in The World Around Us series, following books that address poverty, tragedy, prejudice, online awareness and body safety and body image.
This Is the Earth by
Young readers learn how they can create a greener, healthier world in this powerful nonfiction picture book from authors Diane Z. Shore and Jessica Alexander, with art by award-winning illustrator Wendell Minor. This Is the Earth explores hundreds of years of changing landscapes and the positive and negative impacts humans have had on the environment. Even the smallest actions can help save the world, and this lyrical, rhyming read-aloud text shows how smart and simple everyday habits can protect the planet.
Project Weather by
Weather can be truly wild. Mild breezes can give way to a terrifying tornado in a matter of minutes. What happens in Earth's atmosphere to cause weather is the focus of this beautifully designed volume. Fascinating facts about weather matters such as the water cycle, thunderstorms, and climate change are presented alongside absorbing, hands-on activities that reinforce key concepts. Gripping graphics, exciting images, and a dynamic design will especially inspire visual and kinesthetic learners.
Shocking Truth about Energy by
This high-voltage introduction to energy combines physical science and environmental science with fun. Comical characters explain the basics, including the many forms energy can take. Readers can learn how energy changes from one from to another so that the Sun's energy can end up in a lunch box and eventually in people's muscles. Easy-to-follow diagrams show different ways energy can be harnessed. For a green look at the topic, the pros and cons of each form of energy are outlined, and tips on how to use energy sensibly are included.
Just a Dream by
Walter is a litterbug who does not appreciate the beauty of nature, or understand his role in keeping the planet healthy . . . until a fantastic journey shows him the tragic fate that could befall Earth if humans like him are not more careful. Are Walter’s actions really helping his planet along the road to destruction, or is it all just a dream?Chris Van Allsburg’s classic story of environmental responsibility is now available in this special paperback edition with french flaps.
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky by
The Earth does not belong to us. We belong to the Earth. The great American Indian Chief Seattle spoke these words over a hundred years ago. His remarkably relevant message of respect for the Earth and every creature on it has endured the test of time and is imbued with passion born of love of the land and the environment. Illustrated by award-winning artist Susan Jeffers, the stirring pen-and-color drawings bring a wide array of Native Americans to life while capturing the splendor of nature and the land. Children and parents alike will enjoy the timeless, poignant message presented in this beautifully illustrated picture book. "Together, Seattle's words and Jeffers's images create a powerful message; this thoughtful book deserves to be pondered and cherished by all." (Publishers Weekly ) Illustrated by Susan Jeffers.
Fancy Nancy: Every Day Is Earth Day by
Fancy Nancy fans of all ages will love this sweet story about learning to respect both the Earth and your family, in this I Can Read story from New York Times bestselling team Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser! Learning to respect the environment is no small task, especially if you want to celebrate Earth Day every day of the week! Luckily, Nancy is on hand to make sure Mom, Dad, and her little sister do their part in being green--even if she has to keep reminding them. Nancy knows that she's helping her family do something very important, but will she take her enthusiasm for the environment a step too far? Fancy Nancy: Every Day Is Earth Day is a Level One I Can Read book, which means it's perfect for children learning to sound out words and sentences. The back matter features a list of the rich vocabulary words that are used throughout the story along with their definition.
Earth Day by
"Earth Day is a call to be "green." This means thinking like a conservationist about everything from what grocery bag to use to what type of transportation to take. Elementary students just might be inspired to clean up a park or plant a tree after this read. This title includes: photo labels, glossary, maps, sidebars, and activity pages that invite further learning about holiday traditions (recipes, crafts, etc.)."
Busy-Eyed Day by
See the world through fresh eyes with this lush and lyrical picture book. There are so many intriguing eyes out in the world...and so many amazing things for those eyes to see! From a big-eyed bug and a stalk-eyed slug to a side-eyed frog and a wide-eyed dog, the family in this book doesn't miss a single sight during their busy-eyed day the park. This rhyming and richly illustrated picture book is a clever and unusual celebration of being observant and keeping an eye out for magic in the everyday world that surrounds us.
Human Footprint by
What is your human footprint? Well, it's 13,056 pints of milk, 28,433 showers, 12,888 oranges, 14,518 candy bars, and $52,972 worth of clothes, all in one lifetime. Makes you want to step more lightly on the planet! Perfectly timed for Earth Day, this book doesn't preach or judge, but simply shows kids-in an exciting, visual way-how humans interact with the environment and how we can lessen our impact. Astonishing photography captures the full picture of consumption, documenting all the diapers you wore as a baby, the bread you'll eat in a lifetime, and the cans you'll recycle, based on national averages. Tying in with a National Geographic Channel production, Human Footprint is colorful and fun-yet also manages to be a powerful tool for kids to visualize the dimensions of consumption.
What Color Is Your Parachute? for Teens by
In today's über-competitive climate, you can't just wing it when you graduate and count on finding a great job (or a great job finding you). It pays to figure out your interests early, so you can decide what additional schooling--and tuition debt--makes sense for your chosen field. In What Color Is Your Parachute? For Teens, career authorities Carol Christen and Richard N. Bolles not only help you plan for these decisions, but also help you define the unique passions that will lead you to your dream job. With new chapters on social media and sustainable jobs--along with all-new profiles of twentysomethings who've found work in solar energy, magazine writing, and more--this new edition has all the nitty-gritty details you need to get started now. Most importantly, it's packed with the big-picture advice that will set you up to land the job that's perfect for who you are--and who you want to be.
Steal This Country by
Inspired by Abbie Hoffman's radical classic, Steal This Book, author Alexandra Styron's call for resistance and citizen activism will clearly be heard by young people who don't accept "it is what it is," who want to make sure everybody gets an equal piece of the American pie, and who know that the future of the planet is now. Styron's lively primer on-how-to-make a difference opens with a personal essay and a historic look at activism and civil disobedience in America. That's followed by thematic chapters on key issues such as climate change, racial justice, women's rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration, and religious understanding. Each chapter is introduced by an original full page comic and includes a summary of key questions, interviews with movers and shakers--from celebrities to youth activists--and spotlights on progressive organizations. A substantive section of how-to advice starts with an explanation of why activism matters and continues with practical information about group activities such as organizing, marching, rallying, and petitioning and individual actions like voting with your wallet, volunteering, talking with relatives with different viewpoints, and using social activism to get out a progressive message. This is a terrific book for older middle-schoolers and teens who are distressed by current events, political tweets, and news headlines and want to show up and be counted!
Globalization by
Have you noticed that our planet is becoming increasingly connected? At the supermarket, you can buy food from all around the world, including olive oil from Greece, cheese from France, and coffee from South America. At home, you surf the Internet on a computer made in Asia, reading news from many different countries. Your parents might drive a car made in America, Japan, or Germany while you listen to music from American and Canadian pop stars on the radio. In Globalization: Why We Care About Faraway Events, kids ages 12 to 15 focus on the definition of globalization, how technology drives globalization, and how globalization affects economies, political systems, human rights, and cultures around the world. The book also explores the future of globalization and discusses issues the global community might face in coming years. For centuries, people from different societies and cultures have made contact with each other and exchanged goods and ideas. Globalization is not a new thing, but in recent years, advances in transportation and technology have made it easier than ever to connect with people everywhere, whether they are sitting next to you on a bus, waiting for you at home, or sitting on a different bus halfway around the globe. Jet airplanes and great ocean ships carry people and goods everywhere in the world. Cell phones, computers, the Internet, and social media allow people to communicate instantly, no matter where they are. Through globalization, the world is becoming more interconnected and interdependent. Is globalization a good thing? Does globalization benefit all world citizens, rich and poor? Or does it only benefit a few, while harming others? In this civics book, middle grade students are encouraged to think critically about how globalization affects local and global communities. Globalization: Why We Care About Faraway Events teaches students about a crucial topic in a fact-based way that promotes empowerment and understanding. Investigations and hands-on experiments provide students with problem-solving opportunities that help students determine the right balance between the benefits and costs associated with globalization. Projects such as tracking the origins of different objects and devices you might find at home lead readers through an inquiry-based, open-ended investigation with plenty of room to explore individual creativity. Globalization is one book in a set of four that explore great events of the twentieth century. Inquire and Investigate titles in this set include The Vietnam War; World War II: From the Rise of the Nazi Party to the Dropping of the Atomic Bomb; Globalization: Why We Care About Faraway Events; and The Space Race: How the Cold War Put Humans on the Moon. Nomad Press books in the Inquire & Investigate series integrate content with participation, encouraging older readers to engage in student-directed learning as opposed to teacher-guided instruction. This student-centered approach provides readers with the tools they need to become inquiry-based learners. Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, and STEM Education all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Consistent with our other series, all of the activities in the books in the Inquire & Investigate series are hands-on, challenging readers to develop and test their own hypotheses, ask their own questions, and formulate their own solutions. In the process, readers learn how to analyze, evaluate, and present the data they collect. As informational texts our books provide key ideas and details from which readers can work out their own inferences. Nomad''s unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers. Soon they''ll be thinking like scientists by questioning things around them and considering new approaches. Nomad Press books in the Inquire & Investigate series integrate content with participation, encouraging older readers to engage in student-directed learning as opposed to teacher-guided instruction. This student-centered approach provides readers with the tools they need to become inquiry-based learners. Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, and STEM Education all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Consistent with our other series, all of the activities in the books in the Inquire & Investigate series are hands-on, challenging readers to develop and test their own hypotheses, ask their own questions, and formulate their own solutions. In the process, readers learn how to analyze, evaluate, and present the data they collect. As informational texts our books provide key ideas and details from which readers can work out their own inferences. Nomad''s unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers. Soon they''ll be thinking like scientists by questioning things around them and considering new approaches.
Renewable Energy Workers by
Renewable energy (wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, and bioenergy) has emerged as a more environmentally friendly, sustainable option to fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas). A career in renewable energy is the perfect choice for those who care about the environment and want to use their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills to make the world a better place. In this book, you'll learn about career paths for renewable energy workers, the types of renewable energy, typical educational paths for renewable energy workers, key skills for success in the field, methods of exploring renewable energy careers while in school, average salaries, and much more. Renewable Energy Worker is just one of ten exciting titles in the Cool Careers in Science series. Readers will discover ten cutting-edge science, technology, and engineering careers, and dozens of subspecialties. You will also learn why these careers are some of the most exciting, best paying, and fastest growing occupations in the world.
Parable of the Sower by
The time is 2025. The place is California, where small walled communities must protect themselves from hordes of desperate scavengers and a roaming band of people addicted to a drug that activates an orgasmic desire to burn, rape and murder. When one small community is overrun, Lauren Olamina, an eighteen-year-old black woman with the hereditary trait of 'hyperempathy' - which causes her to feel others' pain as her own - sets off on foot along the dangerous coastal highways, moving north into the unknown.
Parable of the Talents by
Originally published in 1998, this shockingly prescient novel's timely message of hope and resistance in the face of fanaticism is more relevant than ever. In 2032, Lauren Olamina has survived the destruction of her home and family, and realized her vision of a peaceful community in northern California based on her newly founded faith, Earthseed. The fledgling community provides refuge for outcasts facing persecution after the election of an ultra-conservative president who vows to "make America great again." In an increasingly divided and dangerous nation, Lauren's subversive colony--a minority religious faction led by a young black woman--becomes a target for President Jarret's reign of terror and oppression. Years later, Asha Vere reads the journals of a mother she never knew, Lauren Olamina. As she searches for answers about her own past, she also struggles to reconcile with the legacy of a mother caught between her duty to her chosen family and her calling to lead humankind into a better future.
The Marrow Thieves by
Winner of 2017 Governor General's Literary Award (Young People's Literature - Text) Winner of 2017 Kirkus Prize Winner of the 2018 Sunburst Award Winner of the 2018 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award Winner of the 2018 Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Young Adult Literature Just when you think you have nothing left to lose, they come for your dreams. Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The Indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden - but what they don't know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.
The Ice at the End of the World by
A riveting, urgent account of the explorers and scientists racing to understand the rapidly melting ice sheet in Greenland, a dramatic harbinger of climate change "Jon Gertner takes readers to spots few journalists or even explorers have visited. The result is a gripping and important book."--Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post * The Christian Science Monitor * Library Journal Greenland: a remote, mysterious island five times the size of California but with a population of just 56,000. The ice sheet that covers it is 700 miles wide and 1,500 miles long, and is composed of nearly three quadrillion tons of ice. For the last 150 years, explorers and scientists have sought to understand Greenland--at first hoping that it would serve as a gateway to the North Pole, and later coming to realize that it contained essential information about our climate. Locked within this vast and frozen white desert are some of the most profound secrets about our planet and its future. Greenland's ice doesn't just tell us where we've been. More urgently, it tells us where we're headed. In The Ice at the End of the World, Jon Gertner explains how Greenland has evolved from one of earth's last frontiers to its largest scientific laboratory. The history of Greenland's ice begins with the explorers who arrived here at the turn of the twentieth century--first on foot, then on skis, then on crude, motorized sleds--and embarked on grueling expeditions that took as long as a year and often ended in frostbitten tragedy. Their original goal was simple: to conquer Greenland's seemingly infinite interior. Yet their efforts eventually gave way to scientists who built lonely encampments out on the ice and began drilling--one mile, two miles down. Their aim was to pull up ice cores that could reveal the deepest mysteries of earth's past, going back hundreds of thousands of years. Today, scientists from all over the world are deploying every technological tool available to uncover the secrets of this frozen island before it's too late. As Greenland's ice melts and runs off into the sea, it not only threatens to affect hundreds of millions of people who live in coastal areas. It will also have drastic effects on ocean currents, weather systems, economies, and migration patterns. Gertner chronicles the unfathomable hardships, amazing discoveries, and scientific achievements of the Arctic's explorers and researchers with a transporting, deeply intelligent style--and a keen sense of what this work means for the rest of us. The melting ice sheet in Greenland is, in a way, an analog for time. It contains the past. It reflects the present. It can also tell us how much time we might have left.
We Are the Weather by
In We Are the Weather, Jonathan Safran Foer explores the central global dilemma of our time in a surprising, deeply personal, and urgent new way. Some people reject the fact, overwhelmingly supported by scientists, that our planet is warming because of human activity. But do those of us who accept the reality of human-caused climate change truly believe it? If we did, surely we would be roused to act on what we know. Will future generations distinguish between those who didn't believe in the science of global warming and those who said they accepted the science but failed to change their lives in response? The task of saving the planet will involve a great reckoning with ourselves--with our all-too-human reluctance to sacrifice immediate comfort for the sake of the future. We have, he reveals, turned our planet into a farm for growing animal products, and the consequences are catastrophic. Only collective action will save our home and way of life. And it all starts with what we eat--and don't eat--for breakfast.
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical--and accessible--plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market, he describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete, practical plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions--suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers, and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but if we follow the plan he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.
The Sixth Extinction by
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE ONE OF THENEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR ANEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLER A NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST A major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. InThe Sixth Extinction, two-time winner of the National Magazine Award andNew Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert draws on the work of scores of researchers in half a dozen disciplines, accompanying many of them into the field: geologists who study deep ocean cores, botanists who follow the tree line as it climbs up the Andes, marine biologists who dive off the Great Barrier Reef. She introduces us to a dozen species, some already gone, others facing extinction, including the Panamian golden frog, staghorn coral, the great auk, and the Sumatran rhino. Through these stories, Kolbert provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in revolutionary Paris up through the present day. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy; as Kolbert observes, it compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.
The Story of More by
"Hope Jahren is the voice that science has been waiting for." --Nature "A superb account of the deadly struggle between humanity and what may prove the only life-bearing planet within ten light years, written in a brilliantly sardonic and conversational style." --E. O. Wilson "Hope Jahren asks the central question of our time: how can we learn to live on a finite planet? The Story of More is thoughtful, informative, and--above all--essential." --Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction Hope Jahren is an award-winning scientist, a brilliant writer, a passionate teacher, and one of the seven billion people with whom we share this earth. In The Story of More, she illuminates the link between human habits and our imperiled planet. In concise, highly readable chapters, she takes us through the science behind the key inventions--from electric power to large-scale farming to automobiles--that, even as they help us, release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere like never before. She explains the current and projected consequences of global warming--from superstorms to rising sea levels--and the actions that we all can take to fight back. At once an explainer on the mechanisms of global change and a lively, personal narrative given to us in Jahren's inimitable voice, The Story of More is the essential pocket primer on climate change that will leave an indelible impact on everyone who reads it.
Drawdown by
In Drawdown, renowned environmentalist Paul Hawken has assembled a team of over 200 scholars, scientists, policymakers, business leaders and activists to illustrate the hundred most substantive solutions to combat climate change that together will not only slow down the growth of carbon emissions, but reverse them altogether. Put into action together, these solutions will mobilise society into taking the climate change conversation from problem definition to problem solving, from fear and apathy to collaboration and regeneration.
American Earth: Environmental Writing since Thoreau (LOA #182) by
As America and the world grapple with the consequences of global environmental change, writer and activist Bill McKibben offers this unprecedented, provocative, and timely anthology, gathering the best and most significant American environmental writing from the last two centuries. Classics of the environmental imagination, the essays of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and John Burroughs; Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac; Rachel Carson's Silent Spring - are set against the inspiring story of an emerging activist movement, as revealed by newly uncovered reports of pioneering campaigns for conservation, passages from landmark legal opinions and legislation, and searing protest speeches. Here are some of America's greatest and most impassioned writers, taking a turn toward nature and recognizing the fragility of our situation on earth and the urgency of the search for a sustainable way of life. Thought-provoking essays on overpopulation, consumerism, energy policy, and the nature of nature, join ecologists - memoirs and intimate sketches of the habitats of endangered species. The anthology includes a detailed chronology of the environmental movement and American environmental history, as well as an 80-page color portfolio of illustrations.
Facing Climate Change by
Facing Climate Change explains why people refuse to accept evidence of a warming planet and shows how to move past partisanship to reach a consensus for action. A climate scientist and licensed Jungian analyst, Jeffrey T. Kiehl examines the psychological phenomena that twist our relationship to the natural world and their role in shaping the cultural beliefs that distance us further from nature. He also accounts for the emotions triggered by the lived experience of climate change and the feelings of fear and loss they inspire, which lead us to deny the reality of our warming planet. But it is not too late. By evaluating our way of being, Kiehl unleashes a potential human emotional understanding that can reform our behavior and help protect the Earth. Kiehl dives deep into the human brain's psychological structures and human spirituality's imaginative power, mining promising resources for creating a healthier connection to the environment?and one another. Facing Climate Change is as concerned with repairing our social and political fractures as it is with reestablishing our ties to the world, teaching us to push past partisanship and unite around the shared attributes that are key to our survival. Kiehl encourages policy makers and activists to appeal to our interdependence as a global society, extracting politics from the process and making decisions about our climate future that are substantial and sustaining.
Our Changing Planet by
This book offers a general discussion of global environmental change geared toward readers like you. It presents both Earth science and ecological concepts related to global change, as well as a discussion of the human dimensions of change. The text's unifying theme is consideration of aspects of both natural and human-induced global environmental change.
Countdown by
A powerful investigation into the chances for humanity's future from the author of the bestseller The World Without Us. In his bestselling book The World Without Us, Alan Weisman considered how the Earth could heal and even refill empty niches if relieved of humanity's constant pressures. Behind that groundbreaking thought experiment was his hope that we would be inspired to find a way to add humans back to this vision of a restored, healthy planet-only in harmony, not mortal combat, with the rest of nature. But with a million more of us every 4 1/2 days on a planet that's not getting any bigger, and with our exhaust overheating the atmosphere and altering the chemistry of the oceans, prospects for a sustainable human future seem ever more in doubt. For this long awaited follow-up book, Weisman traveled to more than 20 countries to ask what experts agreed were probably the most important questions on Earth -- and also the hardest: How many humans can the planet hold without capsizing? How robust must the Earth's ecosystem be to assure our continued existence? Can we know which other species are essential to our survival? And, how might we actually arrive at a stable, optimum population, and design an economy to allow genuine prosperity without endless growth? Weisman visits an extraordinary range of the world's cultures, religions, nationalities, tribes, and political systems to learn what in their beliefs, histories, liturgies, or current circumstances might suggest that sometimes it's in their own best interest to limit their growth. The result is a landmark work of reporting: devastating, urgent, and, ultimately, deeply hopeful. By vividly detailing the burgeoning effects of our cumulative presence, Countdown reveals what may be the fastest, most acceptable, practical, and affordable way of returning our planet and our presence on it to balance. Weisman again shows that he is one of the most provocative journalists at work today, with a book whose message is so compelling that it will change how we see our lives and our destiny.
Eaarth by
"Read it, please. Straight through to the end. Whatever else you were planning to do next, nothing could be more important." --Barbara Kingsolver Twenty years ago, with The End of Nature, Bill McKibben offered one of the earliest warnings about global warming. Those warnings went mostly unheeded; now, he insists, we need to acknowledge that we've waited too long, and that massive change is not only unavoidable but already under way. Our old familiar globe is suddenly melting, drying, acidifying, flooding, and burning in ways that no human has ever seen. We've created, in very short order, a new planet, still recognizable but fundamentally different. We may as well call it Eaarth. That new planet is filled with new binds and traps. A changing world costs large sums to defend--think of the money that went to repair New Orleans, or the trillions it will take to transform our energy systems. But the endless economic growth that could underwrite such largesse depends on the stable planet we've managed to damage and degrade. We can't rely on old habits any longer. Our hope depends, McKibben argues, on scaling back--on building the kind of societies and economies that can hunker down, concentrate on essentials, and create the type of community (in the neighborhood, but also on the Internet) that will allow us to weather trouble on an unprecedented scale. Change--fundamental change--is our best hope on a planet suddenly and violently out of balance.
The Uninhabitable Earth by
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "The Uninhabitable Earth hits you like a comet, with an overflow of insanely lyrical prose about our pending Armageddon."--Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon With a new afterword It is worse, much worse, than you think. If your anxiety about global warming is dominated by fears of sea-level rise, you are barely scratching the surface of what terrors are possible--food shortages, refugee emergencies, climate wars and economic devastation. An "epoch-defining book" (The Guardian) and "this generation's Silent Spring" (The Washington Post), The Uninhabitable Earth is both a travelogue of the near future and a meditation on how that future will look to those living through it--the ways that warming promises to transform global politics, the meaning of technology and nature in the modern world, the sustainability of capitalism and the trajectory of human progress. The Uninhabitable Earth is also an impassioned call to action. For just as the world was brought to the brink of catastrophe within the span of a lifetime, the responsibility to avoid it now belongs to a single generation--today's. Praise for The Uninhabitable Earth "The Uninhabitable Earth is the most terrifying book I have ever read. Its subject is climate change, and its method is scientific, but its mode is Old Testament. The book is a meticulously documented, white-knuckled tour through the cascading catastrophes that will soon engulf our warming planet."--Farhad Manjoo, The New York Times "Riveting. . . . Some readers will find Mr. Wallace-Wells's outline of possible futures alarmist. He is indeed alarmed. You should be, too."--The Economist "Potent and evocative. . . . Wallace-Wells has resolved to offer something other than the standard narrative of climate change. . . . He avoids the 'eerily banal language of climatology' in favor of lush, rolling prose."--Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times "The book has potential to be this generation's Silent Spring."--The Washington Post "The Uninhabitable Earth, which has become a best seller, taps into the underlying emotion of the day: fear. . . . I encourage people to read this book."--Alan Weisman, The New York Review of Books
When the Planet Rages by
In New England, 1816 was called the Year Without a Summer. Crops failed throughout America and, in Western Europe, it was even worse, with food riots and armed groups raiding bakeries and grain markets. All this turmoil followed a catastrophic volcanic eruption - a year earlier on the otherside of the world - the eruption of Tambora, a blast heard almost a thousand miles away.In When the Planet Rages, Charles Officer and Jake Page describe some of the great events of environmental history, from calamities such as the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 (the greatest in recorded history) and the ice ages, to recent man-made disasters such as Chernobyl, acid rain, and the depletionof the ozone layer. Officer and Page provide fascinating discussions of meteorites and comets; of the demise of mammoths, mastodons, and dinosaurs; and of great floods that have swept the earth. But they also show that human activity can make trouble for nature, discussing the depletion of naturalresources (we burn coal and oil at millions of times their natural rate of production), air pollution in Los Angeles and London (where the Killer Smog of 1952 caused the death of some four thousand people), and the pollution of major waterways, like the Chesapeake Bay and Lake Erie. For thepaperback edition, the authors have included a new preface, have added material on the recent Sichuan, China earthquake, the Indian Ocean Tsunami, and Hurricane Katrina, and discuss such topics as of the (un)predictability of symptoms of global warming.Ranging from the monumental eruption at Krakatoa to industrial disasters such as the mercury poisoning in Japan's Minamata Bay, When the Planet Rages will engage anyone concerned with the environment and the natural world.
The New Europe by
The New Europe is one of the most dynamic, complex and fascinating regions of the world. Eastern and Central Europe are striving to come to terms with the fall of communism and the dictates of the market, whilst Western Europe, suffering high unemployment and weakened economic impetus, has still to be reconciled to the consequences of restructuring and globalisation. The New Europe provides an unrivalled range of in-depth studies of issues central to the development of Eastern and Western Europe, to the major contrasts which still exist between them and to the problems facing the effective reintegration of this long-divided region. Highly accessible and uniquely authoritative, The New Europe is an indispensable text for students of contemporary Europe.
We're Doomed. Now What? by
The time we've been thrown into is one of alarming and bewildering change - the breakup of the post-1945 global order, a multispecies mass extinction, and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it. Not one of us is innocent, not one of us is safe. Now what? We're Doomed, Now What? addresses the crisis that is our time through a series of brilliant, moving, and original essays on climate change, war, literature, and loss, from one of the most provocative and iconoclastic minds of his generation.
Inconspicuous Consumption by
*First Place Winner of the Society of Environmental Journalists' Rachel Carson Environment Book Award* "If you're looking for something to cling to in what often feels like a hopeless conversation, Schlossberg's darkly humorous, knowledge-is-power, eyes-wide-open approach may be just the thing."--Vogue From a former New York Times science writer, this urgent call to action will empower you to stand up to climate change and environmental pollution by making simple but impactful everyday choices. With urgency and wit, Tatiana Schlossberg explains that far from being only a distant problem of the natural world created by the fossil fuel industry, climate change is all around us, all the time, lurking everywhere in our convenience-driven society, all without our realizing it. By examining the unseen and unconscious environmental impacts in four areas-the Internet and technology, food, fashion, and fuel - Schlossberg helps readers better understand why climate change is such a complicated issue, and how it connects all of us: How streaming a movie on Netflix in New York burns coal in Virginia; how eating a hamburger in California might contribute to pollution in the Gulf of Mexico; how buying an inexpensive cashmere sweater in Chicago expands the Mongolian desert; how destroying forests from North Carolina is necessary to generate electricity in England. Cataloging the complexities and frustrations of our carbon-intensive society with a dry sense of humor, Schlossberg makes the climate crisis and its solutions interesting and relevant to everyone who cares, even a little, about the planet. She empowers readers to think about their stuff and the environment in a new way, helping them make more informed choices when it comes to the future of our world. Most importantly, this is a book about the power we have as voters and consumers to make sure that the fight against climate change includes all of us and all of our stuff, not just industry groups and politicians. If we have any hope of solving the problem, we all have to do it together. "A compelling-and illuminating-look at how our daily habits impact the environment."--Vanity Fair "Shows how even the smallest decisions can have profound environmental consequences."--The New York Times
This Is the Way the World Ends by
Bustle's "17 Best Nonfiction Books Coming Out In September 2018" "WithThis is the Way the World Ends Jeff Nesbit has delivered an enlightening - and alarming - explanation of the climate challenge as it exists today. Climate change is no far-off threat. It's impacting communities all over the world at this very moment, and we ignore the scientific reality at our own peril. The good news? As Nesbit underscores, disaster is not preordained. The global community can meet this moment -- and we must."--Senator John Kerry A unique view of climate change glimpsed through the world's resources that are disappearing. The world itself won't end, of course. Only ours will: our livelihoods, our homes, our cultures. And we're squarely at the tipping point. Longer droughts in the Middle East. Growing desertification in China and Africa. The monsoon season shrinking in India. Amped-up heat waves in Australia. More intense hurricanes reaching America. Water wars in the Horn of Africa. Rebellions, refugees and starving children across the globe. These are not disconnected events. These are the pieces of a larger puzzle that environmental expert Jeff Nesbit puts together Unless we start addressing the causes of climate change and stop simply navigating its effects, we will be facing a series of unstoppable catastrophes by the time our preschoolers graduate from college. Our world is in trouble - right now.This Is the Way the World Endstells the real stories of the substantial impacts to Earth's systems unfolding across each continent. The bad news? Within two decades or so, our carbon budget will reach a point of no return. But there's good news. Like every significant challenge we've faced--from creating civilization in the shadow of the last ice age to the Industrial Revolution--wecan get out of this box canyon by understanding the realities and changing the worn-out climate conversation to one that's relevant to every person. Nesbit provides a clear blueprint for real-time, workable solutions we can tackle together.
The Human Age by
With her celebrated blend of scientific insight, clarity, and curiosity, Diane Ackerman explores our human capacity both for destruction and for invention as we shape the future of the planet Earth. Ackerman takes us to the mind-expanding frontiers of science, exploring the fact that the "natural" and the "human" now inescapably depend on one another, drawing from "fields as diverse as evolutionary robotics...nanotechnology, 3-D printing and biomimicry" (New York Times Book Review), with probing intelligence, a clear eye, and an ever-hopeful heart.
Extreme Conservation by
"Extraordinary. . . . Berger is a hero of biology who deserves the highest honors that science can bestow."--Tim Flannery, New York Review of Books On the Tibetan Plateau, there are wild yaks with blood cells thinner than those of horses' by half, enabling the endangered yaks to survive at 40 below zero and in the lowest oxygen levels of the mountaintops. But climate change is causing the snow patterns here to shift, and with the snows, the entire ecosystem. Food and water are vaporizing in this warming environment, and these beasts of ice and thin air are extraordinarily ill-equipped for the change. A journey into some of the most forbidding landscapes on earth, Joel Berger's Extreme Conservation is an eye-opening, steely look at what it takes for animals like these to live at the edges of existence. But more than this, it is a revealing exploration of how climate change and people are affecting even the most far-flung niches of our planet. Berger's quest to understand these creatures' struggles takes him to some of the most remote corners and peaks of the globe: across Arctic tundra and the frozen Chukchi Sea to study muskoxen, into the Bhutanese Himalayas to follow the rarely sighted takin, and through the Gobi Desert to track the proboscis-swinging saiga. Known as much for his rigorous, scientific methods of developing solutions to conservation challenges as for his penchant for donning moose and polar bear costumes to understand the mindsets of his subjects more closely, Berger is a guide par excellence. He is a scientist and storyteller who has made his life working with desert nomads, in zones that typically require Sherpas and oxygen canisters. Recounting animals as charismatic as their landscapes are extreme, Berger's unforgettable tale carries us with humor and expertise to the ends of the earth and back. But as his adventures show, the more adapted a species has become to its particular ecological niche, the more devastating climate change can be. Life at the extremes is more challenging than ever, and the need for action, for solutions, has never been greater.
This Changes Everything by
The most important book yet from the author of the international bestseller The Shock Doctrine, a brilliant explanation of why the climate crisis challenges us to abandon the core "free market" ideology of our time, restructure the global economy, and remake our political systems. In short, either we embrace radical change ourselves or radical changes will be visited upon our physical world. The status quo is no longer an option. In This Changes Everything Naomi Klein argues that climate change isn't just another issue to be neatly filed between taxes and health care. It's an alarm that calls us to fix an economic system that is already failing us in many ways. Klein meticulously builds the case for how massively reducing our greenhouse emissions is our best chance to simultaneously reduce gaping inequalities, re-imagine our broken democracies, and rebuild our gutted local economies. She exposes the ideological desperation of the climate-change deniers, the messianic delusions of the would-be geoengineers, and the tragic defeatism of too many mainstream green initiatives. And she demonstrates precisely why the market has not--and cannot--fix the climate crisis but will instead make things worse, with ever more extreme and ecologically damaging extraction methods, accompanied by rampant disaster capitalism. Klein argues that the changes to our relationship with nature and one another that are required to respond to the climate crisis humanely should not be viewed as grim penance, but rather as a kind of gift--a catalyst to transform broken economic and cultural priorities and to heal long-festering historical wounds. And she documents the inspiring movements that have already begun this process: communities that are not just refusing to be sites of further fossil fuel extraction but are building the next, regeneration-based economies right now. Can we pull off these changes in time? Nothing is certain. Nothing except that climate change changes everything. And for a very brief time, the nature of that change is still up to us.