Five Reads for the Environmentally Conscious
Take a deeper dive into the urgent realities and fascinating complexities of out planet’s changing environment and how it impacts not only us, but the animals we share it with.
The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities and the Remaking of the Civilized World by Jeff Goodell
So the sea levels are rising a few inches each year. Who cares, right? It’s not like there’s water on your doorstep… yet. Goodell will tell you why everyone should care about the rising sea levels, why our situation is so unprecedented, and what it means for our maybe not-so-distant future. With expert insight into potential solutions that might work (and some that definitely don’t), The Water Will Come is a survivor's guide to combating a life where everyone’s house is lake-front property.
The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet by Jeff Goodell
Goodell really has a way with titles and this book is no different. The Heat Will Kill You First is yet another master class on how to understand the effects of climate change in the context of rising global temperatures. Goodell outlines how a warmer planet impacts our wallets, our homes, and our health from first-person accounts that are as ominous as they are heartbreaking.
Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs by Juli Berwald
Did you know coral is alive? Like, a real living animal? Well, maybe it was just me who never knew that but that’s just the start of what you’ll learn about these miraculous creatures in Life on the Rocks. Juli Berwald is a marine biologist who takes readers through the life cycles of coral and how they create the technicolor, spellbinding reefs we see in all those pictures of everyone’s tropical vacations. She touches on everything from the biological complexities of reef systems to how scientists are working tirelessly around the globe to combat their destruction due to rising sea temperatures. I never thought I’d be so moved by something I had just learned wasn’t inanimate. But Berwald’s Life on the Rocks is nothing short of captivating and emotional.
How to Speak Whale: A Voyage Into the Future of Animal Communication by Tom Mustill
If you’re as unserious as I am, you see this title and immediately think of Dory from Finding Nemo trying to talk with a humpback whale. But jokes aside, Mustill is a serious biologist with a profound appreciation of animals and how they communicate. He takes readers on a scientific exploration of what Earth's largest animals are saying to each other and to us. How to Speak Whale intertwines history, biology, linguistics, and technology into a truly spellbinding experience. You may not walk away speaking whale but you’ll understand them, and the animal world, more deeply than ever.
The Day the World Stops Shopping by J.B. Mackinnon
This book is no stranger to Proof & Prose - it was the inaugural review and pairing here - and for good reason. J.B. Mackinnon thoughtfully takes readers through our current state of mass consumerism, how it’s impacting our planet, and outlines pathways towards changing our behaviors to save the environment and our future. Told through vignettes of trailblazers around the globe who are redefining consumption, The Day the World Stops Shopping is a must-read for anyone wanting to learn how their spending habits impact the environment and what they can do to curb it.
Learn more about this book and it’s drink pairings here.
