Down to Earth: Essential environmental reads for the new year

Meghan Beery
Fri, 17 Jan 2025 05:29:01 +0000
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Down to Earth is a monthly environmental column that explores what it means to live sustainably. Credit: Meghan Beery | Senior Lantern Reporter

Down to Earth is a monthly environmental column that explores what it means to live sustainably.

The start of 2025 has been marked by extreme climate events on both sides of the country.

Winter storms have swept through the High Plains and mid-Atlantic region, while fires and high-speed winds have brought significant devastation to California. What’s more, 2024 has been declared “the hottest year on record” by NASA.

For those who might feel somewhat adrift as they read such headlines, the following books can offer some insight into the complicated relationship between humans and the environment. The list is far from comprehensive but offers perspectives on water use, Indigenous knowledge and misinformation.

“Where the Water Goes: Life and Death Along the Colorado River” by David Owen

In this 2017 epic, journalist David Owen takes readers from the Colorado River’s headwaters in the Rocky Mountains to its end near the Gulf of California, where it runs dry. Over the years, the river has slowly shortened as people along its path divert water to agriculture, manufacturing and reservoirs.

Owen examines the nuances of water conservation and use, seamlessly weaving stories from his travels with expert testimonies. Though the solution may seem simple — “turn off the fountains at the Bellagio, stop selling hay to China, ban golf, cut down the almond trees, and kill all the lawyers” — Owen demonstrates the river is a patchwork of aging infrastructure and legal agreements that make the situation anything but clean-cut.

Page count: 288

“Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Penned by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, this 2013 novel draws on both Kimmerer’s knowledge of plants and her experience as an Indigenous scientist. The book is guided by a central question: What lessons can humans learn from other living beings, like salamanders, algae and sweetgrass?

The novel juxtaposes the idea that nature is something to be conquered — a historically Western conception — with the Indigenous view of humans as the “younger brothers of Creation.”?

In Native traditions, humans have the least experience on how to live, and should look toward other species for guidance. By looking to elements from the natural world — like pecan trees that collectively “pick” years to yield fruit, regardless of distance — humans can learn unity, Kimmerer writes.

Page count: 408

“Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming” by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway

Unlike the previous two books, which both revolve around a natural element, “Merchants of Doubt” examines a group of American scientists and scientific advisers with a common goal: misleading the public.?

Historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway track the group’s faulty claims throughout history, from the vehement denial that cigarette smoke causes cancer to the purposeful undermining of climate change research.

Over 40 years, the loose-knit collection of experts leveraged their political and industry connections to push back on established science, exploiting the natural uncertainty present in the discipline. As one tobacco executive says in the book, “Doubt is our product.”

Page Count: 368

These works span disciplines to cover the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to humans and the environment. Even as the planet faces an uncertain future, these books are a reminder that there is more than one way to coexist with the natural world.