Nature's Day


Book Description

This first book of nature helps young readers to discover the world of wildlife on their doorstep. Beginning in spring, this book revisits nine different places, including the farm, the back yard, and the woods, during each of the four seasons through the year and explores the changing scenery and animal life found there. Informative and fun text teamed with gorgeous, decorative illustrations make this the perfect book to celebrate each season with.




Nature's Day: Out and About


Book Description

Following on from the success of Nature's Day, this beautiful activity book by the same author and illustrator shows children how to interact with their surroundings. Activities include spotting different leaves, birds, flowers, and insects, how to make plaster-cast animal tracks, how to mimic birdsong, and how to write a poem inspired by a walk in the woods. This activity book will inspire children to discover the world of wonder that awaits on their doorstep.




Nature's Fortune


Book Description

What is nature worth? The answer to this question -- which traditionally has been framed in environmental terms -- is revolutionizing the way we do business. In Nature's Fortune, Mark Tercek, CEO of The Nature Conservancy and former investment banker, and science writer Jonathan Adams argue that nature is not only the foundation of human well-being, but also the smartest commercial investment any business or government can make. The forests, floodplains, and oyster reefs often seen simply as raw materials or as obstacles to be cleared in the name of progress are, in fact as important to our future prosperity as technology or law or business innovation. Who invests in nature, and why? What rates of return can it produce? When is protecting nature a good investment? With stories from the South Pacific to the California coast, from the Andes to the Gulf of Mexico and even to New York City, Nature's Fortune shows how viewing nature as green infrastructure allows for breakthroughs not only in conservation -- protecting water supplies; enhancing the health of fisheries; making cities more sustainable, livable and safe; and dealing with unavoidable climate change -- but in economic progress, as well. Organizations obviously depend on the environment for key resources -- water, trees, and land. But they can also reap substantial commercial benefits in the form of risk mitigation, cost reduction, new investment opportunities, and the protection of assets. Once leaders learn how to account for nature in financial terms, they can incorporate that value into the organization's decisions and activities, just as habitually as they consider cost, revenue, and ROI. A must-read for business leaders, CEOs, investors, and environmentalists alike, Nature's Fortune offers an essential guide to the world's economic -- and environmental -- well-being.




A Tree a Day


Book Description

Immerse yourself in the beauty and power of nature with a different tree for every day of the year. Spend every day of the year with one of the world's most fascinating trees. In A Tree a Day seasoned nature writer and journalist Amy-Jane Beer shares 365 majestic and memorable trees from around the world. From the strength of Alder trees to the biology behind the autumn colors of New England; from folkloric medicines in tree sap to Shakespeare's Birnam Wood; from the giant sequoias of California to Klimt's Birch trees—A Tree a Day explores the botany, poetry, folklore, rich history, and natural beauty of trees. Dip in and out or spend each day exploring a new natural wonder. With award-winning photography, works of art, and detailed illustrations on every page, A Tree a Day illuminates the timeless splendor and power of the world's trees. GORGEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS: Each tree is illustrated with a unique work of art—from classical painting to breathtaking photographs. MEDITATIVE START TO EACH DAY: A Tree a Day is a beautiful reminder to pause each day and appreciate the natural world—no matter where you are. Each of the 365 entries offers a seasonal quote, fact, or story about trees to inspire gratitude and wonder. EVERGREEN: Nature lovers will return to this book day after day, year after year—it makes for the perfect bite-sized, bedside reading. AUTHOR EXPERTISE: In addition to being a nature writer for The Guardian, Amy Jane-Beer has written more than 30 books about science and natural history. Perfect for: Tree and Nature Enthusiasts; Gardeners; Hikers, Backpackers, and Campers; Environmentalist; Fans of A Cloud a Day




Nature's Best Hope


Book Description

“Tallamy lays out all you need to know to participate in one of the great conservation projects of our time. Read it and get started!” —Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction Douglas W. Tallamy’s first book, Bringing Nature Home, awakened thousands of readers to an urgent situation: wildlife populations are in decline because the native plants they depend on are fast disappearing. His solution? Plant more natives. In this new book, Tallamy takes the next step and outlines his vision for a grassroots approach to conservation. Nature’s Best Hope shows how homeowners everywhere can turn their yards into conservation corridors that provide wildlife habitats. Because this approach relies on the initiatives of private individuals, it is immune from the whims of government policy. Even more important, it’s practical, effective, and easy—you will walk away with specific suggestions you can incorporate into your own yard. If you’re concerned about doing something good for the environment, Nature’s Best Hope is the blueprint you need. By acting now, you can help preserve our precious wildlife—and the planet—for future generations.




Nature's End


Book Description

The year is 2025. Immense numbers of people swarm the globe. In countless, astonishing ways, technology has triumphed—but at a staggering cost. Starvation is rampant. City dwellers gasp for breath under blackened skies. And tottering on the brink of environmental collapse, the world may be ending … It is a future that could well be ours. In their second shocking and fascinating portrait of America's possible destiny, Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka have again written a breathless thriller, a book that gives us an important warning and ultimately a message of hope.




Nature's New Deal


Book Description

Neil M. Maher examines the history of one of Franklin D. Roosevelt's boldest and most successful experiments, the Civilian Conservation Corps, describing it as a turning point both in national politics and in the emergence of modern environmentalism.




Contested Natures


Book Description

Demonstrating that all notions of nature are inextricably entangled in different forms of social life, the text elaborates the many ways in which the apparently natural world has been produced from within particular social practices. These are analyzed in terms of different senses, different times and the production of distinct spaces, including the local, the national and the global. The authors emphasize the importance of cultural understandings of the physical world, highlighting the ways in which these have been routinely misunderstood by academic and policy discourses. They show that popular conceptions of, and attitudes to, nature are often contradictory and that there are no simple ways of prevailing upon people to `




After Nature


Book Description

An Artforum Best Book of the Year A Legal Theory Bookworm Book of the Year Nature no longer exists apart from humanity. Henceforth, the world we will inhabit is the one we have made. Geologists have called this new planetary epoch the Anthropocene, the Age of Humans. The geological strata we are now creating record industrial emissions, industrial-scale crop pollens, and the disappearance of species driven to extinction. Climate change is planetary engineering without design. These facts of the Anthropocene are scientific, but its shape and meaning are questions for politics—a politics that does not yet exist. After Nature develops a politics for this post-natural world. “After Nature argues that we will deserve the future only because it will be the one we made. We will live, or die, by our mistakes.” —Christine Smallwood, Harper’s “Dazzling...Purdy hopes that climate change might spur yet another change in how we think about the natural world, but he insists that such a shift will be inescapably political... For a relatively slim volume, this book distills an incredible amount of scholarship—about Americans’ changing attitudes toward the natural world, and about how those attitudes might change in the future.” —Ross Andersen, The Atlantic




Earth Almanac


Book Description

Outdoor Writers Association of America Excellence in Craft Award Winner Earth Almanac presents the greatest hits of North American nature! Structured around phenology, which is the study of seasonal patterns in nature, the day-by-day descriptions offer insight into activities and connections throughout the natural world. Beginning with the Winter Solstice in December, Earth Almanac highlights a wide range of natural history, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, insects, intertidal and marine life, trees, plants, fungi, weather phenomenon, geology, astronomy, notable environmental activists, and more, and reveals the ebb and flow of nature across the planet. Each season features more than 90 entries, and sidebars throughout provide calls to environmental action, citizen science opportunities, and details on special dates or holidays. The book can be enjoyed one day, month, or season at a time--dip in and out as you observe the world around you.