Un/Natural Disasters

This edition of Booklights honors Mitchell College’s commemoration of Earth Day in this 75^th anniversary year of the institution’s founding, showcasing titles that challenge us to reflect on the impact of human activity on the Earth and its climate.  These and additional titles are on display in the Library.

On April 22, 2013, the Library will host a number of Earth Day events following outdoor opening ceremonies centered on the preservation of Mitchell Woods and Mitchell Beach.  View full press release.

Library programming will include student presentations and poster sessions, the dedication of an art work created for the Library by artist Diane Barcelo, and the opening of the Library’s Earth Day exhibit, Un/Natural Disasters, curated by Nadesha Mijoba of the Provenance Center in New London, CT.

 

The Forces of Nature: Our Quest to Conquer the Planet

By Barry A. Vann

Format: print

Book Review (National Science Teachers’ Association)

Publisher Description
As long as the human species has existed, men and women have had to contend with the unpredictable forces of nature. Geographer Barry A. Vann brings a unique perspective to this age-old struggle in this illuminating overview of human population shifts and their precarious relationship with climate change and geography…. Read more…

 

Imperiled Life: Revolution Against Climate Catastrophe

By Javier Sethness-Castro

Format: print

Excerpt from AK Press

Publisher Description
Imperiled Life theorizes an exit from the potentially terminal consequences of capital-induced climate change. It is a collection of reflections on the phenomenon of catastrophe—climatological, political, social—as well as on the possibilities of overcoming disaster…. Read more…

 

Silent Spring

By Rachel Carson

Silent Spring turned 50 on September 27th, 2012.  Many scholars and scientists point to the realization in the 21st century of Rachel Carson’s worst fears for the environment and to the urgency for global action. Visit the library’s book display to browse this and other works by and about Rachel Carson.

Format: print

Preview with Google Books

50th Anniversary Resources & Reflections

Rachel Carson Institute (at Chatham University)

Rachel Carson Biography (brief)

How ‘Silent Spring‘ Ignited the Environmental Movement (New York Times)
“On June 4, 1963, less than a year after the controversial environmental classic ‘Silent Spring‘ was published, its author, Rachel Carson, testified before a Senate subcommittee on pesticides. She was 56 and dying of breast cancer. She told almost no one.” Read more…

 

The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth

By Tim Flannery
Bestselling Author

Format: print

Weathermakers.org
Includes author bio, book reviews, and additional learning resources.

Author interview with Terry Gross (Fresh Air, WHYY)

Publisher Description
An international best seller embraced and endorsed by policy makers, scientists, writers, and energy industry executives from around the world, Tim Flannery’s The Weather Makers helped bring the topic of global warming to national prominence. For the first time, a scientist provided an accessible and comprehensive account of the history, current status, and future impact of climate change, writing what has been acclaimed by reviewers everywhere as the definitive book on global warming…. Read more…

 

Two Degrees: the Built Environment and Our Changing Climate

By Alisdair McGregor, Cole Roberts, and Fiona Cousins
Forward by Amory Lovins

Format: print

Press Release (CNBC)

Publisher Description
Setting politics aside, Two Degrees reviews the current science and explains how we can set practical steps to reduce the extent of [global] warming and to adapt to the inevitable changes, all while improving the bottom line, beautifying our communities, and increasing human health… Read more…

 

The Human Impact on the Natural Environment

By Andrew Goudie

Format: print

Preview with Google Books

Publisher Description
…an essential introduction to the past, present and future impact of humans on Earth… Read more…

 

An Unnatural Metropolis: Wresting New Orleans from Nature

By Craig E. Colten
2013 Rachel Carson Center Fellow

Format: print

Preview with Google Books

Publisher Description
Craig E. Colten traces engineered modifications to New Orleans’s natural environment from 1800 to 2000 and demonstrates that, though all cities must contend with their physical settings, New Orleans may be the city most dependent on human-induced transformations of its precarious site. In a new preface, Colten shows how Hurricane Katrina exemplifies the inability of human artifice to exclude nature… Read more…