Environmental Engineering

Earth Prose combines two environment-related pieces of writing. "Return to Clinch River" mixes the tale of a canoe trip down a biodiverse river with subtle undertones of concern for protecting the natural world. The "Five Stages of Climate Grief" layers five poems with narrative around the 2012 hurricance, Hurricane Sandy.

Deforestation. Desertification. Species extinction. Global warming. Growing threats to food and water. The driving issues of our times are the result of one huge problem: Us. As the population continues to grow, our problems will increase. And this means that every way we look at it, a planet of 10 billion people is likely to be a nightmare. Stephen Emmott, a scientist whose lab is at the forefront of research into complex natural systems, sounds the alarm. This is a snapshot of our planet, and our species, approaching a crisis, and a stark analysis of where this leaves us.