In 2023, fires raged across multiple continents, fuelled by the accelerating changes to the world's climate. Little Blue Marble's anthology of speculative climate fiction and poetry from an international slate of authors collects the magazine's year of works of activism and hope for the future into a call for action to reverse the climate crisis. It's not too late to change course to save lives and ecosystems.
Now in a single collection by editor Katrina Archer, get all of the short climate fiction published by Little Blue Marble in 2017. M. Darusha Wehm shows us our blue marble as viewed from Mars. Anatoly Belilovsky meditates on family and love in a drowned future Ireland. Alex Shvartsman controls the weather. Robert Dawson evokes the nostalgia of a child for gas-powered cars. Holly Schofield's highlights wildlife in distress with an allegory of clowns. Liam Hogan takes the slacker's doctrine to its logical extreme. Matt Colborn's toaster fixes the planet. William Delman gives us quiet persistence in the face of disaster. And Ariel Bolton investigates the plight of refugees from the North Pole. Get inspired to change our climate for the better with stories from these distinctive voices of speculative fiction.
A landmark book by marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols on the remarkable effects of water on our health and well-being. Why are we drawn to the ocean each summer? Why does being near water set our minds and bodies at ease? In Blue Mind, Wallace J. Nichols revolutionizes how we think about these questions, revealing the remarkable truth about the benefits of being in, on, under, or simply near water. Combining cutting-edge neuroscience with compelling personal stories from top athletes, leading scientists, military veterans, and gifted artists, he shows how proximity to water can improve performance, increase calm, diminish anxiety, and increase professional success. Blue Mind not only illustrates the crucial importance of our connection to water; it provides a paradigm shifting "blueprint" for a better life on this Blue Marble we call home.
Conversations about climate change are filled with challenges involving complex data, deeply held values, and political issues. Understanding Climate Change examines climate change as both a scientific and a public policy issue. Sarah L. Burch and Sara E. Harris explain the basics of the climate system, climate models and prediction, and human and biophysical impacts, as well as strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The second edition has been fully updated throughout, including coverage of new advances in climate modelling and of the shifting landscape of renewable energy production and distribution. A brand new chapter discusses global governance, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, as well as mitigation efforts at the national and subnational levels. This new chapter makes the book even more relevant to climate change courses housed in social sciences departments such as political science and geography. An effective and integrated introduction to an urgent and controversial issue, this book is well-suited to adoption in a variety of introductory climate change courses found in a number of science and social science departments. Its ultimate goal is to equip readers with the tools needed to become constructive participants in the human response to climate change.
“Fascinating . . . memorable . . . revealing . . . perhaps the best of Carl Sagan’s books.”—The Washington Post Book World (front page review) In Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time. Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier—space. In Pale Blue Dot, Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our launch into the cosmos and assesses the future that looms before us as we move out into our own solar system and on to distant galaxies beyond. The exploration and eventual settlement of other worlds is neither a fantasy nor luxury, insists Sagan, but rather a necessary condition for the survival of the human race. “Takes readers far beyond Cosmos . . . Sagan sees humanity’s future in the stars.”—Chicago Tribune
Halfway to Better is a collection of short solarpunk stories, each exploring a near-future where we’re struggling to survive the climate crisis and build a better world. These hopeful climate-fiction stories take you from the bottom of the sea to the towers of a bot-filled city, from sparkling labs to flooded lighthouses, all imagining futures halfway to a better world. The Halfway to Better collection contains six short stories plus a bonus prose-poem, Rewilding Indiana, and its accompanying sky shanty. If you enjoyed the optimistic climate solutions in Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry for the Future or the cozy cooperative future in Becky Chambers’ Monk and Robot series, you will enjoy Halfway to Better. 1 - Slimy Things Did Crawl 2 - Tower Girls 3 - Planting the Shell-Bones 4 - Tombs Without Bodies 5 - The Day We Stopped Burning 6 - I Came Home From Saving the Rainforest
Caldecott Medalist Kevin Henkes’s award-winning Penny returns in the third I Can Read story about a sweet and curious mouse, perfect for fans of Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, Owen, and Chrysanthemum. When Penny spots a marble in Mrs. Goodwin's front yard, she picks it up, puts it in her pocket, and takes it home. It's a beautiful marble—it's big, shiny, blue, smooth, and fast, and Penny loves it. But does the marble really belong to Penny? Penny and Her Marble was named a 2014 Geisel Honor book by the American Library Association. This annual award, given to the most distinguished books for beginning readers, is named for the world-renowned children's author Theodor Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss. Kevin Henkes is a master at creating beautifully illustrated books that resonate with young children. The Penny books are new classics for beginning readers and will appeal to fans of Frog and Toad, Little Bear, and Henry and Mudge. Penny and Her Marble is a Level One I Can Read book, which means it's perfect for children learning to sound out words and sentences. Whether shared at home or in a classroom, the short sentences, familiar words, and simple concepts of Level One books support success for children eager to start reading on their own. Don't miss Penny's newest adventures in Penny and Her Sled!
When an old friend approaches heroic-era Greeks Kopulus and Elenia about the possibility of attacking a horrible monster in a far-off land to retrieve a divine treasure, they exchange a look and ask the obvious question: "Where can we steal a magic chariot?" The answer leads them to Mount Olympus and nearly gets them killed, so they decide to steal a fishing boat instead. In the course of sailing the seven seas (all right, just a small piece of the Aegean and perhaps a little bit of the Mediterranean), they learn that one should probably only steal fishing boats if one has at least a passing knowledge of how to navigate them. Plus, they should steal one with sails. Or perhaps one without a three-headed guard dog on it. And then things get complicated.
Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2020! "A terrifying tour de force." --James Rollins "Readers will be riveted." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Sally Jansen was NASA's leading astronaut, until a mission to Mars ended in disaster. Haunted by her failure, she lives in quiet anonymity, convinced her days in space are over. She's wrong. A large alien object has entered the solar system on a straight course toward Earth. It has made no attempt to communicate. Out of time and out of options, NASA turns to Jansen. But as the object reveals its secrets, Jansen and her crew find themselves in a desperate struggle for survival -- against the cold vacuum of space, and something far, far worse... "Breathless, compulsive reading." --Christopher Golden "A suspenseful, fast-paced story of first contact." --Kirkus
