Science Ecology

The climate in a region affects all aspects of life. This book looks at polar climates. It explores the characteristics of the land and weather in regions with polar climates, and how plants, animals, and people have adapted to life in polar regions. The effects of climate change and other developments are also covered.

The climate in a region affects all aspects of life. This book looks at tropical climates. It explores the characteristics of the land and weather in regions with tropical climates, and how plants, animals, and people have adapted to life in tropical regions. The effects of climate change and other developments are also covered.

The climate in a region affects all aspects of life. This book looks at desert climates. It explores the characteristics of the land and weather in regions with desert climates, and how plants, animals, and people have adapted to life in deserts. The effects of climate change and other developments are also covered.

A small reptile scurries across a rock under the hot sun. It's a lizard! Learn more about these desert animals.

Next to a continent or in the middle of the ocean, all islands are surrounded by water. These landforms can be rock, sand, or even coral. Listen to Islands to learn about life on these isolated places.

Camels are experts at surviving in harsh heat. Find out how camels live in the desert.

In Bite, zoologist Bill Schutt makes a surprising case: it is teeth that are responsible for the long-term success of vertebrates. The appearance of teeth, roughly half a billion years ago, was an adaptation that allowed animals with backbones, such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, dinosaurs and mammals—including us—to chow down in pretty much every conceivable environment.

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. The Sixth Extinction draws on the work of scores of researchers in half a dozen disciplines to provide a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept

Where does hunting fit in the modern world? To many, it can seem outdated or even cruel, but as On Hunting affirms, hunting is holistic, honest, and continually relevant. Authors Grossman, Miller, and Cunningham dive deep into the ancient past of hunting and examine its position today, demonstrating that we cannot understand humanity without first understanding hunting.

Insects might make us recoil in repugnance, but they also manufacture - or make possible in other ways - many of the things we take for granted in our daily lives. When we bite into a shiny apple, listen to the resonant notes of a violin, try on the latest fashions, receive a dental implant, or get a manicure, we are mingling with the by-products of their everyday lives.

The Great Lakes - Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior - hold 20 percent of the world's supply of surface fresh water and provide sustenance, work, and recreation for tens of millions of Americans. But they are under threat as never before, and their problems are spreading across the continent. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is prize-winning reporter Dan Egan's engaging portrait of an ecological catastrophe happening right before our eyes.

From the National Business Book Award winner and GG finalist, a very different book about facing the climate crisis, and what awaits us on the other side.

Oaks sustain a complex and fascinating web of wildlife. The Nature of Oaks reveals what is going on in oak trees month by month, highlighting the seasonal cycles of life, death, and renewal. From woodpeckers who collect and store hundreds of acorns for sustenance to the beauty of jewel caterpillars, Tallamy illuminates and celebrates the wonders that occur right in our own backyards. The Nature of Oaks will inspire you to treasure these trees and to act to nurture and protect them.

In this Very Short Introduction, Nick Jenkins explores our historic investment in the exploitation of fossil energy resources and their current importance, and discusses the implications of our increasing rate of energy use. He considers the widespread acceptance by scientists and policy makers that our energy systems must reduce emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, and looks forward to the radical changes in fuel technology that will be necessary to continue to provide energy supplies in a sustainable manner, and extend access across the developing world.

How does life work? How does nature produce the right numbers of zebras and lions on the African savanna, or fish in the ocean? How do our bodies produce the right numbers of cells in our organs and bloodstream? In The Serengeti Rules, award-winning biologist and author Sean B. Carroll tells the stories of the pioneering scientists who sought the answers to such simple yet profoundly important questions.

Among the more than 34,000 species of fish, few have the walleye's following—among anglers and diners, states conferring official status on the fish, and towns battling for recognition as the Walleye Capital of the World. And among those passionate fans, few know the walleye as well as Paul J. Radomski does—a fisheries biologist, lake ecology scientist, and old fisherman. In Walleye: A Beautiful Fish of the Dark he unspools the mysteries of this fascinating fish.

Al Gore has been advocating on Earth's behalf for 25 years. In An Inconvenient Sequel, he recounts and contextualizes the critical issues and moments in the climate change movement since the release of An Inconvenient Truth more than 10 years ago and highlights the real solutions we have at hand to change the planet for the better.

A valuable discovery under the world's second-largest temperate wetland and in the traditional lands of the Cree and Ojibway casts light on the growing conflict among resource development, environmental stewardship, and Indigenous rights. In this colorful tale, Virginia Heffernan draws on her bush and newsroom experiences to illustrate the complexities of resource development at a time when Indigenous rights are becoming enshrined globally.

Interest in psychedelic mushrooms has never been greater–or the science less definitive. Popular science writer and amateur mycologist Eugenia Bone reports on the state of psychedelics today, from microdosing to heroic trips, illustrating how “citizen science” and anecdotal accounts of the mushrooms’ benefits are leading the new wave of scientific inquiry into psilocybin. With her signature blend of first-person narrative and scientific rigor, Bone breaks down just how the complicated cocktail of psychoactive compounds is thought to interact with our brain chemistry.

Caradonna's unique and concise history broadens our understanding of what "sustainability" means, revealing how it progressed from a relatively marginal concept to an ideal that shapes everything from individual lifestyles, government and corporate strategies, and even national and international policy. For anyone seeking understand the history of those striving to make the world a better place to live, here's a place to start.