Michael Mann to Amitav Ghosh, these environmentalist authors throw light on the alarming situation of the planet and understanding climate change.
American naturalist and poet Henry David Thoreau once asked, “What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?”
And rightly so. With every passing day, we are inching closer to seeing the irreversible effects of climate change. The Earth’s average temperature has increased by more than 1C in a little less than 100 years. This points to the fact that the last 30 years have been the warmest in the planet’s history (or at least the past 800 years). With the surface temperature rising and the melting of Arctic ice, it is important to understand climate change.
Here’s a list of books that are a must-read to understand climate change:
1. The New Climate War By Michael Mann
The book explains how the fossil fuel industry had changed its tactics by shifting the burden of climate change responsibility to individuals and denying their role in it. This cautiously optimistic book says that the fundamental challenges are a result of a lack of political will. The author is a climatologist and geophysicist who works for the recognition of climate science as a field.
Buy it here.
2. The Climate Solution: India’s Climate-Change Crisis And What We Can Do About It By Mridula Ramesh
The book dwells on why women are peculiarly affected by a warming climate, how climate change poses a security threat to the Indian state and why just focussing on green sources of power is an incomplete solution for India. The author is a climate change practitioner, teacher and investor. She takes many examples from the country like the cotton fields of Punjab and eco start-ups in Bengaluru to explain the topic.
Buy it here.
3. This Changes Everything: Capitalism Vs The Climate By Naomi Klein
In this book, the author urges how the climate crisis needs to spur transformational political change. More than carbon, capitalism is affecting climate change and the economic system has failed to build something radically better. Naomi Klein is a Canadian author, journalist, social activist, ecofeminist and filmmaker.
Buy it here.
4. The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming By David Wallace-Wells
Named one of the best books of the year 2019 by The New Yorker, it talks about the greater damage of climate change like food shortages, refugee emergencies, climate wars and economic devastation. The ways that warming promises to transform global politics, the meaning of technology and nature in the modern world, the sustainability of capitalism and the trajectory of human progress are also discussed. The author is an American journalist.
Buy it here.
5. The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables For A Planet In Crisis By Amitav Ghosh
Nutmegs originated around a group of small volcanic islands in the east of Java, known as the Banda Islands. In this book, the author argues that the nutmeg’s violent trajectory from its native islands is revealing of a wider colonial mindset which justifies the exploitation of human life and the natural environment. Climate change, migrant crisis, and animist spirituality of indigenous communities around the world are the topics discussed in this book. The author is an Indian, popular in historical fiction.
Buy it here.
6. Less Is More By Jason Hickel
The book throws light on ecological breakdown and the system that’s causing it. The author shows how we can bring our economy back into balance with the living world and build a thriving society for all. The book gives the vision to dream of a better world and tools to aid that. Jason Hickel is an economic anthropologist who researches ecological economics, global inequality, imperialism and political economy.
Buy it here.
7. The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier And More Creative By Florence Williams
This book investigates the science behind nature’s positive effects on the brain. Delving into brand-new research, the author uncovers the power of the natural world to improve health, promote reflection and innovation, and strengthen our relationships. It all pinpoints the necessity of protecting the environment. The author is an American journalist and nonfiction writer whose focus areas are science, health and the environment.
Buy it here.
8 Being Ecological By Timothy Morton
This is light-hearted philosophical writing discusses the serious issue of climate change with a pinch of humour. It extensively talks about ecology and our notions of it which are mostly wrong. The author is a professor of English at Rice University. Most of his works explore the intersection of object-oriented thought and ecological studies.
Buy it here.
9. Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, And Why It Matters By Steven E. Koonin
This book explains what science says and doesn’t say about our changing climate. Date insights and expert perspectives free from political agendas are presented in the book. The author’s personal experiences as the former director of the Centre for Urban Science and Progress at New York University are also added. He is a theoretical physicist.
Buy it here.
10. Drawdown By Paul Hawken
This book contains one hundred techniques and practices offered as solutions to climate change by an international coalition of researchers, professionals and scientists. They range from clean energy to educating girls in lower-income countries to land use practices that pull carbon out of the air. They believe that these practices can help in slowing down earth’s warming. The author is an American environmentalist, entrepreneur, author, economist, and activist.
Buy it here.
What Is Earth5R’s Home Equals Planet Project?
Home Equals Planet is an initiative comprising 15 tangible actions that citizens take on an individual level. These are a step toward a sustainable planet and a healthier lifestyle. The actions promote simple actions like eating home-cooked food, segregating waste, spending time in nature, and so on.
The 15 actions are associated with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and aim to create a better future for all by 2030. Home Equals Planet covers areas like Waste Management, Health, creating a Circular Economy, etc.
To read more of such articles, please visit https://earth5r.org.
Sources: iNews, Royal Society, The Better India