Books about the environment are rarely popular as beach reads or commuter reads, or as fodder for Hollywood blockbusters. But now and then, the mainstream book market is visited by a title or two with an ecology theme. Here are a few recent titles of note.
Books about the environment are rarely popular as beach reads or commuter reads, or as fodder for Hollywood blockbusters.
But now and then, the mainstream book market is visited by a title or two with an ecology theme. Here are a few recent titles of note:
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"An Inconvenient Truth" (Rodale) by Al Gore.
This book by former Vice President Al Gore, who has been a prominent advocate of environmental protection and a crusader against global warming, was published in May and is still on major best-seller lists. The large-format, generously illustrated paperback is a companion to the documentary film of the same name that was released in early summer. The book spreads the alarm about global warming through photos, charts, lists, statistics, maps and Gore's personal observations. People caused global warming, says Gore, so he calls on people -- world leaders as well as everyday citizens -- to do their part to reverse the trend before it's too late.
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"Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Changes" (Bloomsbury) by Elizabeth Kolbert.
Kolbert calls for an acknowledgment of the urgent danger posed by global warming -- and the need to act now -- in a book based on her three-part series that appeared in The New Yorker magazine. She points out that little has been done to buck the trend since global warming was first recognized as a problem in the late 1970s. Kolbert provides information based on interviews with researchers and scientists, discusses the science and politics of global warming, and offers the personal tales of those affected most by the melting of the polar ice caps, the people who live near them.
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"The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth" (Atlantic Monthly Press) by Tim Flannery.
Flannery reviews the history of climate changes, predicts what the next century has in store weatherwise and calls for lawmakers and individuals to prevent what could be a catastrophic environmental future. His suggestions include investing in renewable power sources, wind, solar and geothermal energy, for example, and he points out how every individual can chip in to reduce deadly carbon dioxide emissions.
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"Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future" (Houghton Mifflin) by Jeff Goodell.
We might think of coal as old-fashioned, but Goodell reveals that coal -- yes, coal -- is being revived as an energy source and warns of the danger that dependence on those dusty little black clumps poses to the Earth's future. He says that coal is responsible for producing more than half the electricity the world consumes, explains how coal-fired plants adversely affect the environment, and reveals that pollution created by burning coal has killed thousands of Americans in recent years.
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"Left in the Dust: How Race and Politics Created a Human and Environmental Tragedy in L.A." (Palgrave) by Karen Piper.
In 1913, Owens Lake in Los Angeles was drained so that water from Owens River would be diverted for use as drinking water. Winds carried the dust that dried on the lake bed far beyond Owens Valley and into several states, creating a major environmental disaster. Tests revealed that the dust contained toxins, including arsenic, cadmium, nickel and selenium, and was responsible for increased risks of cancer, asthma, lupus and other diseases in the areas it reached. The situation went unchanged until 2001, when city officials put a dust-control program into place, "reluctantly," writes Piper, who spent her childhood near the lake and experienced the dust storms.
Source: Associated Press
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