From novels to science books, we have a large collection of recommendations of the best books to read about the environment and environmental issues. There is evidence that limiting climate change and preserving biodiversity are rapidly moving up the political agenda globally, but the scale of the problem seems to be mounting at least as fast as the commitment to tackling it.
You can read our interviews looking at specific issues in more detail. Harvard historian Naomi Oreskes looks at The Politics of Climate Change. Sociologist and author Rebecca Altman recommends books on pollution. If you're interested in energy transition, renewable energy expert Chris Goodall has some suggestions.
Professor Juliet Schor looks at consumption and the environment and writer and journalist Adam Minter, who has covered the topic for years, discusses the trash trade. Science writer Gaia Vince talks about the Anthropocene and the geologist, Jan Zalasiewicz, talks about Anthropocene oceans.
If you're a fan of Guardian columnist George Monbiot, he's chosen an essential reading list for understanding our environmental challenges.
You can also find books about the environment and environmental issues in some of our other interviews, such as Clearing the Air by Tim Smedley, which was chosen as one of the best science books of 2019 by the Royal Society. In addition, we have a short interview with Vaclav Smil about his book, Growth: from Microorganisms to Megacities.
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The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis
by Amitav Ghosh -
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Reconsidering Reparations
by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò -
3
Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World
by Jason Hickel -
4
Ideas to Postpone the End of the World
by Ailton Krenak, translated by Anthony Doyle -
5
A Small Farm Future
by Chris Smaje
The best books on Climate Adaptation, recommended by Ben Rawlence
The best books on Climate Adaptation, recommended by Ben Rawlence
The future is uncertain; perhaps the only thing we do know is that, in terms of the environment and the climate, there is no going back. Ben Rawlence, the author and activist, selects five of the best books on climate adaptation—nonfiction works that might guide our path through a world of rising temperatures, melting ice caps, and shifting forests.
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Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World
by Katharine Hayhoe -
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Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future
by Elizabeth Kolbert -
3
Owls of the Eastern Ice
by Jonathan Slaght -
4
How to Blow Up a Pipeline
by Andreas Malm -
5
Electrify: An Optimist's Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future
by Saul Griffith
The Best Climate Books of 2021, recommended by Sarah Dry
The Best Climate Books of 2021, recommended by Sarah Dry
From the power of the individual to effect change to the large-scale government interventions needed, are we close to a tipping point in our efforts to combat climate change? Just in time to get up to speed for COP26, here’s a selection of the best climate books of 2021, selected for us by historian of climate science, Sarah Dry.
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Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape
by Lauret Savoy -
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Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
by Robin Wall Kimmerer -
3
Earth's Wild Music: Celebrating and Defending the Songs of the Natural World
by Kathleen Dean Moore -
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The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move
by Sonia Shah -
5
Landmarks
by Robert Macfarlane
The Best Books For Environmental Learning, recommended by Mitchell Thomashow
The Best Books For Environmental Learning, recommended by Mitchell Thomashow
We are surrounded by nature but it’s easy to miss it and spend time either in our heads or on screens. Here Mitchell Thomashow, a longtime teacher of environmental learning, picks books to broaden our vistas and help us see the natural world with fresh eyes.
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A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future
by David Attenborough & Jonnie Hughes -
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Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
by Merlin Sheldrake -
3
Fathoms: The World in the Whale
by Rebecca Giggs -
4
Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape
by Cal Flyn -
5
Net Zero: How We Stop Causing Climate Change
by Dieter Helm -
6
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future
by Elizabeth Kolbert
The Best Conservation Books of 2021, recommended by Charlotte Smith
The Best Conservation Books of 2021, recommended by Charlotte Smith
Many of us are increasingly alarmed at the damage human beings have done—and continue to do—to the natural world and would love to be better informed about what we need to do to protect our precious environment. Fortunately, every year, the Wainwright Prize picks out the best writing on global conservation—books that are not only informative but highly readable. Here, British journalist Charlotte Smith, chair of the judging panel, talks us through the books that made the 2021 shortlist and why it’s worth reading all of them.
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The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
by Sam Kean -
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The Story of N: A Social History of the Nitrogen Cycle and the Challenge of Sustainability
by Hugh Gorman -
3
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
by Kate Moore -
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Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes
by Julie Klinger -
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The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another
by Ainissa Ramirez
Best Books on the Periodic Table, recommended by Henrik Selin & Noelle Eckley Selin
Best Books on the Periodic Table, recommended by Henrik Selin & Noelle Eckley Selin
The periodic table of the elements has been described as “one of the great intellectual achievements of humankind”. Here, Noelle Eckley Selin of MIT and Henrik Selin of Boston University talk us through some of their favourite books about various chemical elements and explain why they’re vital to understanding the world around us.
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Lyrical Ballads
by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge -
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Letters From A Young Poet: 1887-1895
by Rabindranath Tagore -
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The Imperative of Responsibility
by Hans Jonas -
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Entropia: Life Beyond Industrial Civilisation
by Samuel Alexander -
5
Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime
by Bruno Latour
The Best Eco-Philosophy Books, recommended by Rupert Read
The Best Eco-Philosophy Books, recommended by Rupert Read
Eco-philosophy concerns itself with the intersection of ecology with philosophy—and particularly our response to industrialisation and manmade climate change. Rupert Read, the philosopher-activist and author of Parents for a Future, selects five of the best books that contemplate eco-philosophy and our place on this Earth.
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Irreplaceable: The fight to save our wild places
by Julian Hoffman -
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Life Changing: How Humans Are Altering Life on Earth
by Helen Pilcher -
3
Rebirding: Rewilding Britain and Its Birds
by Benedict Macdonald -
4
Sitopia: How Food Can Change the World
by Carolyn Steel -
5
What We Need To Do Now
by Chris Goodall -
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Working With Nature
by Jeremy Purseglove
The Best Conservation Books of 2020, selected by Charlotte Smith
The Best Conservation Books of 2020, selected by Charlotte Smith
Conservation and the battle against climate change are two of the most pressing issues of our age. But books on the subject have to be readable and enjoyable too, says Charlotte Smith – BBC presenter and judge for the 2020 Wainwright Prize for books on global conservation. Here she highlights the six shortlisted titles that will enchant and inspire you.
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The Sixth Extinction
by Elizabeth Kolbert -
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Frankissstein: A Novel
by Jeanette Winterson -
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The Ministry for the Future: A Novel
by Kim Stanley Robinson -
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Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World
by Jason Hickel -
5
Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming
by Paul Hawken (editor)
The best books on Global Challenges, recommended by Rowan Hooper
The best books on Global Challenges, recommended by Rowan Hooper
Which are the most pressing global challenges we face today? In How to Spend a Trillion Dollars Rowan Hooper, a senior editor at the New Scientist, makes the case for the ones he considers the most urgent. Here, he recommends books that help illuminate some of those challenges—including the amazing resource that is ‘Project Drawdown’.
The Best Books for Long-Term Thinking, recommended by Roman Krznaric
We would all love our economic and political systems to be less short-termist in approach, but how do we set about encouraging a more long-term ethos? Cultural thinker Roman Krznaric, author of The Good Ancestor, recommends five books to get us thinking about the long term, up to ten millennia in the future.
Books on the Deep Future, recommended by David Farrier
What trace of our lives will we leave, and what stories might they tell about us? In Footprints, David Farrier explores how our generation will be remembered in the traces it leaves behind in myths, stories… and the fossil record. Here he talks to Caspar Henderson about books to help reflect on ‘the deep future.’
The Best Climate Books of 2019, recommended by Sarah Dry
In an age when we all need to work together to slow down climate change, which books are the most effective in spurring us to action? Historian of science Sarah Dry, author of Waters of the World, recommends some of the best and most important climate books of 2019.
The Best Climate Change Novels, recommended by James Bradley
The best fiction allows us to hold ideas in our heads about time and space and causality and connection that are difficult to articulate in other ways, argues the Australian author James Bradley. It helps its readers engage with dangers and possibilities that are at the very edge of imagination
The best books on Radical Environmentalism, recommended by Daegan Miller
The shining core of a radical environmentalism is when we open up our circle of concern to include things beyond trees or animals or water to people of all kinds, says the writer and landscape historian Daegan Miller. Here he selects five of the best books that evoke the spirit of the movement.
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Critical Assembly: Poems of the Manhattan Project
by John Canaday -
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Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout
by Lauren Redniss -
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The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism
by Center for Nonproliferation Studies -
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An Indispensable Truth: How Fusion Power Can Save the Planet
by Francis Chen -
5
Energy: A Human History
by Richard Rhodes
Nuclear Books, recommended by Richard Wolfson
Nuclear Books, recommended by Richard Wolfson
In science, the word ‘nuclear’ refers to anything to do with the atomic nucleus, whether you’re using it to generate power or create weapons of mass destruction. Here, physicist and science educator Richard Wolfson recommends five books relating to things nuclear, from a book of graphic nonfiction about the Curie family to how fusion can save the planet.
The best books on Climate Change and Uncertainty, recommended by Kate Marvel
‘When we talk about climate change, we sometimes assume people will be swayed by one more graph, one more coherent argument. But that’s not how people work. More facts don’t change minds, and deeply held views don’t always dictate behaviour.’ How, then, to grapple with a future that ‘might be weirder than we realise’? Kate Marvel, Associate Research Scientist at Columbia University and NASA, recommends an essential reading list for those ready to confront climate change and the uncertainties it brings
The Best Cli-Fi Books, recommended by Dan Bloom
Fiction that explores issues of climate change is growing at an unprecedented rate today, says the journalist who coined the phrase ‘cli-fi’, Dan Bloom. Here, he picks the five best books of the field, and introduces us to a globally important, underexplored literary genre
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The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
by Amitav Ghosh -
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Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilization
by Roy Scranton -
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Love in the Anthropocene
by Bonnie Nadzam & Dale Jamieson -
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The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free Markets since the Depression
by Angus Burgin -
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The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy
by Michael E Mann & Tom Toles
The best books on The Politics of Climate Change, recommended by Naomi Oreskes
The best books on The Politics of Climate Change, recommended by Naomi Oreskes
‘We’re on a path that is going to lead to tremendous destruction and yet most of us are going about our lives as if nothing particularly special is happening.’ The science of climate change is incontrovertible but deniers persist and political and economic solutions continue to be – systematically – frustrated. Time is running out, says Naomi Oreskes
George Monbiot — with An Essential Reading List
Writer and investigative journalist George Monbiot recommends books that have shaped him, and that are crucial reading for those wishing to navigate the current economic and environmental crises.
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Energy and Civilization: a History
by Vaclav Smil -
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The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power
by Daniel Yergin -
3
Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air
by David J C MacKay -
4
Solar Revolution: The Economic Transformation of the Global Energy Industry
by Travis Bradford -
5
The Planet Remade
by Oliver Morton
The best books on Energy Transitions, recommended by Chris Goodall
The best books on Energy Transitions, recommended by Chris Goodall
The switch to sources of energy other than oil and gas is now well under way, but how long will it be before we can rely on them for the bulk of the world’s power—if ever? Renewable energy expert Chris Goodall gives us a thought-provoking reading list to think about both past and future ‘energy transitions.’
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Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy
by Serhii Plokhy -
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Producing Power: The Pre-Chernobyl History of the Soviet Nuclear Industry
by Sonja D Schmid -
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Voices From Chernobyl
by Svetlana Alexievich -
4
Atomic Spaces: Living on the Manhattan Project
by Peter Bacon Hales -
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The Politics of Invisibility: Public Knowledge about Radiation Health Effects after Chernobyl
by Olga Kuchinskaya
The best books on Chernobyl, recommended by Kate Brown
The best books on Chernobyl, recommended by Kate Brown
While widely regarded as the world’s worst nuclear accident, Chernobyl’s legacy remains fiercely contested, with death tolls ranging from 31 to 200,000. MIT historian Kate Brown, who has spent years in the Chernobyl archives, picks the best books on the disaster, compares its impact with atomic bomb testing, and argues for more research into low-dose radiation exposure
The best books on Ice, recommended by Mark Serreze
Ice and humanity have always been close partners, says Mark Serreze, director of the US National Snow and Ice Data Center. But this relationship is changing fast as polar ice melts. Here he selects five books that fed his fascination.
The best books on Wilderness, recommended by Mark Boyle
Author and environmentalist Mark Boyle lived for three years without money; now he lives entirely off-grid and eschews all forms of modern technology, in search of a wilder way of living—and of being more in tune with the natural world. Here he discusses his literary inspirations: the best books on wilderness.
The best books on Wilding, recommended by Isabella Tree
Is there room for both humans and wild nature to flourish on an increasingly crowded planet? The author Isabella Tree argues that ‘wilding’ can be benefit both, and chooses five books to support her case.
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Slowly Down the Ganges
by Eric Newby -
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Empires of the Indus: The Story of A River
by Alice Albinia -
3
The River's Tale: A Year in the Mekong
by Edward Gargan -
4
Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China
by Dominic Ziegler -
5
Meltdown in Tibet: China's Reckless Destruction of Ecosystems from the Highlands of Tibet to the Deltas of Asia
by Michael Buckley
The best books on Asia’s Rivers, recommended by Victor Mallet
The best books on Asia’s Rivers, recommended by Victor Mallet
Human history has been founded on the banks of great rivers – but in the East they are increasingly the focus of bitter international and environmental dispute, says Victor Mallet, the journalist and author of River of Life, River of Death. Here he selects five brilliant books that profile Asia’s most celebrated waterways.
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Pollution is Colonialism
by Max Liboiron -
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Living Downstream: An Ecologist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment
by Sandra Steingraber -
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Dumping in Dixie
by Robert Bullard -
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Voices From Chernobyl
by Svetlana Alexievich -
5
Silent Snow: The Slow Poisoning of the Arctic
by Marla Cone -
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Plastic Ocean
by Charles Moore
The best books on Pollution, recommended by Rebecca Altman
The best books on Pollution, recommended by Rebecca Altman
‘One of the themes that I hope shines through is the significance of the act of witnessing. These books have all been influential, and as a result, all stand as testaments to the cascading influence one person can have.’
The best books on Anthropocene Oceans, recommended by Jan Zalasiewicz
Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz tells us about the danger posed to oceans by the Anthropocene – and how we can work together to protect them
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Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, nature and climate change
by Elizabeth Kolbert -
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When The Rivers Run Dry: Journeys into the heart of the world's water crisis
by Fred Pearce -
3
Last Chance to See
by Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine -
4
The End of Nature
by Bill McKibben -
5
Our Dying Planet: An ecologist's view of the crisis we face
by Peter Sale
The best books on The Anthropocene, recommended by Gaia Vince
The best books on The Anthropocene, recommended by Gaia Vince
In 2015 Gaia Vince became the first woman to win the Royal Society’s science book of the year prize for her book, Adventures in the Anthropocene. She spent two years on the road investigating how communities across the world are coping with climate change. Here, she shares the five best books on climate change and the Anthropocene – the geological epoch of man.
The best books on The Trash Trade, recommended by Adam Minter
Recycling is more than just a blue and green bin in your pantry, says journalist Adam Minter – it’s a global trade with centuries of history that stretches from American scrapyards to Chinese e-waste recycling villages
The Best Books for Growing up in the Anthropocene, recommended by Caspar Henderson
Welcome to life in the Anthropocene, a new epoch in the history of life where the impact of humanity on the Earth system is so great, we need a new term for it. Author and journalist Caspar Henderson offers a rich reading list to help ourselves and our children grow up in the Anthropocene.
The best books on Uncivilisation, recommended by Paul Kingsnorth
Paul Kingsnorth, co-founder of the Dark Mountain project, urges the need for uncivilisation: the process of getting beyond our human assumptions, such as the myth of unfailing linear progress. It is about looking at humanity in the wider context of the whole planet, and the imminent ecological crisis.
The best books on Consumption and the Environment, recommended by Juliet Schor
The author of True Wealth suggests how we can rethink our patterns of consumption and approach our relationship with nature in a new, less damaging, way
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The Limits to Growth
by Dennis L. Meadows, Donella H Meadows & Jorgen Randers -
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Hubbert’s Peak
by Kenneth S Deffeyes -
3
Winning the Oil Endgame
by Amory B Lovins, E Kyle Datta, Jonathan G Koomey and Nathan J Glasgow & Odd-Even Bustnes -
4
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
by Michael Braungart and William McDonough -
5
Wind Power
by Paul Gipe
The best books on Clean Energy, recommended by Jerry McNerney
The best books on Clean Energy, recommended by Jerry McNerney
We’re in a “dual energy crisis”, says the author of Clean Energy Nation, and not doing enough about it. He tells us what we must do if we’re to overcome our dependence on oil and limit the damaging effects of climate change
The best books on Renewable Energy, recommended by Juliet Davenport
The chief executive of Good Energy says we need to think big if we want to cut our use of high-carbon energy. She tells us about the intersection between business, politics and doing the right thing
The best books on Technology and Nature, recommended by Daniel Headrick
The historian explains how the power of technology has affected man’s relationship with the rest of nature, and tells us what determines why some civilisations succeed and others fail
The best books on Man and Nature, recommended by TC Boyle
The novelist and nature lover T C Boyle tells us about delicious dodos, angry tigers, snakes on planes and why Viagra saves rhinos.
The best books on The Sea, recommended by Denise Russell
The Australian environmental philosopher discusses man’s interaction with the oceans – from whaling voyages and dynamite fishing to sea gypsies and the flourishing business of piracy
The best books on Climate Change, recommended by Duncan Clark
The environment writer suggests the best reading on carbon costs, climate science and technological solutions to save the planet
The best books on Solar Power, recommended by Bob Johnstone
Former Wired contributing editor and MIT Science Journalism Fellow, Bob Johnstone, explains why the Germans lead the world in solar energy and how financial innovation is changing the game in the US. He picks the best books on solar power.
The best books on Climate Change Innovation, recommended by Roger Pielke Jr
Environmental studies professor Roger Pielke Jr says innovation and argument is the only way to reverse climate change.
The best books on Climate Justice, recommended by Mary Robinson
The former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and President of Ireland picks the best books to read on climate justice.
The best books on Saving the World, recommended by Jonathon Porritt
Co-founder of Forum For The Future and one of the leading experts on climate change hammers home the need to encourage sustainable development technologies across the globe
The best books on China’s Environmental Crisis, recommended by Isabel Hilton
Editor of the website China Dialogue, Isabel Hilton says the evidence of environmental disaster in China is dramatic. She discusses six of the most influential books on environmentalism in China.
The best books on Environmental Change, recommended by David Shukman
BBC News Environment and Science correspondent discusses climate change. Recommends books on coral, fishing, the antarctic, and the science of climate change – as well as an Arctic thriller
The best books on Earth History, recommended by Adam Maloof
Just as no one can study political science without a basic understanding of human history, or study a modern animal without a basic understanding of evolution, so no one can understand climate change without understanding the Earth’s history, argues the Princeton geology professor.
The best books on Science and Climate Change, recommended by John Shepherd
The Research Fellow in Earth System Science at the British National Oceanography discusses Climate Change and promotes the use of geo-engineering to remove carbon from the atmosphere
The best books on The Environment, recommended by Mark Lynas
The British author, journalist and environmental activist talks to us about climate change. Warns that mankind has become a global catastrophe and discusses books that reveal our impact on the planet
The best books on Global Warming, recommended by Rosamund McDougall
The policy director for the Optimum Population Trust, the environmental think-tank, discusses books on Global Warming. Includes a volume on the wildlife of Borneo alongside DH Lawrence’s The Rainbow