Find out about Extinction Rebellion and and sign up here, at rebellion earth
Last week, thousands of protesters paralysed parts of central London, blockading four landmarks in the capital in an attempt to force the government to take action on the escalating climate crisis.
I went to Oxford Circus and Waterloo Bridge to find out for myself what Extinction Rebellion demonstrators were up to. And I caught Dom Goetz, a leader in the making, give a succinct fifteen minute roundup of what faces us all if emergency action is not taken NOW. Inertia and denial will lead to irreversible climate breakdown and mass extinction.
Here is a podcast of Dom Goetz, recorded LIVE, speaking on Waterloo Bridge
Our top ten reads are pungent tasters which pack a punch:
Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken with a Foreword by Tom Steyer | Buy now
“At this point in time, the Drawdown book is exactly what is needed; a credible, conservative solution-by-solution narrative that we can do it. Reading it is an effective inoculation against the widespread perception of doom that humanity cannot and will not solve the climate crisis. Reported by-effects include increased determination and a sense of grounded hope.” — Per Espen Stoknes, author of What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming
The World is Blue by Sylvia Earle | Buy now
“This book gave me a fresh perspective of how Earth’s oceans make life on this planet possible for humans and every other living thing . . . The World is Blue engages the reader’s attention from cover to cover. It is filled with delightful sea creatures juxtaposed against a backdrop of ocean dead zones, dwindling fish populations, and widespread pollution. Examples of human ignorance and greed are accompanied by stories of good deeds and hope.” — Linda Anne Poppenheimer, Greengroundswell.com
This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein | Buy now
“Forget everything you think you know about global warming. It’s not about carbon – it’s about capitalism. The good news is that we can seize this crisis to transform our failed economic system and build something radically better . . . You have been told the market will save us, when in fact the addiction to profit and growth is digging us in deeper every day. You have been told it’s impossible to get off fossil fuels when in fact we know exactly how to do it – it just requires breaking every rule in the ‘free-market’ playbook.” — Good Reads
Storms of my Grandchildren by James Hansen | Buy now
“Dr James Hansen has been warning against global warming since the 1980s, but although the scientific consensus has swung his way, governments have been less than keen to take his advice.” — Independent
Earth in the Balance by Al Gore | Buy now
“[Al Gore’s] book is not just another roundup summary of threats to the environment, though it does include chapters on water problems, deforestation, and the genetic erosion of the global food supply, but it’s a seemingly heartfelt attempt to understand and convince those (politicians and public) who deny the urgency of the problems and the need to act.” — Kirkus Reviews
Oil and Honey by Bill McKibben | Buy now
“McKibben dovetails his examination of the trajectory of his rise to prominence as one of the go-to speakers for the environmental movement with his burgeoning interest in and involvement with beekeeping. In the fall of 2001, while teaching a course on local food production at Middlebury College in his home state of Vermont, the author met Kirk Webster, a small-scale beekeeper who raised and sold bees, hives, and honey around the area . . . Over the next decade, McKibben became increasingly exasperated by the continued degradation of our planet and what he saw as the seemingly unstoppable alliance between Big Oil and national government — “donations from the fossil fuel industry managed to turn one of our two political parties into climate deniers (and the other party into cowards).” — Eric Liebetrau, Boston Globe
Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm by Isabella Tree | Buy now
“It was a conversation about mycorrhizal fungi, and worries about money, that set Isabella Tree and her husband, Charlie Burrell, on course to create what must be one of England’s largest ever — 3,500 acre — “amateur” experiments. In 2000, the couple, who farmed the Knepp estate in deepest West Sussex, sold off everything from tractors to ear-tagging pliers, sheep hurdles to semen flasks, and decided to let nature take over.” — Helen Davies, The Times
Curlew Moon by Mary Colwell | Buy now
“The bubbling call of the curlew, heard across the fields at dusk, has long been a vital part of a traditional English landscape. Poets from WB Yeats to Dylan Thomas have immortalised this greyish brown wading bird in verse. Once a common sight across the UK and Ireland, the native nesting bird is now under threat from intensive agricultural practices and the loss of its habitat. In England and Scotland, the number of breeding pairs has declined by 60% in the last 20 years. Mary Colwell, a natural history producer and ardent curlew fan, decided in 2016 to walk 500 miles from the west of Ireland to the east coast of England to raise awareness of the bird’s plight.” — Caroline Crampton, The Guardian
The Running Hare: The Secret Life of Farmland by John Lewis-Stempel | Buy now
The author sets about, over the course of a year, sowing wheat and wildflowers. Where possible, he follows traditional ways, often deploying non-traditional methods to achieve his goals . . . The diary form of The Running Hare facilitates impressionistic and spontaneous prose as the rural year unfurls. Problems queue up for recognition, of course, but Lewis-Stempel ploughs on (sorry), sowing, among other things, to encourage the eponymous hare. And the animal comes. “Have hares, have our national landscape.” — Sara Wheeler, Guardian
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson | Buy now
“If you had to choose one text by one person as the cornerstone of the conservation movement, the signal for politically savvy environmental activism, and the beacon of worldwide lay awareness of ecological systems, Silent Spring would be most people’s clear choice. Its impact was immediate, far-reaching and ultimately life-enhancing: it earned her a posthumous presidential medal and put her face on the 17 cent US postage stamp. It also earNed her sustained vitriolic assault from the chemical industry . . . It is brilliantly written: clear, controlled and authoritative; with confident poetical flourishes that suddenly illuminate pages of cool exposition. The pesticide residues in US drainage systems are unexpectedly counterpointed with ‘the sight and sound of drifting ribbons of waterfowl across an evening sky.’ Soil bacteria and fungi become a ‘horde of minute but ceaselessly toiling creatures’.” — Tim Radford, Guardian
The copyright to all the content of this site is held either by BookBlast® Ltd and/or the individual authors and creators. Q&A format(s) © BookBlast Ltd. Quotes may be freely taken from the content on this page for reasonable, fair use on condition that www.bookblast.com/blog is cited as the source. Otherwise none of the material may be used anywhere without written permission. Any enquiries, contact us via twitter DM @bookblast or email bookblastdiary [at] gmail [dot] com
