The Treeline cover art

The Treeline

The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth

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The Treeline

By: Ben Rawlence
Narrated by: Jamie Parker
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The Treeline is a spellbinding blend of nature, travel and science writing, deeply researched and beautifully written, underpinned by an urgent environmental message.

The Arctic Treeline - the northern limit of the boreal forest that encircles the globe in an almost unbroken green ring - is the second largest biome on our planet. At this little-known frontline of climate change, the trees have been creeping towards the pole for 50 years already.

Six of the tree species that populate these forests (larch, spruce, mountain ash, downy birch, balsam poplar and Scots pine) form the central protagonists of Ben Rawlence's story. In Scotland, Northern Scandinavia, Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland, he discovers what these trees and the people who live and work alongside them have to tell us about the past, present and future of our planet. Scientists are only just beginning to understand the astonishing significance of these forests for all life on Earth. At the Treeline, Rawlence witnesses the accelerating impact of climate change and the devastating legacies of colonialism and capitalism. But he also finds reasons for hope. Humans are creatures of the forest; we have always evolved with trees. The Treeline asks us where our co-evolution might take us next.

©2022 Ben Rawlence (P)2022 Penguin Audio
Biological Sciences Botany & Plants Earth Sciences Environment Outdoors & Nature Science Polar Region Inspiring Thought-Provoking Alaska

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All stars
Most relevant
Even though the story it delivers is heartbreaking at times, I really enjoyed this wonderful book. Beautifully written and beautifully read, it tells of a future we all share. I learned so much about these marvellous life-saving trees and by the end felt very inspired, closer to a wider world, keen to press this book into the hands of everyone I know.

Perfect

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It felt like a story of humanity, as well as nature. Beautifully told, with such reverence for nomadic communities. Everyone should read this.

Fascinating

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A very interesting story exploring the health of the treeline around the northern hemisphere, investigating the worrying rapid movement of the treeline due to global warming and the trigger effects it has, a truly concerning wake up call to everyone on the planet to do their bit however small too reduce our carbon footprint .
the author also explains the different interactions between species and touches on ancient traditional human cultures and the wealth of wisdom and knowledge we are in danger of losing in our modernisation and losing touch with nature.
the narrator is easy to listen to.

Eye opening wake-up call

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The book takes you on a sobering circumnavigation of the northern latitudes to investigate the impact of climate change. Unique, sobering and ultimately hopeful.

Sobering but hopeful

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Not my usual read but a fascinating book and beautifully descriptive, with a very worrying story.

Fascinating

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