The Earth Transformed: An Untold History – Reviewed in the Atlantic

In his sweeping new book, Peter Frankopan looks at how the climate has changed human society—and how we have changed the climate.
Does climate change directly influence the weather we experience? Until recently—for the past 40 years or so—that question has followed nearly every major hurricane or flood, every record snowfall or heat wave. In some people, it provokes instant denial, often political or economic, often rooted in prideful ignorance. But the question raises a genuine analytical issue: How do we determine the effect of incremental, global atmospheric change on locally transient weather systems? And how do we assess the effect that those systems—and the climate shifts underlying them—have had on human societies in the past? These are complicated questions. Now imagine trying to answer them throughout the whole of history, from the origin of our species to the day before yesterday. That’s the task the Oxford historian Peter Frankopan undertakes in The Earth Transformed: An Untold History…

Vanishing Sands: How Sand Mining is Stripping Away Earth’s Beaches by Orrin Pilkey, et al – Duke | Nicholas School of the Environment

Cover art: Forest City, Johor, Malaysia, 2017. (Photograph by Sim Chi Yin, courtesy of Duke University Press)

A new book from Duke University Press, “Vanishing Sands: Losing Beaches to Mining,” casts light on the shadowy world of sand mining through case studies that illuminate its disastrous impacts and a concluding chapter that proposes common-sense solutions.

Because of the tradition of viewing beaches as public land, people have historically thought of beach sand as a free and limitless resource, Pilkey and his co-authors explain in their preface to “Vanishing Sands…”

Back on Bonaire: Rediscovering Divers Paradise as a Father; A Book By Andrew Jalbert

With its protected nearshore reef system, gem-clear seas, and sweeping conservation efforts, Bonaire has earned the title it boasts on its license plates: Diver’s Paradise. Andrew Jalbert’s “Back on Bonaire,” is the story of stitching together two very different worlds in an enjoyable, funny and at times touching account of introducing his son to his beloved Bonaire.

The Batik Art of Mary Edna Fraser; A Book By Cecelia Dailey

Using fabric, wax, and dye, internationally renowned artist Mary Edna Fraser has transformed the techniques of batik from its ancient origins and forged new visions of our planet from the sky to the ocean floor ―creating wonder, awe, and an awareness of the environment.

The Magic Dolphin; A Book By Charles O. Pilkey With Orrin H. Pilkey

A lighthearted, beautifully illustrated children’s book that tells the story of two kids who rescue a stranded dolphin, caught in a fish net. The grateful dolphin rewards the kids by taking them on an adventurous, world-encircling journey, teaching them along the way about global warming, sea level rise, beach erosion and other challenges facing the sea.

Pictures Show How Modern Life Is Altering the Natural World

Every part of modern life is touched by technology, and every part of technology requires something that once came from the ground: the silicon dioxide in your cell phone, the phosphorous to grow your food, the copper in the wires that brought this article to your eyes, and a thousand other examples. This is the imprint photographer Edward Burtynsky felt compelled to capture.