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Life

5 Earth Week Reads

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St. Law U chapter.

Although Earth/Sustainability Theme Week with Her Campus at St. Law U draws to a close, we are not going to stop learning more about how we can individually protect the environment and make the world a healthier place for future generations. From watching documentaries about the environment to trying new foods that are organic as well as beauty products, we also recommend picking up a book to learn how to properly contribute to the environment.

Here are our recommendations!

No One Is Too Small To Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg

Why wouldn’t you want to pick up a book written by the young woman who won Time’s Person of the Year (2019)? Greta Thunberg encourages us in this book that we can all make an impact on the environment.

Book Summary:

“The sea feeds and sustains us, but everywhere we look marine life is under threat, from Caribbean reefs to arctic fisheries to the deepest regions of the sea. In this passionate paean to the sea and its creatures one of the world’s foremost marine conservation biologists tells the story of man and the sea, from the earliest traces of life on earth to the oceans as we know them today. He considers the impact of fishing and ocean acidification, rising tides and warming seas, plastics and shifting currents, and reveals what we must do now to preserve our precious oceans. The struggles of Turtles, Dolphins, Whales and Tuna are relatively well known, but few people appreciate just how much our seas have changed in the last fifty years and how many species are now under acute stress. At once passionate and persuasive, The Ocean of Life will appeal to readers of Four Fish and The Sixth Extinction –to those who care about environmental sustainability, and to anyone who loves the sea and its creatures.”

The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea by Callum Roberts

Book Summary:

“The sea feeds and sustains us, but everywhere we look marine life is under threat, from Caribbean reefs to arctic fisheries to the deepest regions of the sea. In this passionate paean to the sea and its creatures one of the world’s foremost marine conservation biologists tells the story of man and the sea, from the earliest traces of life on earth to the oceans as we know them today. He considers the impact of fishing and ocean acidification, rising tides and warming seas, plastics and shifting currents, and reveals what we must do now to preserve our precious oceans. The struggles of Turtles, Dolphins, Whales and Tuna are relatively well known, but few people appreciate just how much our seas have changed in the last fifty years and how many species are now under acute stress. At once passionate and persuasive, The Ocean of Life will appeal to readers of Four Fish and The Sixth Extinction –to those who care about environmental sustainability, and to anyone who loves the sea and its creatures.”

The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells

Book Summary:

“It is worse, much worse, than you think. If your anxiety about global warming is dominated by fears of sea-level rise, you are barely scratching the surface of what terrors are possible—food shortages, refugee emergencies, climate wars and economic devastation.

An “epoch-defining book” (The Guardian) and “this generation’s Silent Spring” (The Washington Post), The Uninhabitable Earth is both a travelogue of the near future and a meditation on how that future will look to those living through it—the ways that warming promises to transform global politics, the meaning of technology and nature in the modern world, the sustainability of capitalism and the trajectory of human progress.

The Uninhabitable Earth is also an impassioned call to action. For just as the world was brought to the brink of catastrophe within the span of a lifetime, the responsibility to avoid it now belongs to a single generation—today’s.”

The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac

Book Summary: 

“In The Future We Choose, Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac–who led negotiations for the United Nations during the historic Paris Agreement of 2015–have written a cautionary but optimistic book about the world’s changing climate and the fate of humanity.
The authors outline two possible scenarios for our planet. In one, they describe what life on Earth will be like by 2050 if we fail to meet the Paris climate targets. In the other, they lay out what it will be like to live in a carbon-neutral, regenerative world. They argue for confronting the climate crisis head-on, with determination and optimism. The Future We Choose presents our options and tells us what governments, corporations, and each of us can and must do to fend off disaster.”

Reef Life by Callum Roberts

Book Summary:

“A hugely affecting memoir by the world’s leading coral reef scientist, revealing the thrill of diving and the vital science and story of these majestic reefs.

How did one of the world’s preeminent marine conservation scientists fall in love with coral reefs? We first meet Callum as a young student who had never been abroad, spending a summer helping to map the unknown reefs of Saudi Arabia. From that moment, when Callum first cleared his goggles, he never looked back. He went on to survey Sharm al-Sheikh, and from there he would dive into the deep in the name of research all over the world, from Australia’s imperiled Great Barrier Reef to the hardier reefs of the Caribbean.

Reef Life is filled with astonishing stories of adventure and the natural world, which are by turns lyrical and laced with a wonderful wry humor. Callum illuminates the science of our oceans and reefs and his book, combined with the stunning photographs from Alex Mustard, will also commit readers to support Callum’s goal to preserve 10 percent of the world’s oceans.”

Did we miss a book on this list that you’d like to share with us? Be sure to reach out to us through our DMs or via e-mail!

 

 

 

Disclaimer: Her Campus St. Law U is neither sponsored by nor affiliated with any brands or companies mentioned in this article.

Allison ("Allie") Attarian studied Psychology and Communications at St. Lawrence University where she was a Campus Correspondent for HC St. Law U. Allie was also a Campus Community Management Intern for the Community Team at Her Campus Media. Her combined passion for creativity, reading, and writing sparked her interest in joining Her Campus. She loves traveling, listening to music, creating visual art, and spending time with friends. Check out her personal blog here.