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BOOK LIST:

Environment: Climate Change - Non-Fiction

Updated: December 15, 2023

Non-fiction books about climate change.


Book cover for Climate change and the future of cities : mitigation, adaptation, and social change on an urban planet
Climate change and the future of cities : mitigation, adaptation, and social change on an urban planet
Call Number: 551.59 C6393-22

Sociologist Eric Klineberg examines the various effects climate change has on people and their environment, and what cilties can do to moderate climate change.


Book cover for Climate change and the people's health
Climate change and the people's health
Friel, Sharon,
Call Number: 614.42 F911

A unique examination of how climate change and social inequity are linked.


Book cover for Climate justice : hope, resilience, and the fight for a sustainable future
Climate justice : hope, resilience, and the fight for a sustainable future
Robinson, Mary, 1944-
Call Number: 339 R663

Mary Robinson was President of Ireland and the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Her worldwide travels have taken her to places where the effects of climate change are blatantly evident, and she chronicles the efforts of average citizens advocating for change.


Book cover for The climate report : the National Climate Assessment -- impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States
The climate report : the National Climate Assessment -- impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States
Call Number: 551.590973 U558-2

This is a reprint of an easily downloadable U.S Government report from 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Its collection of graphs, maps, and charts portray a world in serious trouble.

 

Book cover for Dire predictions : understanding global warming
Dire predictions : understanding global warming
Mann, Michael E., 1965-
Call Number: 551.59 M2815
The IPPC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) was established in 1988, and its mission was,  " ... to evaluate the risk of human-caused climate change.  Since its inception, the IPPC's periodic assessment reports have become the de facto conservative standard for accuracy about the scientific facts of global climate change."  This book, "presents and expands upon the findings documented in the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPPC in an illustrated visually stunning ... powerful way for the non-scientist." Some of the topics covered are: climate change basics, projected impacts on places and people, possible solutions, vulnerable ecosystems.
 
 

Book cover for The great derangement : climate change and the unthinkable
The great derangement : climate change and the unthinkable
Ghosh, Amitav, 1956-
Call Number: 809 G427

Ghosh dives into the mysterious absence of climate change in today’s fiction writing exploring stories, history, and politics, and in the process he raises important questions that expand well outside the literary world. A though-provoking book that is well worth reading.


Book cover for Hot hungry planet : the fight to stop a global food crisis in the face of climate change
Hot hungry planet : the fight to stop a global food crisis in the face of climate change
Palmer, Lisa, 1973-
Call Number: 338.1 P174

Journalist Lisa Palmer's main interest has been how to solve global hunger in a world with a fast-growing population. She has also seen a much greater challenge which is combating world hunger and climate change.


Book cover for How to avoid a climate disaster : the solutions we have and the breakthroughs we need
How to avoid a climate disaster : the solutions we have and the breakthroughs we need
Gates, Bill, 1955-
Call Number: 551.59 G2585

Bill Gates, software developer, businessman, writer, philanthropist, has been focused on how to keep our world from being destroyed by us. Instead, he has great hope that we can prevent further damage to this planet, and possibly reverse some that has been done. For over 10 years, he has sought out ideas from people in many fields (physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance), and he firmly sees hope for a better future.


Book cover for The human, the orchid, and the octopus : exploring and conserving our natural world
The human, the orchid, and the octopus : exploring and conserving our natural world
Cousteau, Jacques, 1910-1997.
Call Number: 551.46092 C869

Explorer, adventurer, diving pioneer, Jacques Cousteau was one of the early modern environmental activists who warned us about the inherent dangers of exploiting the earth's natural resources. His beautiful and foreboding book has great relevance today.


Book cover for Inconspicuous consumption : the environmental impact you don't know you have
Inconspicuous consumption : the environmental impact you don't know you have
Schlossberg, Tatiana
Call Number: 339.4 S345

In addition to the obvious effects that the fossil fuel industry and mass-produced farming and animal breeding have on the environment, there are four other areas that affect environmental changes: the Internet and technology; food; fashion; fuel. Schlossberg connects the dots to show how seemingly innocuous everyday activities have affects on the environment and climate change.


Book cover for An inconvenient truth : the planetary emergency of global warming and what we can do about it
An inconvenient truth : the planetary emergency of global warming and what we can do about it
Gore, Al, 1948-
Call Number: 551.59 G666

Former Vice President Gore has been one of the most visible political figures talking about climate change. This book and its sequel, An inconvenienet sequel, synthesize his many speeches on the topic and make an appeal to both scientists and politicians.

 

Book cover for Our only world : ten essays
Our only world : ten essays
Berry, Wendell, 1934-
Call Number: 309.73 B534-1

A collection of essays by Wendell Berry, writer, farmer, political activist, cultural critic and environmentalist. The 84-year-old Berry has long been concerned with the worldwide misuse of the environment, in particular farming, and how it affects climate change.


Book cover for The Paris agreement on climate change : analysis and commentary
The Paris agreement on climate change : analysis and commentary
Call Number: 551.59 P2325

A detailed analysis and critique of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which became effective on November 4th, 2016.


Book cover for Seeds on Ice: Svalbard and the Global Seed Vault
Seeds on Ice: Svalbard and the Global Seed Vault
Fowler, Cary
Call Number: 631.5211 F785

The Svalbard Global Seed Bank is a secure seed bank, and its "mission is to provide a safety net against accidental loss of diversity in traditional genebanks" so as to ensure the world's food supply in times of natural and man-made disasters. This beautiful and informative book documents the operation of the facility.


Book cover for Silent spring & other writings on the environment
Silent spring & other writings on the environment
Carson, Rachel, 1907-1964,
Call Number: 632.95 C321-1

A collection of Rachel Carson's writings on the environment, including her seminal work, Silent Spring.


Book cover for The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
Kolbert, Elizabeth
Call Number: 575.7 K81

This very interesting, highly readable book paints a picture of the 5 major extinction events in the Earth's history and uses that as a springboard to discuss the 6th one, which is an event that we are currently both in the middle of, and the cause of.


Book cover for Storms of my grandchildren : the truth about the coming climate catastrophe and our last chance to save humanity
Storms of my grandchildren : the truth about the coming climate catastrophe and our last chance to save humanity
Hansen, James E. (James Edward), 1941-
Call Number: 551.59 H249

James Hansen has been warning the public about the dangers of greenhouse gases and their effect on human existence since 1988. Ten years ago, he wrote about what he thought would be the effects of climate change on future 


Book cover for Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future
Kolbert, Elizabeth
Call Number: 575.3 K81

Kolbert expands on her investigation of the destruction wrought by humanity in what we now call the Anthropocene epoch, from her previous book, The Sixth Extinction. She examines large-scale technological solutions to environmental problems, from electrifying rivers to deter invasive fish to spraying aerosols into the stratosphere to reflect more sunlight away from the planet, and the strange side effects of our vicious cycle of altering natural systems.

 

Book cover for The uninhabitable earth : life after warming
The uninhabitable earth : life after warming
Wallace-Wells, David,
Call Number: 575.3 W195

The author expands a New York magazine article into an examination of how climate change happens and how humans will have to cope with those changes.

 

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