This look at both the long and the recent histories of climate science, as well as humanity’s response to such knowledge, offers a fascinating historical perspective and a sobering look at where we are today. Scientists first made discoveries and advanced theories about the impact of carbon dioxide on the earth’s atmosphere in the 19th century. As early as the 1950s, several scientists were calling out the potentially catastrophic changes to come. From the 1970s onward, there have been many advances in scientific knowledge, which have led to ongoing efforts to increase public awareness and formulate meaningful political responses on both national and global levels. This has led to positive changes and frustrating—and at times infuriating—compromise, reaction, and inaction on the parts of national and world leaders and others. All of this is laid out in an accessible narrative that also focuses on climate change activism, with an emphasis on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, including young people. Occasional cartoon-style black-and-white illustrations are included throughout, along with informational sidebars; detailed source notes for the quotations and other information throughout are provided at volume’s end.   (Age 12 and older)

A timely and inspiring nonfiction guide for middle grade listeners about the history of our fight against climate change, and how young people today are rising to action.

Inspired by Nathaniel Rich’s Losing Earth: A Recent History, the acclaimed book that grew out of an August 2018 issue of the New York Times Magazine soley dedicated to it, Saving Earth tells the human story of the climate change conversation from the recent past into the present day. It wrestles with the long shadow of our failures, what might be ahead for today’s generation, and crucial questions of how we understand the world we live in—and how we can work together to change the outlook for the better. Filled with the voices of climate activists from the past and present, this audiobook is both a call to action and a riveting dramatic history.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux