Climate Science

Glaciers figure prominently in both ancient and contemporary narratives around the world. They inspire art and literature. They spark both fear and awe. And they give and take life. In The Age of Melt, environmental journalist Lisa Baril explores the deep-rooted cultural connection between humans and ice through time.

Like many of us, Lisa Wells has spent years overwhelmed by news of apocalyptic-scale climate change and a coming sixth extinction. She did not need to be convinced of the stakes. But what can be done? Wells embarked on a pilgrimage, seeking answers in dedicated communities - outcasts and visionaries - on the margins of society.

Il comportamento dissennato degli umani ha portato alla loro autodistruzione. Ma il pianeta e le altre creature viventi sembrano vivere un periodo rigoglioso. L’estinzione riguarda quindi solo gli uomini che non si riproducono più. Può esserci ancora una speranza di rinascita? E, soprattutto, chi sopravvive capirà e saprà cambiare? Questo racconto ci conduce in un percorso che apre quegli orizzonti e quelle sensibilità che solo se si praticheranno potranno condurci a ripensare ai nostri egoistici stili di vita. Pena la nostra stessa fine.

Science Be Dammed is an alarming reminder of the high stakes in the management - and perils in the mismanagement - of water in the Western United States. It seems deceptively simple: Even when clear evidence was available that the Colorado River could not sustain ambitious dreaming and planning by decision-makers throughout the 20th century, river planners and political operatives irresponsibly made the least sustainable and most dangerous long-term decisions.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus arrived on the Caribbean Island of Guanahaní to find an Edenic scene that was soon mythologized. But behind the myth of paradise, the Caribbean and its people would come to pay the price of relentless Western exploitation and abuse. In this book, Dr. Tao Leigh Goffe embarks on a historical journey to chart the forces that have shaped these islands: the legacy of slavery, indentured labor, and the forced toil of Chinese and enslaved Black people who mined the islands’ bounty for the benefit of European powers and at the expense of the islands’ sacred ecologies.

Only a few nuclear weapons fell. But in the chaos of famine and plague, there existed a few pockets of order. The strongest of them was the state of Deseret. The climate has changed, and the lake has filled up. There, on the fringes, brave, hardworking pioneers are making the desert bloom again.

While scientists double down on the shocking figures, we still find ourselves unable to discuss climate change meaningfully among friends and neighbours - or even to grapple with it ourselves. The key to progress on climate change is in the psychology of human attitudes and our ability to change. Whether you're already alarmed and engaged with the issue, concerned but disengaged, a passive sceptic or an active denier, understanding our emotional reactions to climate change, is critical to coping on an individual level and convincing each other to act.

Those who want to avoid simplistic partisan rhetoric and use words in a challenging, spirited way need practical strategies. This audiobook offers a range of them. Drawing upon the work of exemplary contemporary writers, Speaking Peace in a Climate of Conflict shows how to speak and write clearly and generously.

"J'ai vécu la lecture d'Insoutenable Paradis comme un état des lieux à visage humain des attitudes paradoxales dans lesquelles nous plonge le monde actuel. Ce petit livre humble et solaire nous fait prendre conscience que le véritable remède ne peut venir que de chacun et chacune de nous. C'est bien l'écologie de l'âme qui sauvera notre humanité et, peut-être aussi, notre environnement." Abd Al Malik, artiste.

Find out where our world is headed with this dazzling firsthand account of inventing the future from the number one New York Times best-selling author of What Should I Do with My Life? and the founder of science accelerator IndieBio.

Dans cet essai, le sociologue et philosophe américain George Marshall propose une nouvelle approche à l'une des plus épineuses questions de notre temps : alors que le réchauffement climatique se manifeste par un nombre croissant de signaux, comment se fait-il que nous puissions encore ignorer son impact sur notre planète ? Il a découvert que nos valeurs, nos opinions, nos préjugés ont leur vie propre.

Finally! A book about saving our planet that is fast, funny, and inspiring, too. Written in short chapters for busy people, Isabel doesn't bother with an examination of the problem but gets right on with the solutions. Her aim: to look for every single way we can take care of the planet; how we live and work, travel, shop, eat, drink, dress, vote, play, volunteer, bank, everything. And to do this wholeheartedly, energetically, and joyfully.

The present trajectory of life on this planet is unsustainable, and the underlying causes of our environmental crisis are inseparable from our social and economic systems. As climate predictions continue to exceed projections, it is clear that hopelessness is rapidly becoming our worst enemy. What is needed - urgently - is a new vision for the flourishing of life on this planet, a vision the authors are calling an ecological civilization.

The weather is the foundation of our daily lives. It’s a staple of small talk, the app on our smartphones, and often the first thing we check each morning. Yet behind all these humble interactions is the largest and most elaborate piece of infrastructure human beings have ever constructed - a triumph of both science and global cooperation. But what is the weather machine, and who created it?

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 Ends tells the real stories of the substantial impacts to Earth’s systems unfolding across each continent.

In the spirit of the diaries of Antarctic explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton, McNeil mixes travelogue, popular science, and memoir to examine the history of our fascination with ice. In entering this world, McNeil unexpectedly finds herself confronting her own upbringing in the Maritimes, the lifelong effects of growing up in a cold place, and how the climates of childhood frame our emotional thermodynamics for life.

An earthquake shatters Haiti and a hurricane slices through Texas. We hear that nature runs rampant, seeking to destroy us through these 'natural disasters'. Science recounts a different story, however: disasters are not the consequence of natural causes; they are the consequence of human choices and decisions. we put ourselves in harm's way; we fail to take measures which we know would prevent disasters, no matter what the environment does.

Professor of environmental engineering Daniel Cohan argues that escaping the gravest perils of climate change will first require American diplomacy, technological innovation, and policy to catalyze decarbonization globally. Combining his own expertise along with insights from more than a hundred interviews with diplomats, scholars, and clean-technology pioneers, Cohan identifies flaws in previous efforts to combat climate change.

Germany should have been a global leader in combating climate change—its voters consider it a major issue and back the world’s most powerful Green Party. Yet, Germany’s climate policies have been disappointing. What happened?

Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanoes - they stem from the same forces that give our planet life. Earthquakes give us natural springs; volcanoes produce fertile soil. It is only when these forces exceed our ability to withstand them that they become disasters. Together they have shaped our cities and their architecture; elevated leaders and toppled governments; influenced the way we think, feel, fight, unite, and pray. The history of natural disasters is a history of ourselves.