{"id":53410,"date":"2025-03-11T06:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T11:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/?p=53410"},"modified":"2025-01-22T13:59:01","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T19:59:01","slug":"new-books-on-environmentalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/new-books-on-environmentalism\/","title":{"rendered":"New Books on Environmentalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Curious about how you can help the environment? Check out these new books about environmentalism available at the Davenport Public Library! From practical ways to make your kitchen zero waste to learning about climate change, these titles cover a wide variety of topics related to environmentalism. If you’re looking for other similar topics, feel free to contact us today!<\/p>\n

All of these titles are owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. The descriptions are provided by the publisher.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Ferris Jabr<\/p>\n

A vivid account of a major shift in how we understand Earth, from an exceptionally talented new voice. Earth is not simply an inanimate planet on which life evolved, but rather a planet that came to life.<\/em><\/p>\n

One of humanity\u2019s oldest beliefs is that our world is alive. Though once ridiculed by some scientists, the idea of Earth as a vast interconnected living system has gained acceptance in recent decades. We, and all living things, are more than inhabitants of Earth\u2014we are Earth, an outgrowth of its structure and an engine of its evolution. Life and its environment have coevolved for billions of years, transforming a lump of orbiting rock into a cosmic oasis\u2014a planet that breathes, metabolizes, and regulates its climate.<\/em><\/p>\n

Acclaimed science writer Ferris Jabr reveals a radical new vision of Earth where lush forests spew water, pollen, and bacteria to summon rain; giant animals engineer the very landscapes they roam; microbes chew rock to shape continents; and microscopic plankton, some as glittering as carved jewels, remake the air and sea.<\/em><\/p>\n

Humans are one of the most extreme examples of life transforming Earth. Through fossil fuel consumption, agriculture, and pollution, we have altered more layers of the planet in less time than any other species, pushing Earth into a crisis. But we are also uniquely able to understand and protect the planet\u2019s wondrous ecology and self-stabilizing processes. Jabr introduces us to a diverse cast of fascinating people who have devoted themselves to this vital work.<\/em><\/p>\n

Becoming Earth is an exhilarating journey through the hidden workings of our planetary symphony\u2014its players, its instruments, and the music of life that emerges\u2014and an invitation to reexamine our place in it. How well we play our part will determine what kind of Earth our descendants inherit for millennia to come.<\/em> – Random House<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Before It’s Gone: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change in Small-Town America<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Jonathan Vigliotti<\/p>\n

Discussion of the climate crisis has always suffered from a problem of abstraction. Data points and warnings of an overheated future struggle to break through the noise of everyday life. Deniers often portray climate solutions as inconvenient, expensive, and unnecessary. And many politicians, cloistered by status and focused always on their next election, do not yet see climate as a winning issue in the short run. But climate change is here whether we want to pay attention or not.<\/em><\/p>\n

CBS News national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti has personally witnessed that crisis unfold, spending nearly two decades reporting across the United States (and the world) documenting the people, communities, landmarks, and traditions we\u2019ve already surrendered. Vigliotti shares with urgency and personal touch the story of an America on the brink.<\/em><\/p>\n

This \u201cpage-turning tour de force\u201d (Steve Brusatte, New York Times bestselling author) traces Vigliotti\u2019s travels across the country, taking him to the frontlines of climate disaster and revealing the genuine impacts of climate change that countless Americans have already been forced to confront. From massive forest fires in California to hurricanes in Louisiana, receding coastlines in Massachusetts and devastated fisheries in Alaska, we learn that warnings of a future impacted by climate are no more; the climate catastrophe is already here.<\/em> – Atria \/ One Signal Publishers<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>The Age of Melt: What Glaciers, Ice Mummies, and Ancient Artifacts Teach Us about Climate, Culture, and a Future Without Ice<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Lisa Baril<\/p>\n

A thought-provoking scientific narrative investigating ice patch archaeology and the role of glaciers in the development of human culture.<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thousands of organic artifacts are emerging from patches of melting ice in mountain ranges around the world. Archaeologists are in a race against time to find them before they disappear forever. In entertaining and enlightening prose, Baril travels from the Alps to the Andes, investigating what these artifacts teach us about climate and culture. But this is not a chronicle of loss. The Age of Melt explores what these artifacts reveal about culture, wilderness, and what we gain when we rethink our relationship to the world and its most precious and ephemeral substance\u2014ice.<\/em> – Timber Press<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>The Burning Earth: A History<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Sunil Amrith<\/p>\n

A brilliant, paradigm-shifting global history of how humanity has reshaped the planet, and the planet has shaped human history, over the last 500 years.<\/em><\/p>\n

In this magisterial book, historian Sunil Amrith twins the stories of environment and Empire, of genocide and eco-cide, of an extraordinary expansion of human freedom and its planetary costs. Drawing on an extraordinarily rich diversity of primary sources, he reckons with the ruins of Portuguese silver mining in Peru, British gold mining in South Africa, and oil extraction in Central Asia. He explores the railroads and highways that brought humans to new terrains of battle against each other and against stubborn nature. Amrith\u2019s account of the ways in which the First and Second World Wars involved the massive mobilization not only of men, but of other natural resources from around the globe, provides an essential new way of understanding war as an irreversible reshaping of the planet. So too does this book reveal the reality of migration as consequence of environmental harm.<\/em><\/p>\n

The imperial, globe-spanning pursuit of profit, joined with new forms of energy and new possibilities of freedom from hunger and discomfort, freedom to move and explore, has brought change to every inch of the Earth. Amrith relates in gorgeous prose, and on the largest canvas, a mind-altering epic\u2014vibrant with stories, characters, and vivid images\u2014in which humanity might find the collective wisdom to save itself.<\/em> – WW Norton & Company<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>The Nature of Our Cities: Harnessing the Power of the Natural World to Survive a Changing Planet<\/a><\/strong> <\/em>by Nadina Galle<\/p>\n

In the tradition of Elizabeth Kolbert and Michael Pollan, The Nature of Our Cities is a stirring exploration of how innovators from around the world are combining urban nature with emerging technologies, protecting the planet\u2019s cities from the effects of climate change and safeguarding the health of their inhabitants.<\/em><\/p>\n

We live in an age when humanity spends 90% of its time indoors, yet the nature around us\u2014especially in America\u2019s cities\u2014has never been more vital. This distancing from nature has sparked crises in mental health, longevity, and hope for the next generation, while also heightening the risks we face from historic floods, heatwaves, and wildfires. Indeed, embracing nature holds untapped potential to strengthen and fortify our cities, suburbs, and towns, providing solutions spanning flood preparation, wildfire management, and promoting longevity. As ecological engineer Dr. Nadina Galle shows in The Nature of Our Cities nature is our most critical infrastructure for tackling the climate crisis. It just needs a little help.<\/em><\/p>\n

A fellow at MIT\u2019s Senseable City Lab and selected for Forbes\u2019 30 under 30 list, Galle is at the forefront of the growing movement to fuse nature and technology for urban resilience. In THE NATURE OF OUR CITIES, she embarks on a journey as fascinating as it is pressing, showing how scientists and citizens from around the world are harnessing emerging technologies to unlock the power of the natural world to save their cities, a phenomenon she calls the \u201cInternet of Nature.\u201d Traveling the globe, Galle examines how urban nature, long an afterthought for many, actually points the way toward a more sustainable future. She reveals how technology can help nature navigate this precarious moment with modern advances such as:<\/em><\/p>\n