To contact Chris Winter, send email to this address.Copyright © 2005-2024 Christopher P. Winter. All rights reserved.
This page was last modified on 25 November 2024.
| ENVIRONMENT |
This category will contain books describing aspects of the environment as well as those about how we are treating the environment, with a major emphasis on how we handle the problem of climate change. |
| PRINCIPAL AUTHOR |
TITLE (Linked to review) |
RATING (0-5) |
REVIEW DATE |
ONE-LINE DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams, Douglas | Last Chance To See | 5.0 | 3/18/2013 | In his inimitably irreverent style, Hitch-Hiker's Guide author Douglas Adams writes of his real quests to observe some of the world's rarest animals. |
| Archer, David | The Climate Crisis | 5.0 | 6/30/2011 | Written by two scientists with long and deep involvement in the study of Earth's climate system, this book is a commendably calm and clear explanation of current changes in that system for the lay public. |
| Barnosky, Anthony | Tipping Point for Planet Earth | 5.0 | 10/22/2019 | Want to read about the storms, water shortages, diseases, and other problems climate change is bringing? Read the book anyway — and note the hope it brings. |
| Biggers, Jeff | Reckoning at Eagle Creek | 5.0 | 6/23/2011 | By rediscovering his own roots, Jeff Biggers discloses the true extent of coal-company depredations — not only polluting our environment, but pulverizing important chunks of our shared history. |
| Caldicott, Helen | Crisis Without End | 4.5 | 2/17/2015 | Nuclear power's most persistent critic has assembled here contributions from the presenters at her 2013 symposium — and it's a book of value! |
| Carson, Rachel | Silent Spring | 5.0 | 4/27/2003 | This path-breaking book by a government wildlife biologist indicted the Department of Agriculture's pesticide programs and founded the environmental movement. |
| Cousteau, Jacques-Yves | The Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus | 5.0 | 3/20/2008 | This is both memoir and manifesto of the famed ocean explorer. |
| Cullen, Heidi | Weather of the Future | 4.5 | 3/15/2012 | Dr. Cullen, senior climatologist with Climate Central. presents in her first book a clear picture of climate change and what it portends for various regions of the globe. |
| Dunlap, Thomas R. | DDT | 5.0 | 6/28/2012 | An invaluable history of the development and legal wrangling over DDT and similar pesticides, with abundant citations. |
| Dyer, Gwynne | Climate Wars | 5.0 | 3/03/2011 | Canadian observer of world affairs Gwynne Dyer provides a fresh perspective on how we are likely to handle our climate crisis. |
| Englander, John | High Tide on Main Street | 5.0 | 5/19/2019 | Oceanographer and consultant John Englander presents a book that is a must-read throughout for those learning about climate change and, in its latter half, for those familiar with the topic. |
| Epstein, Paul R. | Changing Planet, Changing Health | 5.0 | 11/26/2011 | Dr. Epstein (1943-2011), a physician, reports with journalist Dan Ferber here of the many impacts climate change is already having around the world — not just in public health, but in agricultural productivity too. This first-person account is not to be missed. |
| Faris, Stephan | Forecast | 5.0 | 6/08/2010 | No one I've seen does a better job than globe-girdling journalist Stephan Faris at convincing us why we should worry about the climate changes that are happening right now. |
| Flannery, Tim | Atmosphere of Hope | 5.0 | 8/04/2016 | Renewing his crusade for hope, Dr. Flannery discusses a number of promising developments in the quest to restore the atmosphere's carbon balance. |
| Flannery, Tim | Now or Never | 5.0 | 1/28/2010 | Dr. Flannery demonstrates in these essays why there is hope not only of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change, but of avoiding ruinous costs of mitigation as well. |
| Galuszka, Peter A. | Thunder on the Mountain | 4.5 | 7/13/2013 | Galuszka, a journalist with roots in Appalachia, gives us a good look at recent events surrounding Massey Energy. |
| Gibson, James William | A Reenchanted World | 5.0 | 12/13/2009 | James Gibson chronicles the reawakening of a vitally needed spiritual view of nature. |
| Goodell, Jeff | The Water Will Come | 5.0 | 11/26/2017 | Jeff Goodell surveys coastal cities and other installations at risk from rising seas and examines their prospects. |
| Goodell, Jeff | The Heat Will Kill You First | 5.0 | 7/24/2023 | As Jeff Goodell vividly shows us here, extreme heat is the prime mover of all climate-change threats. |
| Gore, Al | Our Choice | 5.0 | 5/14/2010 | The former vice president's third book on the environment sets forth clearly the tradeoffs involved in every aspect of the puzzles of climate-change mitigation and adaptation. |
| Guay, Mary | Climate Change | 5.0 | 1/02/2016 | Former hospice worker Mary Guay recounts her discovery of the seriousness of climate change and her personal fight to confront it. |
| Hanes, Stephanie | White Man's Game | 5.0 | 5/06/2018 | Western programs to help Africa, Stephanie Hanes explains in this journalistic tour de force, often take the wrong approach. |
| Hansen, James | Storms of My Grandchildren | 5.0 | 2/15/2011 | The foremost climatologist in this country explains the urgency of doing something about climate change. |
| Harvey, Hal | The Big Fix | 5.0 | 11/28/2023 | Reaching a sustainable economy requires citizens to undrstand both energy and politics. This book shows how. |
| Heos, Bridget | It's Getting Hot in Here | 5.0 | 10/11/2021 | A prolific author of children's books gives us a comprehensive introduction to current climate change for ages 12 and up. |
| Hewitt, William F. | A Newer World | 4.5 | 8/30/2013 | Contrary to the beliefs of many, a great deal can be done — is being done — about global warming. |
| Jamail, Dahr | The End of Ice | 5.0 | 10/17/2019 | Dahr Jamail explores the world's climate trouble spots and finds the experience worse than his ten years reporting on war-torn Iraq. |
| Jensen, Derrick | Bright Green Lies | 4.0 | 9/18/2021 | Three ardent environmentalists present a well researched and strongly felt but deeply flawed case for abandoning industrial civilization. |
| Kennedy, Jr., Robert F. | Crimes Against Nature | 5.0 | 5/12/2005 | This report by the son of Robert F. Kennedy, now a lawyer defending the environment, weaves a familiar tale of Bush administration misdeeds. Familiar, yes, but not invalid — and not unimportant. |
| Klein, Naomi | The Battle for Paradise | 5.0 | 7/22/2018 | In Puerto Rico, capitalist forces contend with local people over the future of a land ravaged by Hurricane Maria. Naomi Klein shows us what's at stake. |
| Klein, Naomi | On Fire | 5.0 | 4/28/2021 | In a collection of essays and lectures, Naomi Klein celebrates the advent of a youth movement for climate action and continues her cogent case for such action. |
| Klein, Naomi | This Changes Everything | 5.0 | 6/04/2017 | Noting the burgeoning protests against rapacious extraction of fossil fuels, Naomi Klein argues passionately for a reform of capitalism. |
| Kolbert, Elizabeth | Field Notes from a Catastrophe | 5.0 | 1/20/2010 | Compelling accounts of its effects on ordinary people are the virtue of Elizabeth Kolbert's book on climate change. |
| Kolbert, Elizabeth | The Sixth Extinction | 5.0 | 6/08/2015 | Elizabeth Kolbert continues her chronicle of the Anthropocene and climate change with a compelling survey of current research. |
| Kolbert, Elizabeth | Under a White Sky | 5.0 | 11/25/2024 | Multiple field investigations by Elizabeth Kolbert cover efforts to control the Asian Carp and the Cane Toad, to preserve the Devils Hole Pupfish of Nevada and the corals of the Great Barrier Reef, and the developing techniques of direct air capture and solar geoengineering.. |
| Linden, Eugene | The Winds of Change | 5.0 | 11/23/2006 | A unique aspect of this book by long-time climate science writer Eugene Linden is his detailed discussion of the possible financial impacts of global warming. |
| Loeb, Penny | Moving Mountains | 5.0 | 7/27/2023 | For students of West Virginia political history, here is a very detailed account of the fight to improve living conditions near coal mines. |
| Lustgarten, Abrahm | On the Move | 5.0 | 5/26/2024 | Using anecdotes, models, and statistics, this book shows how climate change is affecting the United States on both the personal and societal levels. |
| Mann, Charles C. | Noah's Choice | 5.0 | 6/11/2011 | A deep investigation of species preservation efforts under the Endangered Species Act reveals the complexities that are not always apparent on the surface. |
| McKibben, Bill | Eaarth | 5.0 | 1/15/2011 | "This is not your father's planet," says McKibben, author of The End of Nature. His prognosis is grim. But then he tells us what we can do about the situation. |
| McKibben, Bill | The Global Warming Reader | 5.0 | 7/24/2012 | Edited by Bill McKibben, this collection of essays features a number of excellent writers. Some highlights among the selections are the contributions by Arundhati Roy and Elizabeth Kolbert. |
| McKibben, Bill | Falter | 4.5 | 4/29/2019 | Greatly concerned by climate change running ahead, and by new technologies, old campaigner Bill McKibben can still muster hope. |
| Nadeau, Robert L. | The Environmental Endgame | 5.0 | 1/07/2009 | Professor Nadeau thoroughly demolishes the illusion that mainstream economics possesses rigor and reliable predictive power. |
| Nardo, Don | Climate Crisis | 5.0 | 10/01/2022 | A clear and accurate explanation for juvenile readers of what is happening, why it's happening, and how to lower the temperature. |
| Outside Magazine | Out of the Noösphere | 5.0 | 12/24/2001 | A collection of cracking good essays, chosen by the magazine's editors. |
| Reece, Erik | Lost Mountain | 5.0 | 12/28/2009 | This is Erik Reece's obituary for that eastern Kentucky mountain, which he watched being cut down during 2003 and 2004. |
| Reiss, Bob | The Eskimo and the Oil Man | 5.0 | 12/30/2012 | Drilling for oil off Alaska's North Shore could be a blessing or a curse, and probably will be some of both. Bob Reiss explains why in his thorough report on a complex matter. |
| Romm, Joseph J. | Hell and High Water | 5.0 | 5/04/2007 | Dr. Romm examines the arguments of the "Denyers and Delayers" — politically well-connected skeptics who have been blocking any U.S. action on global warming. |
| Seidl, Amy | Early Spring | 5.0 | 12/14/2010 | Ecologist Dr. Amy Seidl describes in gentle and evocative terms, often through the eyes of her two young daughters, ominous changes in the seasons experienced in her Vermont valley home. |
| Shnayerson, Michael | Coal River | 5.0 | 11/18/2009 | A long look at the valley of the Coal River in West Virginia, where the streams are getting filled up and the people are just about fed up. |
| Stern, Nicholas | The Global Deal | 5.0 | 3/04/2012 | Fixing climate change means fixing poverty, Lord Stern avers here, and he shows us that both fixes are actually affordable. |
| Stern, Nicholas | Why Are We Waiting? | 5.0 | 5/01/2022 | Lord Stern reprises his theme that fixing climate change and alleviating poverty go hand in hand, and shows us some of the progress that has been made. |
| Stone, Roger D. | The Mightier Hudson | 4.5 | 7/27/2012 | Long subject to industrial pollution and neglect of its shorelines, New York's historic Hudson River has rebounded in recent decades, as Roger Stone tells us in detail here. |
| Strong, Douglas H. | Dreamers & Defenders | 5.0 | 8/27/2001 | Short but comprehensive biographies of America's foremost conservationists, from Thoreau to Commoner |
| Thunberg, Greta | The Climate Book | 5.0 | 8/22/2023 | Climate-change activist Greta Thunberg has brought into being a comprehensive sourcebook on what the climate-change crisis is and how to solve it |
| Wallace-Wells, David | The Uninhabitable Earth | 4.5 | 6/03/2019 | Wordy and meandering in places, David Wallace-West's book is a useful exploration of how climate change is affecting us, and will in the future. |
| Waterman, Jonathan | Where Mountains Are Nameless | 5.0 | 6/18/2010 | Wilderness guru Jonathan Waterman tells of his time in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and of the contending interests that strive to exploit or protect it. |
| Weiner, Jonathan | The Next One Hundred Years | 5.0 | 7/02/2011 | Published in 1990, this book perforce misses recent developments regarding climate change. Yet it presents the basics clearly and accurately, showing why, as with other environmental problems, mitigation is far less expensive than adaptation. |
| Wilson, Edward O. | A Window on Eternity | 5.0 | 1/28/2015 | Dr. Wilson's long years of experience in studying the diversity of life on Earth are distilled into this gloriously illustrated volume, where he explains why preserving it is vital. |
| Wilson, Edward O. | Half-Earth | 5.0 | 5/28/2016 | Here is Dr. Wilson's plea for Earth's ever-shrinking wilderness, and the kernel of a plan to preserve threatened species by setting aside carefully-sited tracts of wild land connected by transit corridors to permit safe migration. |
| The books are rated from 0 to 5 in increments of 0.5. Colors represent the following quality ranges: | ||||
| 4.0 to 5.0 | Quality: | HIGH | (Color = Aqua) | Competent to exceptional; well worth the money |
| 2.0 to 3.5 | Quality: | FAIR | (Color = Lime) | Useful despite some flaws; may or may not be worth buying. |
| 0.5 to 1.5 | Quality: | POOR | (Color = Yellow) | Seriously flawed; read it if you wish, but don't buy it. |
| 0.0 to 0.0 | Quality: | YUCK | (Color = Fuchsia) | Avoid this book at all costs! |
To contact Chris Winter, send email to this address.