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Summary
Summary
New Yorker Best Book of the Year
"Exquisite."--DAVID WALLACE-WELLS "At once an elegy and an exhortation."--ELIZABETH KOLBERT "A book that goes deeper than any before into the meaning of the climate breakdown for all the rest of creation."--BILL McKIBBEN "Celebratory and heartbreaking."--DAVID GEORGE HASKELL
A revelatory exploration of climate change from the perspective of wild species and natural ecosystems--an homage to the miraculous, vibrant entity that is life on Earth.
The stories we usually tell ourselves about climate change tend to focus on the damage inflicted on human societies by big storms, severe droughts, and rising sea levels. But the most powerful impacts are being and will be felt by the natural world and its myriad species, which are already in the midst of the sixth great extinction. Rising temperatures are fracturing ecosystems that took millions of years to evolve, disrupting the life forms they sustain--and in many cases driving them towards extinction. The natural Eden that humanity inherited is quickly slipping away.
Although we can never really know what a creature thinks or feels, The End of Eden invites the reader to meet wild species on their own terms in a range of ecosystems that span the globe. Combining classic natural history, firsthand reportage, and insights from cutting-edge research, Adam Welz brings us close to creatures like moose in northern Maine, parrots in Puerto Rico, cheetahs in Namibia, and rare fish in Australia as they struggle to survive. The stories are intimate yet expansive and always dramatic.
An exquisitely written and deeply researched exploration of wild species reacting to climate breakdown, The End of Eden offers a radical new kind of environmental journalism that connects humans to nature in a more empathetic way than ever before and galvanizes us to act in defense of the natural world before it's too late.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Environmental journalist Welz debuts with a lucid survey of the "ways that our gas emissions are fracturing and reshaping the entire natural world." He explains how rising temperatures, water shortages, and extreme weather have impacted ecosystems across the globe, highlighting the plight of the Kalahari savannah's yellow-billed hornbills, California's Joshua trees, and Puerto Rico's wild parrots, among others. New England's moose population, Welz notes, has been decimated by winter ticks, which used to freeze to death en masse during the colder months, but have been surviving at higher rates as their environs warm. In Mannus Creek, Australia, in 2020, forest fires devastated Macquarie perch, which suffocated as ash driven into the creek by rainfall clogged their gills. Welz also discusses how some animals are successfully adapting to climate change; for example, some of California's butterfly species are expanding their habitat by taking refuge in the "cooler microclimates" of urban gardens. Though textbook explanations of photosynthesis, hurricane formation, and genetic mutation might elicit yawns, Welz more than makes up for that with lyrical descriptions of the locales and their animal inhabitants (he writes of a Namibian cheetah: "She indulged in a long, tongue-flexing, canine-baring yawn as the first pulse of real blue began to wash the stars from the eastern sky"). It's a beautifully rendered tour of a natural world on the brink. (Sept.)
Booklist Review
Photographer and filmmaker Welz draws on decades of experience as an "old-school naturalist" in this overview of the devastating impact of global warming on several species around the world. Favoring the terms climate breakdown and global weirding over climate change, he writes of vanished birds in the Mojave, a massive herd of dead antelope in Siberia, tick-plagued "ghost moose" in northern Maine, and starving lizards in Death Valley (which he assumes are now all dead). This catalogue of suffering is the author's way of conveying the seriousness of the planet's ecological situation. He places special emphasis on the activities near his South African home of Cape Town, but the book has a broad focus based on his experiences living in or visiting various countries. He includes further information about many personal trips over the years and it is clear his personal passion infused his research choices. The book does not offer much coverage of solutions and should be directed towards those seeking details on specific ecosystems in crisis.
Choice Review
Unprecedented climate stability at the beginning of the Holocene epoch some 11,700 years ago ushered in the "gift" of Eden--a planet of "extraordinarily diverse, productive, nurturing ecosystems governed by reliable, knowable seasons." The current reality of climate breakdown marks the "end of Eden" as intricate systems of balance among species are disrupted or destroyed. Naturalist Adam Welz (independent scholar) elucidates the existential threat of climate breakdown with beautifully written stories of nonhuman species struggling (and often failing) to adapt, revealing how humanity's future is dependent on the success of other species. His empathetic, yet dispassionate, consideration of coinhabitants of Earth is informed by peer-reviewed scientific research, reports from government and intergovernmental agencies, personal observation, and a deep understanding of evolution and environmental history. A chapter-by-chapter outline of sources provides context; the helpful index enhances academic use. The book is highly acclaimed by many notable authors, and comparable to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962) in its call to action. Important reading for anyone who loves life, seeks understanding, and wants future generations to thrive. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. --Alison Scott Ricker, formerly, Oberlin College
Table of Contents
| Introduction | ix |
| 1 Energy, Water & Time | 1 |
| 2 Plagues & Diseases | 27 |
| 3 Extreme Weather | 52 |
| 4 Morphing Migrations | 85 |
| 5 Fire | 109 |
| 6 Fertile Air | 137 |
| 7 Sea Change | 161 |
| 8 Stable / Unstable | 183 |
| 9 Conclusion | 207 |
| Acknowledgments | 243 |
| A Note on Sources | 247 |
| Index | 257 |