Archives de catégorie : Environment

LOST ARK DREAMING de Suyi Davies Okungbowa

The brutally engineered class divisions of Snowpiercer meets Rivers Solomon’s The Deep in this high-octane post-climate disaster novella written by Nommo Award-winning author Suyi Davies Okungbowa.

LOST ARK DREAMING
by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
Tordotcom, May 2024
(via DeFiore & Company)

Off the coast of West Africa, decades after the dangerous rise of the Atlantic Ocean, the region’s survivors live inside five partially submerged, kilometers-high towers originally created as a playground for the wealthy. Now the towers’ most affluent rule from their lofty perch at the top while the rest are crammed into the dark, fetid floors below sea level.

There are also those who were left for dead in the Atlantic, only to be reawakened by an ancient power, and who seek vengeance on those who offered them up to the waves.

Three lives within the towers are pulled to the fore of this conflict: Yekini, an earnest, mid-level rookie analyst; Tuoyo, an undersea mechanic mourning a tremendous loss; and Ngozi, an egotistical bureaucrat from the highest levels of governance. They will need to work together if there is to be any hope of a future that is worth living―for everyone.

Suyi Davies Okungbowa is an award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction. He lives in Ontario, where he is a professor of creative writing at the University of Ottawa.

RESTORE de Tom Crowther

An exploration of the interconnectivity of ecosystems and how we can use nature to help Earth heal itself, written by the scientist and thought leader at the forefront of the restoration movement.

RESTORE
by Tom Crowther
Harper Select, Fall 2025
(via Park & Fine Literary and Media)

© Frederik van den Berg

Each species in an ecosystem relies on one another. From the millions of fungi in the soil to the macrofauna that dominate the landscape, from the biggest predator to the smallest prey, each organism helps create a livable, sustainable ecosystem in which all the others can thrive. In his commercial debut, renowned ecologist and leader of the Trillion Trees Study Dr. Tom Crowther will take readers beneath the canopy to show how everything within and around the trees connects through an intricate series of feedback loops.

But feedback loops aren’t just critical to understanding how ecosystems function and persist over time, they also underpin the most incredible developments in the universe from the birth of the stars to the evolution of species to the creation of language itself. These loops are the most powerful mechanism of change we have, and if we understand how they work, both in nature and in society, we’ll have the tools to revive the rich, diverse, and sustainable environments we love and need.

Grounded in original research and containing of dozens of real-world stories from across the globe, Dr. Crowther will provide readers with a renewed sense of awe in the power and beauty of nature, and a new paradigm for how to engage with our environment and our society to create transformative change.

Dr Thomas Crowther runs the Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich, where he is a professor in the Department of Environmental Systems Science, conducting original research and teaching the science of climate change. His research is regularly published in top journals such as Nature, Science, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and he has been featured in popular media including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. He speaks regularly at conferences like Davos and the UN Convention on Climate Change and consults with major companies including Google and Salesforce.

DEMOKRATIE IM FEUER de Jonas Schaible

Rethinking climate change and democracy.

DEMOKRATIE IM FEUER
(Democracy in Flames)
by Jonas Schaible
DVA/PRH Germany, March 2023

Many people think that protecting our climate and democracy are mutually exclusive. For some, the fight against climate change is moving too slowly, while others are already feeling threatened by the prospect of an « eco-dictatorship ». In DEMOKRATIE IM FEUER, journalist Schaible shows that protecting the climate and democracy are actually prerequisites for each other. Without one, the other will become impossible. He exposes false contradictions, and argues that what we need is « climate democracy » – for the climate crisis is already starting to limit our freedoms, and we’ll only be able to save the planet by democratic means. DEMOKRATIE IM FEUER takes a new look at the relationship between democracy and climate change, and sketches an optimistic vision of a future where the two reinforce each other.

Jonas Schaible, born in 1989, is an editor at Spiegel’s Berlin office. He studied politics and media studies in Tübingen and Berlin, and graduated with a degree in journalism from Hamburg’s Henri Nannen School. He has been writing regularly about climate change and climate policy since 2018, and won the German Reporter Prize for Best Essay for his feature « Wer von Ökodiktatur spricht, hat das Problem nicht verstanden » (‘If you’re talking about eco-dictatorships you haven’t understood the problem’).

NOMADEN DER OZEANE de Frauke Bagusche

A fascinating look at the astonishingly talented sea turtles, and why they urgently need our help.

NOMADEN DER OZEANE: DAS GEHEIMNIS DER MEERESSCHILDKRÖTEN
(Nomads of the Sea: The Secret Life of Turtles)
by Frauke Bagusche
Ludwig/PRH Germany, March 2023

Turtles can do amazing things: some can dive to more than 1,000 metres, others transport organisms across the seas (and thus contribute to their distribution), others act as « architects of the oceans » by helping to spread coral reefs along the sea bed. All have impressive « super-senses », which mean they’re able to return to the beaches where they were born – often decades later, and from thousands of kilometres away. They orient themselves by the earth’s magnetic field, as well as their sense of smell, which allows them to recognise the scent of their first beach.
In NOMADS OF THE SEA, marine biologist Bagusche takes us on a singular voyage around the world and a journey back in time. Her fascinating stories about the turtles’ unexpected talents are interwoven with the latest scientific findings as well as her own personal experiences; and she shows why these popular shell-carriers urgently need our help, and what we can do to preserve these animals as well as our common home – the sea.

Frauke Bagusche, born in 1978, is a marine biologist. After gaining her doctorate at the University of Southampton in England she was responsible for marine biological stations on the Maldives and sailed 9,500 kilometres across the Atlantic from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean in order to draw attention to the litter pollution of the oceans. She gives lectures and holds seminars on subjects connected with marine biology. Her previous book The Blue Wonder was translated into several languages.

THE SACRED BALANCE de David Suzuki

With a new foreword from Robin Wall Kimmerer, New York Times-bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass—and an afterword from Bill McKibben—this special 25th anniversary edition of a beloved bestseller invites readers to see ourselves as part of nature, not separate.

THE SACRED BALANCE:
Rediscovering Our Place in Nature
25th Anniversary Edition
by David Suzuki
Greystone, October 2022

The world is changing at a relentless pace. How can we slow down and act from a place of respect for all living things? THE SACRED BALANCE shows us how.
In this extensively updated new edition, David Suzuki reflects on the increasingly radical changes in science and nature—from the climate crisis to peak oil and the rise in clean energy—and examines what they mean for humankind. He also reflects on what we have learned by listening to Indigenous leaders, whose knowledge of the natural world is profound, and whose peoples are on the frontlines of protecting land and water around the world.
Drawing on his own experiences and those of others who have put their beliefs into action, The Sacred Balance combines science, philosophy, spirituality, and Indigenous knowledge to offer concrete suggestions for creating an ecologically sustainable future by rediscovering and addressing humanity’s basic needs.

The most complete expression to date of an environmental ethic from one of the world’s leading conservation writers, combining science, theology, poetry, and philosophy to express a worldview towards which the human species must shift… THE SACRED BALANCE has a beautiful spirit.” —E.O. Wilson

David Suzuki is an internationally renowned geneticist, environmentalist, author of more than fifty books, and the founder of the David Suzuki Foundation.
Robin Wall Kimmerer is the author of the New York Times bestseller Braiding Sweetgrass and Gathering Moss. She is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.