Stremer, Jessica. Fire Escape: How Animals and Plants Survive Wildfires. 2024. 128p. ISBN 9780823454426.
In a surprising look at an escalating global problem, Fire Escape explores how a variety of seemingly unconnected elements are crucial tools in the fight against wildfires. From using goats and beavers for prevention to deploying drones and parachutes for fighting fires, and even understanding the role of pinecones and beetles in adaptation, humans have come up with innovative and often unexpected ways to tackle this growing threat. The traditional wildfire season has been extended due to factors like droughts and warming weather, making this an urgent matter of life and death for global wildlife.
Fire Escape takes a unique approach to this "hot topic" by focusing on compelling and lesser-known angles. It explores injury rehabilitation efforts for animals caught in fires and examines species that have evolved to use wildfires to their advantage. Furthermore, it highlights practical ways to aid area repopulation after a fire and details the specific animals that actively help to prevent and fight wildfires, offering a fresh perspective on a critical environmental issue.
Twilley, Nicola. Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves. 2024. 400p. ISBN 9780735223288.
Refrigeration is considered by many to be one of the most important modern inventions. Refrigeration allowed us to slow down the decay of food, and greatly reduced food-borne illnesses. However, refrigeration also standardized the foods we eat, reduced biodiversity, and transformed our concept of fresh food. Frosbite explores the profound and often overlooked impact of artificial refrigeration on our food systems, tracing its evolution from a source of novelty and fear to an indispensable element of modern life.
Just a century ago, refrigerated food was a luxury, but today, it underpins the vast majority of what we eat, enabling the global availability of previously seasonal and geographically limited foods. The book highlights how this technology has fundamentally reshaped human nutrition, overcoming spoilage and revolutionizing our diets.
However, Frostbite also delves into the hidden costs of our reliance on refrigeration, revealing its significant contribution to climate change and its role in distancing consumers from the origins of their food. Through a journey across various sites within the cold chain, the reader examines the environmental and economic implications of this pervasive technology. Ultimately, it poses critical questions about our dependence on refrigeration and suggests a need to re-evaluate our relationship with the fridge for a more sustainable future.
Franklin-Wallis, Oliver. Wasteland: The Dirty Truth About What We Throw Away, Where It Goes, and Why It Matters. 2023. 392p. ISBN 9781398505452.
What happens when we discard our belongings? Where does all of the waste go? Wasteland delves into the often-unseen reality of our disposal of all of the waste we produce. The reader is taken to the frontlines of the waste industry, from overflowing landfills in New Delhi and sewers in Britain to the environmental devastation of mining towns in the USA and the chaotic second-hand markets of Ghana. Through these vivid locales and encounter the individuals most affected by our consumption habits, the reader encounters both those exploited by the waste system and those striving for change.
Wasteland uncovers the surprising origins of the recycling movement, revealing instances of corporate greenwashing, and exposes the darker side of our charitable donations of used goods. It also confronts the long-term implications of our waste, including the staggering 100,000-year legacy of nuclear byproducts. Ultimately,, this book serves as an eye-opening exploration of the environmental and human costs associated with our throwaway culture, urging readers to reconsider the true meaning of "away."
Bierman, Paul. When the Ice Is Gone: What a Greenland Ice Core Reveals About Earth's Tumultuous History and Perilous Future. 2024. 304p. ISBN 9781324020677.
When the Ice Is Gone recounts author Paul Bierman's groundbreaking discovery that Greenland's massive ice sheet melted naturally 400,000 years ago, a time when Earth's temperature was comparable to present-day levels. This revelation came from analyzing long-lost frozen soil samples retrieved from the world's first deep ice core, drilled decades ago at Camp Century, a Cold War military base buried within the Greenland ice sheet. Bierman's findings challenge previous assumptions about ice sheet stability and suggest that the ice is inherently vulnerable, even without the influence of human-caused climate change.
When the Ice Is Gone explores the scientific journey behind this pivotal discovery, tracing the history of polar science and how researchers learned to interpret the information contained within ice and snow. Bierman delves into the technical aspects of the Camp Century ice core project and explains the significance of his team's analysis. He also emphasizes the alarming implications of his findings for the future, warning of potentially catastrophic consequences if climate change continues unabated. When the Ice Is Gone serves as a call to action, urging readers to recognize Greenland's crucial role in global climate and to heed the warning signs from the melting ice.
Wall Kimmerer, Robin. Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. 2013. 341p. ISBN 9781571313355.
Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults bridges the gap between scientific inquiry and Indigenous wisdom. Drawing upon her dual perspectives as both a scientist and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Kimmerer explores the interconnectedness of all living beings. She argues that a deeper understanding of the natural world necessitates a respectful and reciprocal relationship with plants and animals, recognizing them as our teachers and acknowledging the profound gifts they offer.
Kimmerer emphasizes the importance of listening to the languages of other beings, whether through scientific observation or through the traditional knowledge passed down through generations. By cultivating a reciprocal relationship with the earth, she argues, we can move beyond a purely utilitarian view of nature and embrace a more sustainable and harmonious coexistence with the natural world. Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults is a powerful and insightful exploration of ecological awareness, offering a profound and inspiring vision for a more just and sustainable future.
Jacobsen, Annie. Nuclear War: A Scenario. 2024. 400p. ISBN 9780593476093.
The dropping of atomic bombs on Japan to end the Second World War in 1945 ushered in the threat of nuclear war and the destruction of the human race as we know it. Nuclear War: A Scenario makes it perfectly clear that the U.S. policies of nuclear deterrence, escalating deployment of nuclear weapons, and mutually assured destructions are nothing but wishful thinking. In this scenario, on a a beautiful spring afternoon, North Korea launches a ballistic nuclear missile at Washington D.C. Following protocol, the president is evacuated, and the entire military apparatus of the United States engages in its highest response level. Interceptors are launched, but they fail, and the missile continues on its trajectory.
With less than 30 minutes from launch to detonation, U.S. authorities go through pre-planned hoops, and over a dozen missiles are launched back at North Korea. Russian satellites notice the launch. With these missiles flying towards Russia, it is impossible for the Russians to determine if they will go over or land on their territory. The Russians thus respond with a massive barrage of missiles heading for Europe and the United States. Even if the Russians chose to ignore the threat, the missiles heading to North Korea would land near China and kill millions of Chinese citizens, forcing the Chinese to respond and launch their own missiles. When U.S. satellites see the Russian launch, Strategic Command launches all remaining American nuclear missiles. Thus, within the span of two hours, over 2,000 nuclear bombs explode across the globe.
Folks who were not instantly vaporized by the fireballs in the millions of degrees are killed by the blast, or quickly die of burns, or, more slowly, of radiation poisoning. With so many toxic particles in the skies, the temperature drops by more than 20 degrees, and agriculture is no longer possible due to contaminated water. Mammals and fish quickly die out, followed by amphibians and reptiles. Only insects, with a higher tolerance to radiation, survive. Even if you somehow avoided being killed in a nuclear exchange, the lack of everything following destruction on such a massive scale would inevitably lead to death in the short or medium term. Pockets of humanity may survive, but the world as we know it would essentially stop to exist.
In a horrifyingly and accurately portrayed fashion, Nuclear War describes how the firing of even one nuclear weapon will trigger a rapid and massive response that will inevitably be misinterpreted by another one of the nuclear powers as an attack on themselves, and in the mind frame of use them or lose them, all nuclear missiles end up deployed within two hours of the first launch. Interviews with experts in the field, politicians and generals who have served in these roles, and through reviews of publicly available documents detail with precision what would happen, and why we must do everything we can to avoid nuclear war.
Penner, Lyndon. The Way of the Gardener: Lost in the Weeds Along the Camino de Santiago. 2021. 224p. ISBN 9780889777835.
One of the most famous walking trek in the world is the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James. Though made up of many different roads that all lead to the Cathedral of Santiago, the most famous path is the French Way, which starts in St. Jean, on the French side of the Pyrennes, and then cross into Spain on a 800 kilometer walk. Pilgrims from all over the world accomplish this walk for various reasons: as a test of faith, as a spiritual journey, or as a feat of endurance and strength.
Penner, who is well known for his gardening chronicles on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, walked the entire length of the Camino with a friend, observing people and nature along the way. Focused on the plants he encountered, Penner describes the northern part of Spain in term of its ecology and the impact human activity had on plants such as olive groves and chestnut trees. Along the way, Penner encounters difficulties but meets wonderful people, eats good food, and enjoys nature.
Those looking for a challenge or those who enjoy hiking will appreciate this of the beaten path memoir and will long to follow in Penner's footsteps and discover for themselves this amazing path.
Mosby, Ian, Sarah Rotz, and Evan Fraser. Uncertain Harvest: The Future of Food on a Warming Planet. 2020. 280p. ISBN 9780889777200.
What impact will climate change have on our agriculture? Everyday, the world needs to produce enough food to feed billions of people, and as the global population continues to grow, more food needs to be grown. Changes in temperature and precipitations are affecting the quality and the quantity of food being produced. The depletion of soils has to be counteracted with fertilizers, which requires fossil fuels to make. This fertilizer in turn polluted waterways and contributes to climate change. We already exploit too many animals for their meat consumption, and a sustainable world would require drastically altering the diet of the average American.
Eight foods that play a significant role in the world's diet are examined, and the impact of climate changes on these are explored. From rice to crickets, these food staples can provide enough caloric input, but will require a change in the mentality and the perception of what is food. Politicians, scientists, and chefs will all be confronted with this dilemma. How do you grow more food while reducing the impact on our planet? nothing short of a global discussion and international measures will help prepare for the future.
Frank, Steen B. Global Warning. 2023. 272p. ISBN 9780358566175.
Young people are generally optimistic, but as the climate changes, they are the ones who will suffer the most from the planet warming. And unfortunately for them, they cannot vote and influence the policy of their countries. But what if they could make meaningful changes to improve the climate? Sam Warren is a special 6th grader. His friends and him were previously involved in a law case on homework that made it all the way to the Supreme Court. This time, they decide to tackle climate change. Their strategy is simple, yet extremely difficult: They will seek an amendment to the United States's Constitution that will save the planet from pollution.
The students set out on the trip of a lifetime across the United States and the world, bringing attention to their demands and raising awareness of their proposed constitutional amendment. Working with the children of government officials, with lawyers, with environmental activists, and with other children in the United States and beyond, they set out to change the world for the better.
A fast-paced fun story about what could be if children could organize, Global Warning offers a simplistic solution to a convoluted problem, but nevertheless illustrates a path that could be taken if only there was the political will.
Mann, Charles C. 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created. 2011. 557p. ISBN 9780307265722.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus reached the Americas. Up to then, contact between the landmasses of Europe, Africa and Asia on the one side and the Americas on the other had been sporadic and intermittent, with potential Phoenician visits in antiquity and a short Viking stay in the 1000s. But the colonial system Columbus brought with him not only radically changed the face of these newly discovered continents, but altered the rest of the world as well.
What became known as the Columbian exchange saw the large scale transportation of plants and animals from one side of the globe to the other, changing landscapes and forever altering diets and human history. Economic exchanges became truly global, and plants from one continent soon became staple foods elsewhere, fostering explosions in human populations but also creating tragedy when diseases and infections affected crops that had no defenses.
Other tragedies like slavery and civil wars followed first contact, as the wealth of a continent became drained for the profits of a few. 1493 describes the impact that Columbus' so-called discovery had on the world and why we still suffer through the consequences more than 500 years later. Fans of history will appreciate the grand scope of events that led to Columbus, and, more importantly, those that then shaped the world we now life in.
Stefanow, Jennifer. Polluted Waters. Part of the Green Alert! series. 2004. 48p. ISBN 978-0-7398-7016-5. Available at 363.739 STE on the library shelves.
Water is essential for life, yet in many parts of the world there isn't enough clean water available. Only 3% of the water on the planet is fresh water, and most of this is locked up in thick sheets of ice at both poles. Of the water that's left, humans have successfully managed to pollute most of it through agricultural and industrial activities. Water pollution takes several forms, from chemical pollutants like oil spills and agricultural run-offs to biological pollutants like invasive species. Some of these naturally occur, but most of them are due to human activities. Dead water zones where nothing can live have appears at the mouth of major rivers, and many lakes have been affected by acid rains, causing the plants and animals that live there to die off. As citizens of the world, it is our responsibility to ensure that our water is clean and to preserve our waterways for future generations.
Puay, Lim Cheng. Our Warming Planet. Part of the Green Alert! series. 2004. 48p. ISBN 978-0-7398-7014-9. Available at 363.738 LIM on the library shelves.
Climate change has increased the average temperature around the world by more than 1º Celsius, and the raise continues unabated. Though meetings and world summits have taken place, the target of limiting the rise of global warming to 1.5º or less by 2050 appears doomed to fail. This short book explores the causes of global warming, and discusses how global temperatures are measured around the world. The carbon cycle contributes to the release of greenhouse gasses, with natural sources and human-made pollution combining to increasing the amount of carbon dioxide, methane, and ozone in the atmosphere, leading to more heat being retained. The effects of global warming on plants, animals, and the environment are explored, along with how they are affecting humans. Finally, steps that we can all take to help are presented.
Firestone, Mary. Top 50 Reasons to Care About Giant Pandas. Part of the Animals in Peril series. 2010. 104p. ISBN 9780766034518. Available at 599.789 FIR on the library shelves.
Pandas are some of the cutest animals out there, but they are endangered. Their wild habitat has been steadily shrinking, and a combination of environmental factors and encroaching human activities threaten their survival. This book presents 50 different information about pandas, including their biology and their behavior, their habitat, the threats that they face, conservation efforts to save them, and the role that pandas play in Chinese culture and beyond.
Stewart, Melissa. A Place for Birds. 2009. 30p. ISBN 9781561454747. Available at 598 STE on the library bookshelves.
Birds play an important role in our ecology and in our environment. They eat insects. They propagate seeds. They are themselves a source of food for other animals. In this brief but gorgeously illustrated book, the author presents information about bird and what humans can do to ensure that they can continue to not only survive but thrive on our planet.
Mann, Charles C. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. 2005. 563p. ISBN 9781400032051.
History books have taught us that when the first Europeans arrived in the New World in 1492, the land was lush, the game plenty, the living easy, and the inhabitants few and far between. New England colonists found several abandoned settlements where they could readily farm the land. In Central America, consquitadors found powerful kingdoms but were able to bring them down quickly with guns, steel, and horses, a story that repeated itself in South America.
But what did the Americas look like in 1491, before Columbus crossed the Atlantic? In this book, Mann draws on archeological evidence, oral histories, and written reports sent by the first Europeans to build a better picture of the lives of Americans prior to colonization. Previous theories of the crossing of the Bering sea all at once have been debunked, with archeological evidence indicating that people lived in South America more than 16,000 years ago. The idea that the first residents were living in harmony with their environment is at best a simplification, as all humans shaped their environment to fit the way they lived. The Amazonian jungle, for example, is not a place where plants grew randomly, but was rather developed and harvested by its residents for thousands of year, spreading fruits and building groves, mounds, and fish traps that would provide food year-round.
Fabled cities such as Tenochtitlan featured running water, something European cities no longer had. Cities were an order of magnitude order larger than their European counterpart. Rich artwork and massive stone structures still dot the landscape in Mexico, hinting at wealthy and culturally advanced societies. And in North America, the Iroquois confederacy developed the first truly democratic form of government, with women in charge of naming clan leaders and holding title to property. Men could wage war, but only after a council had unanimously declared it so, and women possessed veto power. Susan Anthony and Alice Paul were inspired from their constitution to demand the vote for women.
The world we have been taught existed when Columbus arrived is thus filled with errors, hearsay, and a European perspective that underplayed the role that the first Americans played in shaping the Americas and its history.
Greci, Paul. The Wild Lands. 2019. 384p. 603 mins. ISBN 978-1-25018358-3.Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.
Alaska in the 2100s has been scorched by climate change. The land got warmer, and it grew increasingly difficult and expensive to transport food and goods to provide for its residents. As a result, the United States government announced it would abandon the state. Most of the population joined convoys heading south to the mainland or north to the Arctic, where they could be picked up by ships. Some, however, chose to stay behind and survive off the meager resourced the land provided.
Travis' family is one of those who stayed. At first there were still wild salmon and game, but two large wildfires in a row killed off most of the land and its animals. Fairbanks, where they were living, was ravaged, leaving behind only a layer of ash inches deep. As the situation grew dire, people stop helping each other and began looking only for their survival. When the salmon didn't return, and with winter coming soon, it was time to leave. Travis, his younger sister Jessica, and their parents, packed most of the food they had, and they began walking north, following the mass exodus that had happened a few years earlier.
Dangers lurk everywhere, however. From armed men looking to seize food and rape women, to a land plagued with earthquakes, raging rivers, and impassable terrain, the family must struggle through it all. But when Travis' father is shot and his mother presumed dead, Jessica is all that he has left. Changing plans following his mother's recommendation, Travis and Jessica return to their ruined home in Fairbanks to gather more supplies and head south instead. There, they discover that four young armed girls have found their buried food, and they're in no mood to share. Travis manages to convince them he means no harm, just in time to confront a group of men who kill two of the girls.
Faced to flee, Travis, Jessica, Max and Tam head south, towards Anchorage and what, they hope, will be a return to civilization. But challenges remain as they trek through hundred of miles of ruined Alaska wilderness.
Fans of survival stories will appreciate this fast-paced story, even if it sometimes veer into the melodramatic. Those who have read Hatchet will enjoy Travis' survival instincts and the extent to which he goes to protect his sister. Other books to pick up on this theme include The Perfect Storm,Into the Wild, and Lost in the Pacific, 1942. All are incredibly true stories of survival. For more survival fiction, take a look atIce Dogs.
Burns, Cherie. The Great Hurricane: 1938. 2005. 240p. ISBN 978-0-8711-3893-4. Available at 974.04 BUR on the library shelves.
On September 21, 1938, all eyes of the world was concerned that Adolf Hitler was ready to attack Czechoslovakia. News headlines screamed that war was coming. In New York and New England, those concerns were balanced with the need to put summer homes in order before winter arrived. Families still on the beaches on Long Islands and Rhodes Island were spending a few more days before they returned in their city residences. Locals were working or fishing. And out at sea the largest hurricane to hit the area was brewing. In an era where satellites did not exist and telephone and radio networks were easily disrupted, no one saw this storm coming, with dire consequences.
Long Island was the first to bear the brunt of the Great Hurricane of 1938. Houses were taken off their foundations and crushed in the sea. Large waves moved massive concrete and granite barriers. The water crested fifteen feet above the highest tide ever recorded. People who were watching the surf and the storm approach were swept away, and even those who took shelter in houses were hurt as roofs blew away and windows shattered. Telephone poles were snapped, and all communications ceased. It was impossible to warn the people across Long Island Sound that a storm was coming their way.
In Rhodes Island, resort towns were slowly winding down. No bad weather was forecasted. Local fishermen noticed the drop in barometric pressure and wisely stayed in harbor. Others ignored the warnings and went fishing anyway. When the storm hit, it destroyed everything in its path, causing millions of dollars in damages, killing hundreds of people, and forever affecting the communities in its path.
As the threats of war continued unabated in Europe, the Great Hurricane of 1938 became a footnote in New England history, and was barely discussed elsewhere in the country. It became this catastrophic storm that most have never heard of. Fans of history and of impressive weather events will appreciate the tale of a day that forever changed New England. Told hour by hour, and featuring a cast of hundreds of survivors and victims, this effective reconstruction of the deadliest storm in New England history is sure to make the reader wonder twice about their safety the next time a hurricane comes to New Hampshire.
A Visual Guide to Reptiles and Dinosaurs. Part of the Visual Exploration of Science series. 2019. 103p. ISBN 978-1-50818242-9. Available at 597.7 SOL on the library shelves.
Revered and revealed, reptiles both fascinate and create a sense of horror among humans. From their alien look to their deadly venom, snakes, lizards, gators, turtles and dinosaurs are replete in mass media and in books. Yet reptilian misconceptions survive. Reptiles were some of the first creatures to emerge from the prehistoric waters to dwell on land. Over millions of years they evolved into large and fearsome dinosaurs which were wiped out in mass extinction events. Some reptiles survived and continued their evolution into the snakes and lizards that inhabit all areas of the world except for the poles.
A Visual Guide to Reptiles and Dinosaurs presents beautifully illustrated information about reptiles, from their emergence as the preeminent lifeforms on Earth to the environmental roles they play today and their places in myths and religious beliefs. Vivid graphics show how reptiles eat and move, how their endangered status is affected by human, how they life, how they reproduce, and special abilities such as the chameleon's coloring, or a snake's ability to eat prey bigger than itself. Fans of animals will appreciate the thoroughness of the information presented and will enjoy the myriad of details that are provided along with the illustrations.
Hiaasen, Carl. Hoot. 2003. 292p. 385 mins. ISBN 9780440421702. Available both at FIC HIA on the shelves of the library and as audiobookon Overdrive.
Roy Edberhart and his family move often. His father works for the Department of Justice, and every year or so they join a new community. Roy really liked the last place, Montana, and they actually spent more than two years there. He loved the mountains, the wildlife, and the empty spaces. Now, Roy finds himself in Florida where it is hot, everything is crowded, and there are no mountains. His middle school is okay, but he's bullied on the school bus by Dana Matherson, a kid who is dumb enough not to know when to stop.
On one of these occasion, Roy's face gets smooshed against the bus window, and he notices a barefoot kid about the same age he is running away from the school bus. Suddenly Roy is intrigued. He's never seen this kid before, and there are no other schools he could be going to. He looks for him in town and at school, but can't find him. Looking to solve this mystery, Roy decides to follow the boy the next opportunity he has.
Meanwhile, construction equipment sits idle at the site of the future Mother Paula's Pancake House. The site has suffered vandalism, and the foreman has had enough and files a police complaint. When the police car itself is vandalized while parked on site, the foreman decides to escalate his protection measures.
These two stories gradually intertwine and tie together. A protected species, burrowing owls, live on the property but the company is ignoring its environmental assessment and plans to proceed with construction. As Roy investigates the shoeless boy, he becomes drafted in saving the owls, making new friends, and becoming part of his new community.
Richardson, Tracy. Catalyst. 2020. 256p. ISBN 978-1-61254-445-8.
For years, Marcie has accompanied her archeologist mother to her various field operations. Now 17, she joins the site not as her mother's child, but as a bone fide member of the dig crew of Angel Mounds, in Indiana, once a thriving center of Native American culture. Marcie is introduced to Zeke and Lorraine, graduate students who lead her small group. She also meets Leo, a college student who holds strong views on the benefits of fracking.
Zeke and Lorraine begin to reveal to Marcie and her friends that humans are part of the Universal Energy Field, where energy comes from thoughts, and that they must help save the Earth from its inhabitants’ bad habits. Powerful corporate interests seek to develop fracking in Indiana and have a different message, however.
When Zeke and Lorraine reveal themselves to be aliens from another dimension, Marcie must decide if she will accept the burden of saving Earth from itself.
Catalyst argues that pollution and human greed are slowly poisoning the Earth but that past inhabitants knew how to care for the planet.
Relationships, paranormal activities, climate change, and archeology all compete for attention. Marcie has strong opinions, but doesn’t know what to do. Leo, her romantic interest, possesses opposite views. They often talk over one another and are not really listening to the other side. The aliens guide Marcie, but she lacks agency and rarely exhibits doubts about the mission they foist on her. Leo undermines what Marcie is trying to accomplish, and yet she forgives him for mistakes that would have ended most relationships. The intriguing match of archeology and paranormal is not fully realized, but it remains an entertaining read. Readers who enjoy lightly sprinkled paranormal activities will appreciate this book.
