Climate Action for Busy People

Climate Action for Busy People
Author: Cate Mingoya-LaFortune
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2024-06-18
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1642832782

As unprecedented heat waves, storms of the century, and devastating fires impact cities across the country, the time to create climate resilient communities is now. While large-scale innovations in policy and technology are necessary to preserve the planet, the wisest and most lasting adaptation solutions originate at the local level. However, with something as large as the climate crisis, it can be hard to know where to begin. Climate Action for Busy People is a hopeful and realistic roadmap for individuals and groups who want to boost climate preparedness and move the needle towards environmental justice. Drawing from her professional and personal success in climate adaptation and community organizing, Cate Mingoya-LaFortune begins with a brief history of why our communities look the way they do (spoiler, it’s not an accident!) and how that affects how vulnerable we are to climate risks. Each chapter will help readers scale up their actions, from identifying climate solutions that an individual or small group can pull off in a handful of weekends, like tree plantings or depaving parties, to advocating for change at the municipal level through coalition-building and data collection. It’s not too late for people of all ages and skill levels to create climate safe neighborhoods. Climate Action for Busy People is an invaluable guide for anyone who wants to make lasting and equitable improvements that will make their communities climate resilient.

Bird Brother

Bird Brother
Author: Rodney Stotts
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2022-02-03
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1642831743

In Bird Brother, Rodney Stotts shares his unlikely journey to becoming a conservationist and one of America's few Black master falconers. Rodney grew up in Washington, D.C. during the crack epidemic, with guns, drugs, and the threat of incarceration affecting the lives of everyone he knew. He was no exception, but he was also employed by the newly founded Earth Conservation Corps, helping to restore and conserve the polluted Anacostia River. This work eventually sent his life in a different direction, as he began to train to become a master falconer and to develop his own raptor education program and sanctuary. Eye-opening, witty, and moving, Bird Brother is a testament to the healing power of nature, and a reminder that no matter how much heartbreak we've endured, we still have the capacity to give back to our communities and follow our dreams.

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
Author: Bill Gates
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2021-02-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0735280452

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NATIONAL BESTSELLER In this urgent, singularly authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical--and accessible--plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid an irreversible climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help and guidance of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science and finance, he has focused on exactly what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide toward certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only gathers together all the information we need to fully grasp how important it is that we work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases but also details exactly what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. He describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions; where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively; where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions--suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but by following the guidelines he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.

Rising

Rising
Author: Elizabeth Rush
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2018-06-12
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1571319700

A Pulitzer Prize Finalist, this powerful elegy for our disappearing coast “captures nature with precise words that almost amount to poetry” (The New York Times). Hailed as “the book on climate change and sea levels that was missing” (Chicago Tribune), Rising is both a highly original work of lyric reportage and a haunting meditation on how to let go of the places we love. With every record-breaking hurricane, it grows clearer that climate change is neither imagined nor distant—and that rising seas are transforming the coastline of the United States in irrevocable ways. In Rising, Elizabeth Rush guides readers through these dramatic changes, from the Gulf Coast to Miami, and from New York City to the Bay Area. For many of the plants, animals, and humans in these places, the options are stark: retreat or perish. Rush sheds light on the unfolding crises through firsthand testimonials—a Staten Islander who lost her father during Sandy, the remaining holdouts of a Native American community on a drowning Isle de Jean Charles, a neighborhood in Pensacola settled by escaped slaves hundreds of years ago—woven together with profiles of wildlife biologists, activists, and other members of these vulnerable communities. A Guardian, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal Best Book Of 2018 Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award A Chicago Tribune Top Ten Book of 2018

What Can I Do?

What Can I Do?
Author: Jane Fonda
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2021-09-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0593296249

A call to action from Jane Fonda, one of the most inspiring activists of our time, urging us to wake up to the looming disaster of climate change and equipping us with the tools we need to join her in protest In 2019, daunted by the looming disaster of climate change and inspired by Greta Thunberg, Naomi Klein, and student climate strikers, Jane Fonda asked herself one question: What can I do? Jane Fonda, one of the most influential activists of our time, moved to Washington, D.C., and has since led thousands of people in demonstrations on Capitol Hill. In launching Fire Drill Fridays, Fonda teamed up with Greenpeace, leading climate scientists, and community organizers not only to understand what’s at stake, but to equip all of us with the education and tools we need to join her in protest. What Can I Do? isn’t a wish list—it’s a to-do list. So many of us recognize the urgency in stemming the tide of climate change but aren’t sure where to start. Our window of opportunity to act is quickly closing. And it isn’t only Earth’s life-support systems that are unraveling, so too is our social fabric. This is going to take an all-out war on drilling, fracking, deregulation, racism, misogyny, colonialism, and despair—all at the same time. The problems we face now require every one of us to join the fight for not only our immediate future, but for the future of generations to come. 100% of the author's net proceeds from What Can I Do? have gone to Greenpeace

Climate Action

Climate Action
Author: Georgina Stevens
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Total Pages: 66
Release: 2021-07-20
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1944530363

Our planet needs us. And we need our planet. Learn about how climate change is affecting our world, explore the impact that humans have on the planet, and read about innovative ideas for tackling climate breakdown. In this book about climate change, we share the facts. But we also share hope. Learn about the causes of climate change and how it is affecting our world. Explore the human impact and what it means to have a carbon footprint. Read about innovative ideas for tackling climate breakdown. Be inspired by the positive stories from young people effecting change all around the globe. Get tips on the things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint, and discover many different ways to take action. Our planet needs us. And we need our planet.

This Changes Everything

This Changes Everything
Author: Naomi Klein
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 576
Release: 2014-09-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1451697384

With strong first-hand reporting and an original, provocative thesis, Naomi Klein returns with this book on how the climate crisis must spur transformational political change

Being the Change

Being the Change
Author: Peter Kalmus
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2017-08-01
Genre: House & Home
ISBN: 1771422432

“A plethora of insights about nature and ourselves, revealed by one man’s journey as he comes to terms with human exploitation of our planet.” —Dr. James Hansen, climate scientist and former director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies Life on one-tenth the fossil fuels turns out to be awesome. We all want to be happy. Yet as we consume ever more in a frantic bid for happiness, global warming worsens. Alarmed by drastic changes now occurring in the Earth’s climate systems, Peter Kalmus, a climate scientist and suburban father of two, embarked on a journey to change his life and the world. He began by bicycling, growing food, meditating, and making other simple, fulfilling changes. Ultimately, he slashed his climate impact to under a tenth of the US average and became happier in the process. Being the Change explores the connections between our individual daily actions and our collective predicament. It merges science, spirituality, and practical action to develop a satisfying and appropriate response to global warming. Part one exposes our interconnected predicament: overpopulation, global warming, industrial agriculture, growth-addicted economics, a sold-out political system, and a mindset of separation from nature. It also includes a readable but authoritative overview of climate science. Part two offers a response at once obvious and unprecedented: mindfully opting out of this broken system and aligning our daily lives with the biosphere. The core message is deeply optimistic: living without fossil fuels is not only possible, it can be better. “In this timely and provocative book, Peter Kalmus points out that changing the world has to start with changing our own lives. It’s a crucial message that needs to be heard.” —John Michael Greer, author of After Progress and The Retro Future

Unsettled (Updated and Expanded Edition)

Unsettled (Updated and Expanded Edition)
Author: Steven E. Koonin
Publisher: BenBella Books
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2024-06-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1637745818

In this updated and expanded edition of climate scientist Steven Koonin’s groundbreaking book, go behind the headlines to discover the latest eye-opening data about climate change—with unbiased facts and realistic steps for the future. "Greenland’s ice loss is accelerating." "Extreme temperatures are causing more fatalities." "Rapid 'climate action' is essential to avoid a future climate disaster." You've heard all this presented as fact. But according to science, all of these statements are profoundly misleading. With the new edition of Unsettled, Steven Koonin draws on decades of experience—including as a top science advisor to the Obama administration—to clear away the fog and explain what science really says (and doesn't say). With a new introduction, this edition now features reflections on an additional three years of eye-opening data, alternatives to unrealistic “net zero” solutions, global energy inequalities, and the energy crisis arising from the war in Ukraine. When it comes to climate change, the media, politicians, and other prominent voices have declared that “the science is settled.” In reality, the climate is changing, but the why and how aren’t as clear as you’ve probably been led to believe. Koonin takes readers behind the headlines, dispels popular myths, and unveils little-known truths: Despite rising greenhouse gas emissions, global temperatures decreased from 1940 to 1970 Models currently used to predict the future do not accurately describe the climate of the past, and modelers themselves strongly doubt their regional predictions There is no compelling evidence that hurricanes are becoming more frequent—or that predictions of rapid sea level rise have any validity Unsettled is a reality check buoyed by hope, offering the truth about climate science—what we know, what we don’t, and what it all means for our future.