Climate change
Date Added: 02/10/2021
With the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in November, now is a good time to be reading, thinking and acting to help the environment.
Shefford Library has a climate change book display with many titles to borrow.
This bulletin highlights books on the science, on practical measures, on climate fiction and books for children. All can be requested (no charge), with your library card number and pin.
Understanding the science
Our Planet – the book to accompany 2019 netflix series – is available in adult and junior versions with both in ebook and print.
The Science of our Changing Planet - To be published in November, this book provides current data on the impact of climate change, presented through the publisher DK's trade-mark visuals. It is written by Tony Juniper, who co-wrote HRH Prince of Wales' Ladybird book on Climate Change, published in 2017, and also What's really happening to our planet?
Another DK publication due in November, is Simply climate change . The publishers describe it as "an essential introduction to the subject for those who are short of time, [160 pages] but hungry for knowledge." This will be useful for sixth form or GCSE geographers.
The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: In A tale of two cities, Dickens explored how the French Revolution brought out the best and the worst in people. In his book about climate change, (with its titular nod to Dickens) Behrens uses a structure of best and worst scenarios of what might happen, told in alternate chapters. He explains in his introduction "it will present readers with two very different and possible trajectories - one unflinchingly but realistically bleak, the other hopeful..."
"The environmental crisis is the ultimate test of humanity's ability to work together, problem solve and adapt".
What can we do?"
The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not". Greta Thunberg. 2019
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster - Bill Gates presents his ideas how the world can get to zero emissions by 2050, addressing government and business measures and focusing on technology solutions for transport, energy and building sectors.
What We Need to Do Now - Chris Goodall's is a similar book with a UK focus. He offers a plan for getting the UK economy to net zero, by addressing housing, energy, transport, food, forestry and clothing sectors. Whilst Goodall's experience and clout are not on Bill Gates' scale, he nevertheless has experience in setting up solar energy and car charging businesses.
39 Ways to Save the Planet - Tom Heap, the host of Radio 4's Costing the Earth, has brought together in this book examples from around the world of what people are doing to protect the environment. To be published in October, this is one to reserve.
The Green Grocer - Richard Walker is the managing director of the family-owned food company Iceland. This business biography charts their progress towards sustainability. "Every decision we make faces three ways: balancing not just environmental responsibility, but also our social responsibility to our customers, alongside sustained business performance".
For more non-fiction books on climate change and the environment, see our Pinterest list (you don't need to sign in).
Cli-Fi
Climate fiction, as a genre, was first identified in the 1960s. Some of the classics include early novels by J G Ballard dealing with climate emergencies: The Drowned World (1962), set in a tropical flooded London; and The Drought (1965), which deals with the disruption of the rain cycle by industrial pollution. The Dune series, by Frank Herbert, is set on a desert planet where water is a rare resource and the ecology is delicately balanced. The Word for World is Forest (1972) is a novella by feminist and anthropological writer Ursula le Guin, through which she condemns colonialism and deforestation.
In the twenty first century, the impact of climate change continued to inspire novels, primarily science fiction. However, Arctic Drift (2008) is a classic Clive Cussler adventure, with the premise of a scientific discovery which may halt global warming. Ian McEwan’s Solar (2010) follows the story of a physicist who discovers a way to fight climate change after managing to derive power from artificial phhttps://www.futurelearn.com/courses/climate-change-the-solutionsotosynthesis. The MaddAddam trilogy, (published 2003-2013) by Margaret Atwood, is an environmental dystopia, which begins with Oryx and Crake, in which the oryx (antelope) is a leitmotif for ecology. And The Road (2006) is already a classic, generally interpreted as the aftermath of climate disaster. Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver (2012) is set in the U.S. Appalachian Mountains. Following unseasonable weather, the monarch butterflies do not migrate south for the winter, spiking local and national interest – is it climate change or a sign from God?
More recent climate fiction writers include:
Richard Powers, with two novels shortlisted for the Booker prize: Overstory (2018) and Bewilderment (2021). Overstory tells of nine characters who have various connections with trees and who resist the destruction of forests. Bewilderment is the story of a widowed astrobiologist who uses his research into life on remote planets to support his son.
Kim Stanley Robinson is a Hugo and Nebula award winner (for Science Fiction). His most recent books are New York 2140, set in a future New York with canals and sky scrapers; and Ministry for the Future, which has been described as 'A novel that presents a rousing vision of how we might unite to overcome the greatest challenge of our time'.
Maja Lunde, a Norwegian writer, has written two novels for adults, each with the device of parallel stories, one being in the future. The history of bees has a China in the future where bees are extinct; The End of the Ocean has a future war-torn southern Europe plagued by drought.
For children
Picture books.
Stories for 7+
Children's information books
Teen Climate Fiction
Other resources
FutureLearn offer a 'Climate Change: Solutions' course.