Earth Environment

Having spent over a decade on the frontlines of climate activism - organising, campaigning, and holding the powerful to account - Tamsin Omond discovered first-hand that this crisis is too big for one group of activists to solve. It needs everyone. Do Earth is about collective action and community engagement. It's about healing our relationships with nature, each other and ourselves, and feeling inspired about what the next phase of human evolution might be.

This Is Planet Earth is dedicated to the wonders of planet Earth, the most amazing place in the known universe. The ancient Greeks called it Gaia, the Romans Terra. We know it simply as Earth, the planet we call home. And what a planet it is. Formed around 4.6 billion years ago from the debris of the big bang and long-dead stars, at first it was nothing special, but somehow it evolved to become the most amazing place in the known universe.

A passionate student of Japanese poetry, theater, and art for much of her life, Gretel Ehrlich felt compelled to return to the earthquake-and-tsunami-devastated Tohoku coast to bear witness, listen to survivors, and experience their terror and exhilaration in villages and towns where all shelter and hope seemed lost.

Everything about our lives connects us with creation: our food and clothing, our transportation and recreation, the energy sources we use, and the waste we produce. We are connected to this world—and therefore to each other—through our homes, our workplaces, and even through the grounds of our churches. In Under the Francis Tree, the spirituality inspired by the “patron saint of ecology” St. Francis of Assisi meets modern church congregational life. In an age of ecological crisis, an ancient contemplative path helps us discover geographies of hope in the places we live and love ...

In 1980, the iconoclastic economist Julian Simon challenged celebrity biologist Paul Ehrlich to a bet. Their wager on the future prices of five metals captured the public’s imagination as a test of coming prosperity or doom. Ehrlich, author of the landmark book The Population Bomb, predicted that rising populations would cause overconsumption, resource scarcity, and famine—with apocalyptic consequences for humanity.

Thoughtful observers agree that the planetary crisis we now face - climate change; species extinction; the destruction of entire ecosystems; the urgent need for a more just economic-political order - is pushing human civilization to a radical turning point: change or perish. But precisely how to change remains an open question.

Natural disasters bedevil our planet, and each appears to be a unique event. Leading geologist Susan W. Kieffer shows how all disasters are connected. In 2011 there were fourteen natural calamities that each destroyed over a billion dollars' worth of property in the United States alone. In 2012 Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast and major earthquakes struck in Italy, the Philippines, Iran, and Afghanistan.

A highly entertaining and accessible introduction to our planet from the best-selling author of Schrödinger's Cat, The Scientists, and In Search of the Multiverse. In this incredible expedition into the origins, workings, and evolution of our home planet, John Gribbin does what he does best: takes four and a half billion years of mind-boggling science and digs out the best bits. From the physics of Newton and the geology of Wegener, to the environmentalism of Lovelock, this is a must-listen for Earth's scientists and residents alike.

Greta Thunberg, author of No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference, has directed the attention of adults and her peers alike to issues crucial to the future of the planet, and the heads of even the youngest children have been filled with questions. Global warming, the greenhouse effect, fossil fuels - what do they all mean? What are biodiversity and sustainable development? Who is studying the changes that are taking place here on Earth? Which sources are reliable? What action can I take?

Long dismissed as a relic of a bygone era, coal is back -- with a vengence. Coal is one of the nation's biggest and most influential industries -- Big Coal provides more than half the electricity consumed by Americans today -- and its dominance is growing, driven by rising oil prices and calls for energy independence. Is coal the solution to America's energy problems?

In A Guide to the Climate Apocalypse, Vítězslav Kremlík delivers a refreshing and objective analysis of the history and science behind climate change. Books about climate change frequently endorse a narrow, often malicious angle of total indoctrination or abject denial of the official story. Kremlík employs a direct and detailed critique of not only the studies that have led to our current understanding of large-scale changes in the weather, but also the political biases and motives behind global action taken in response to it.

In its 2001 report on global climate, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations prominently featured the "Hockey Stick", a chart showing global temperature data over the past 1,000 years. The Hockey Stick demonstrated that temperature had risen with the increase in industrialization and use of fossil fuels. The inescapable conclusion was that worldwide human activity since the industrial age had raised CO2 levels, trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and warming the planet.

The Brilliant Abyss tells the story of our relationship with the deep sea – how we imagine, explore and exploit it. It captures the golden age of discovery we are currently in and looks back at the history of how we got here, while also looking forward to the unfolding new environmental disasters that are taking place miles beneath the waves, far beyond the public gaze.

If you feel like climate change and the state of our planet just keeps getting worse and there’s nothing we can do to stop it then you’ve picked up the right book–because tons of efforts are already underway to save our planet, and we’d love for you to join the fight. Good News, Planet Earth is your go-to guide to learn about all the amazing sustainable developments that are being put in place worldwide to combat warming temperatures, pollution, deforestation, the use of wasteful products, and threats to our diverse wildlife.

Every year, droughts, floods, and fires impact hundreds of millions of people and cause massive economic losses. Climate change is making these catastrophes more dangerous. Now. Not in the future: now. This book describes how and why climate change is already fomenting dire consequences and will certainly make climate disasters worse in the near future.

Balancing a broad array of archaeological, botanical, and historical evidence, Fruit from the Sands presents the fascinating story of the origins and spread of agriculture across Inner Asia and into Europe and East Asia. Through the preserved remains of plants in archaeological sites, Robert N. Spengler III identifies the regions where our most familiar crops were domesticated and follows their routes as people carried them around the world. Vividly narrated, Fruit from the Sands explores how the foods we eat have shaped the course of human history.

This original audiobook considers one of the most extraordinary scientific and political stories of our time: how in the 1980s a handful of scientists came to believe that mankind faced catastrophe from runaway global warming, and how today this has persuaded politicians to land us with what promises to be the biggest bill in history. Christopher Booker interweaves the science of global warming with that of its growing political consequences, showing how just when the politicians are threatening to change our Western way of life beyond recognition, the scientific evidence behind the global warming theory is being challenged like never before.

"Our Choice gathers in one place all of the most effective solutions that are available now and that, together, will solve this crisis. It is meant to depoliticize the issue as much as possible and inspire readers to take action - not only on an individual basis but as participants in the political processes by which every country, and the world as a whole, makes the choice that now confronts us." (Al Gore, from the Introduction)

Insects are essential for life as we know it. As they become more scarce, our world will slowly grind to a halt; we simply cannot function without them. Drawing on the latest groundbreaking research and a lifetime's study, Dave Goulson reveals the shocking decline of insect populations that has taken place in recent decades, with potentially catastrophic consequences. He passionately argues that we must all learn to love, respect and care for our six-legged friends.

Every inch of the United States is in a river’s watershed. But in 1966, one of our most important watersheds was dying. Dead fish washed up on the Hudson River’s shores, and the once-clear water reeked of oil. With too much pollution to support human or animal life, America’s “First River” was in too deep—until a Riverkeeper, a pioneering group of environmental activists, fought to get rivers around the globe out of troubled waters. Nonfiction pro Nancy Castaldo showcases Riverkeeper’s achievements and the intersection of science and activism.