Product Description

Six years ago, award-winning photojournalist Gary Braasch began an extraordinary journey around the world to observe and document environmental changes resulting from the warming of our climate. In this stunning, eye-opening book, he brings us along to witness firsthand what he saw as he crossed both the Antarctic and Arctic Circles, trekked above 15,000 feet in the Andes, dove on damaged coral reefs, and followed scientists into the field on four continents. In more than one hundred photographs, including dramatic before-and-after comparisons, Braasch records communities, landscapes, and animals at risk because of receding glaciers, eroding coastlines, rising sea levels, and thawing permafrost. In the accompanying text he surveys the science behind climate change and introduces native people, lifelong observers, scientists, and others who are noticing striking changes right now. Alongside Braasch's compelling words and images, essays by eminent scientists discuss the impacts of climate change on the oceans, biodiversity, fresh water, mountain cultures, plants and animals, and our health. More than a warning, Earth under Fire, the most complete illustrated guide to the effects of climate change now available, offers an upbeat and intelligent account of how we can lessen the effects of our near total dependence on fossil fuel using technologies and energy sources already available.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #674721 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 295 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Photojournalist and author Braasch (Photographing the Patterns of Nature) uses his award-winning skill behind the camera to produce a practical, level-headed and thorough overview of the current state of global warming, from a ground-level definition to stunning images of its effects: villages swept away by encroaching water, immigrating plant populations, disappearing glaciers and decimated habitats. Braasch discusses rationally the current and future impact of global warming-showing how "the earth is becoming a different planet as the ice withdraws"-bolstering statistics such as "Americans spend $450,000 a minute on imported oil" and "634 million people are no more than 33 feet above sea level" with well-informed text, charts, maps and sidebars from scholars and activists. The last third is devoted to "choosing a safer, cleaner, and cooler world," looking at how renewable fuels, energy conservation and efficiency, green building standards and local eating have a real impact on the planet's health. Happily, Braasch's view is hopeful, even when contemplating the world without us: "life will go on in some form whether or not coral reefs or rainforests exist, or whether atmospheric oxygen is reduced by half or carbon dioxide quadrupled." Color illus.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"This may be the most deeply researched photo book of all time."--Vanity Fair Magazine

"Earth under Fire may be not simply a book, but a benchmark."--Orion

"The pictures are truly eye-opening. . . . Looking at the changes already underway paints a staggering picture."--The Ecologist

"A refreshing take on theories, facts and scientific opinions . . . breathtaking imagery with personal accounts and the best available scientific evidence."

--Nature Reports: Climate Change

"While the science underlying global warming is complex, its impact is made comprehensible in this richly photographic blend of memoir and reportage."--Booklist

From the Inside Flap
"The power of Gary Braasch's personal witness to the climate crisis makes this essential reading for every citizen."--Al Gore

"Earth under Fire is an important work documenting climate change. With an accessible text and startling photographs, it takes the reader on a world tour of the human effect on our climate."--Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

"Braasch's descriptions and photographs of how climate change is unraveling ecosystems and human lives make real and vivid what for too many remains speculative and abstract. Each deeply researched story--the rising suicide rate in a melting Inuit village, fields of European butterflies killed by a false spring, coastal houses falling into the sea in North Carolina--becomes a memorable character in a rapidly unfolding drama that threatens to engulf us all."--Amory B. Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute

"There are scant books equal to the task of spelling out the greatest challenge in human history-global climate change. Rarer still is an author who can both write and photograph it, seamlessly marrying text and images. Earth under Fire is that rare book."--Paul Hawken, author of Blessed Unrest and The Ecology of Commerce

"This is a well-written description of the effects of human-driven climate change on our all-too-vulnerable planet. The pictures give a marvelously direct account of what is happening almost before our eyes."--Sir Crispin Tickell, former British Ambassador to the United Nations

"Global warming has found its Baedeker in Gary Braasch. Braasch has traveled all over our changing world and recorded in word and photograph what's going on. We all need to see what he saw, and Earth under Fire does a beautiful job of that."--James Gustave Speth, author of Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment

Customer Reviews

So THAT'S what happened to the Hatteras lighthouse...
Did you know they've moved the lighthouse on Cape Hatteras 2800 feet back from the shore due to rising sea levels? Me neither, but this is one of a myriad of telling tales Braasch brings into play to sound the alarm about global warming. He literally circled the globe--east to west and north to south--to gather information and photos for this book. He then combines these with easy-to-read narrative in a large-format work to tell the tale of a changing world.

Braasch's research is meticulous, and he goes out of his way to note dissenting views, but the conclusions are crisp and clear as a warming Arctic winter day--the planet is getting hotter and this can only mean trouble. If you have time to read one book on the current reality and looming consequences of global warming, this is it.

Sample info from Earth Under Fire: Stand-by mode of electronic gadgets consumes 6 percent of US electricity--one coal-fired electrical generation plant produces as much CO2 as 1.5 million cars--coal power plant pollutants kill 24,000-30,000 US citizens every year--and 10 times that many Chinese.

This Book Is A Must Read For Learning About Global Warming
This book shows people being affected by climate change now, and give them a voice in both words and pictures. Scientists give reports about how climate change impacts all aspects of our survival. You will be given ideas of how to make a personal impact about climate change. Readers with prior knowledge and those just starting out will both enjoy this book.

Everyone should have this book
Very important topic clearly presented. Photographs prove the losses the planet is suffering and man's wanton disregard for the deterioration. The photographs are extraordinarily beautiful, the yin and yang of this issue.