Showing titles in Ecology

Henry David Thoreau was a 19th century American writer and lifelong advocate for the abolition of slavery. His written works are many and varied but he is perhaps best known for works such as Walden, a book which promotes the idea of simple living in natural surroundings and for Civil Disobedience, which argues that the general population should not simply sit idle while those elected to government ride roughshod over their wishes.

Reissued on the 10th anniversary of its publication, this classic work on our environmental crisis features a new introduction by the author, reviewing both the progress and ground lost in the fight to save the Earth. This impassioned plea for radical and life-renewing change is today still considered a groundbreaking work in environmental studies. McKibben's argument that the survival of the globe is dependent on a fundamental, philosophical shift in the way we relate to nature is more relevant than ever.

From a New York Times bestselling nature writer comes a celebration of what goes on outside in the dark, from blooming moon gardens to nocturnal salamanders, from glowing foxfire and synchronous fireflies that blink in unison like an orchestra of light. In this glorious celebration of the night...

In 1999, few people had thought to examine the effects of climate on civilization. Now, due in part to the groundbreaking work of archaeologist Brian Fagan, climate change is a central issue. Revised and updated 10 years after its first publication, Floods, Famines and Emperors remains the definitive account of how the world's best-known climate event had an indelible impact on history.

Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, yet we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. While roads are so ubiquitous they're practically invisible to us, wild animals experience them as entirely alien forces of death and disruption. In Crossings, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb travels throughout the United States and around the world to investigate how roads have transformed our planet. A million animals are killed by cars each day in the US alone, but as the new science of road ecology shows, the harms of highways extend far beyond roadkill.

Humankind has never before faced challenges of the scale and complexity of today. We need to expand our ethical toolkit. The mental tools most of us rely on to ‘do the right thing’ just don’t work when it comes to reasoning about such huge collective problems. From the small stuff like single-use plastics to major decisions like whether to have children, Rieder defines exactly how we can change our thinking and lead a decent, meaningful life in a scary, complicated world.

A fun-to-listen-to guide to ecological principles and environmental understanding Ecology For Dummies transforms intimidating concepts into an engaging walkthrough that supports academic success and environmental literacy. This accessible text covers everything from energy flow and nutrient...

A collection of probing essays and weekly meditations, this book addresses how to prepare emotionally and spiritually for the impending collapse of industrial civilization. Author Carolyn Baker offers wisdom, inspiration, and a sense of spiritual purpose for anyone who is concerned about the...

Jean-Claude Michéa a choisi en 2016 de s'installer dans un petit village des Landes, pour rompre avec le style de vie des grandes métropoles et sa logique du "toujours plus". C'est donc à partir de cette expérience de la "France périphérique" qu'il a mûri ce nouvel essai, qui nous offre une réflexion critique extrêmement originale et stimulante sur nos sociétés dites "progressistes". Il s'y emploie à mettre au jour les conséquences ultimes du mode de développement capitaliste et libéral, qui revêt de façon de plus en plus évidente la forme d'une fuite en avant suicidaire dans tous les domaines.

In this intimate portrait of an island lobstering community and an eccentric band of renegade biologists, journalist Trevor Corson escorts the listener onto the slippery decks of fishing boats, through danger-filled scuba dives, and deep into the churning currents of the Gulf of Maine to learn about the secret undersea lives of lobsters.

Every cow just wants to be happy. Every chicken just wants to be free. Every bear, dog, or mouse experiences sorrow and feels pain as intensely as any of us humans do. In a compelling appeal to reason and human kindness, Matthieu Ricard here takes the arguments from his best sellers Altruism and Happiness to their logical conclusion: Compassion toward all beings, including our fellow animals, is a moral obligation and the direction toward which any enlightened society must aspire.

It’s summer, and John Connell finds himself—like so many others—confined to his local area, the opportunity to freely travel and socialise cut short. His attention turns to the Camlin river—an ever-present source of life for his hometown’s inhabitants and, for John, a site of boyhood adventure, first love, family history and local legend. He decides to canoe its course with a friend, a two-day trip requiring physical exertion and mental resilience. Despite the world growing still around them, the river teems with life—a symphony of buzzing mayfly and jumping trout.

Authors Paul Warde, Libby Robin, and Sverker Sörlin trace the emergence of the concept of the environment following World War II, a period characterized by both hope for a new global order and fear of humans' capacity for almost limitless destruction. It was at this moment that a new idea and a new narrative about the planet-wide impact of people's behavior emerged, closely allied to anxieties for the future. With the rise of "the environment", the authors argue, came new expertise, making certain kinds of knowledge crucial to understanding the future of our planet.

At a time of unparalleled environmental change, there has never been a greater need for new ways of defending nature. In this forward-thinking work, Paul Jepson and Richard Ladle cover all aspects of modern conservation to provide a fascinating look into how we’re fighting for the earth’s species and habitats, as well as details on where conservation is heading, and how we can all contribute. Because it will be far more than just a pity when we lose the polar bears, pandas, and parrots.

A profound, powerful and moving collection of 100 letters from around the world responding to the climate crisis, introduced by Emma Thompson and lovingly illustrated by CILIP award winner Jackie Morris. ‘All power to this amazing project.’ JOANNE HARRIS ‘Makes sense of the climate crisis...

Passionate and provocative, Fox uncovers the ancient tradition of a creation-centered spirituality that melds Christian mysticism with the contemporary struggle for social justice, feminism, and environmentalism. Showing how we can learn from each other, Fox's spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in both North and South America. Creation Spirituality challenges listeners of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the Earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just creator.

Naturalist Joe Hutto’s latest adventures in wildlife observation take him to Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains. Hutto is living in a tent at 12,000 feet, where blizzards occur in July and where human wants become irrelevant—and human needs can become a matter of life and death—to study the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.

What makes the modern world work? The answer to this deceptively simple question lies in four "grand transitions" of civilization - in populations, agriculture, energy, and economics - that have transformed the way we live. 

They destroy plant diseases. They break down toxins. They plough the earth. They transform forests. They’ve survived two mass extinctions, including the one that wiped out the dinosaur. Not bad for a creature that’s deaf, blind, and spineless. Who knew that earthworms were one of our planet’s most important caretakers? Or that Charles Darwin devoted his last years to studying their remarkable achievements?

What links a café in Antarctica, a factory for producing electronic tracking tags, and personal spacecraft? They're among the multiple venues where award-winning writer Tania Hershman sets her unique tales in this spellbinding debut collection. This audiobook, adbridged from the original collection, is read by the author, Tania Hershman.