Heal Your Gut, Save your Brain by Partha Nandi

HEAL YOUR GUT, SAVE YOUR BRAIN by Partha Nandi was published last Fall by the Mayo Clinic Press. This is a very accessible and informative work. Written by a gastroenterologist and clinical associate professor of medicine at Michigan State University, it first describes gut health and its importance. He then elaborates on the “Five Pillars:” nutrition, movement, community, spirituality, and purpose which impact overall well-being. Nandi also devotes several chapters to Strokes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, describing for each how gut health contributes and how one can change the course of the disease, as well as suggesting a few applicable recipes. While many of his comments (e.g., more omega-3 fatty acids are associated with lower risk; more animal fats are linked to increased disease risk) echo other resources about good nutrition, those with pre-disposition towards one of these diseases may find his comments helpful, especially as an incentive to take early action.

The Weight of Nature by Clayton Page Aldern

Since it is Earth Day it seemed appropriate to look at a couple of new climate related texts:

THE WEIGHT OF NATURE by Clayton Page Aldern is subtitled “How a Changing Climate Changes Our Brains.” Aldern, a neuroscientist turned award-winning environmental journalist, looks at both the emotional and physical impacts on people from changes in nature. For example, he discusses PTSD triggered by more wildfires or the increased range for bats and mosquitoes (and the diseases they spread like rabies or Zika) due to higher temperatures. In addition to infection or trauma, the text explores memory, cognition, and behavior. Aldern stresses that hotter temperatures lead to more aggressiveness and make it harder to concentrate and focus. Other chapters which look at pain, sensing, and language are where he notes that “a changing climate also threatens our ability to notice some of the signals most relevant to our survival.” He describes examples of how water temperature and ocean acidification can impact crustacean olfactory systems or how pesticides “impair the homing abilities of honeybees.” Just reflect on the trees and plants in your neighborhood and how they seemed “confused” about when to bud or when to drop leaves, especially after periods of unusual cold or warmth or record-setting precipitation. Aldern documents his years of research in a section titled Notes and Further Reading which comprises roughly twenty percent of the text. Somewhat rambling in places, THE WEIGHT OF NATURE received a starred review from Kirkus (“a unique—and uniquely disturbing—addition to the literature”). 

BEFORE IT’S GONE by Jonathan Vigliotti, national correspondent for CBS News, is subtitled “Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change in Small-Town America.” And Vigliotti does indeed write movingly about the devastation due to wildfire (and human errors) at Lahaina, Hawaii. In another section, he writes rather humorously about the “kamikaze iguanas” who in cold temperatures fall out of trees in South Florida. In short, this book is geographically and thematically all over the place. His preface (about Hawaii) and prologue (about climate change in Syria) raise some of his concerns but don’t really provide any guideposts for his readers. Then, BEFORE IT’S GONE is divided into four sections: Fire, Water, Air and Earth, although Vigliotti readily admits that “most if not all environmental disasters are fueled by more than just one element.” Yes, he introduces readers to local activists – one especially poignant section is about the increased suicide rate for farmers in Minnesota – but he does not clearly lay out a coherent argument, seemingly presenting more sensationalized (including some unnecessarily vulgar language) tales. His statistics are supported in a Notes section that is about fifteen pages. This is a widespread (“in 2021, 14.5 million American homes were affected by environmental disasters that figure works out to one in 10 homes in the country”) and expensive (“according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), between 2020 and 2023 the United States was hammered by more than eighty billion-dollar environmental disasters that destabilized highly developed communities”) issue. Perhaps attempting to personalize these trends will prompt action, but this text felt too disjointed and not focused enough on the small-town America referenced in its subtitle.

Young Readers: The Sixth Extinction and The Uninhabitable Earth

THE SIXTH EXTINCTION (young readers adaptation) by Elizabeth Kolbert is scheduled to be available on February 6, 2024. No one would deny that this is an important topic of grave concern to young people and I am grateful for having seen a preview. I wish, however, that greater effort had been made to provide a version of this award-winning text that more clearly outlined key issues. Kolbert shares many relevant stories (e.g., the rhino ultrasound), but important messages may be lost in the still rather dense text.  In addition to line art images (no graphs or diagrams that I saw), there is a three page glossary and index, but, sadly, sources and further reading are not included. Booklist recommended THE SIXTH EXTINCTION for grades 5 thru 8 (seems young, given the language level) and gave it a starred review.

THE UNINHABITABLE EARTH by David Wallace-Wells is now available in an adaptation for Young Adults. It tells the story of “Life After Warming” and shares dire predictions regarding a range of topics including dying oceans, greenhouse gas, extreme weather events, and results like hunger and migration. However, the language is quite stilted (e.g., “like our sea-level myopia, it threatens to occlude our picture of what global warming means for us”) and there is even an entire section improbably named The Anthropic Principle (how many high school students can readily explain that idea?). Plus, graphics or images are totally missing. And, despite an array of statistics included in the text, there are no sources listed and no bibliography for further reading. Those additions and a much more conversational tone would have made this text more appealing and more inspirational for its intended young adult audience. Kirkus sums it up well: “Heavy going, both in content and prose style, but filled with critical content.” 

Fortunately, there are a variety of accessible texts on climate change and the environment geared to high school students.

The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg

THE CLIMATE BOOK by Greta Thunberg is sure to draw attention just as its young compiler often does. Subtitled “The Facts and the Solutions,” Thunberg has gathered essays from an remarkable array of experts including Elizabeth Kolbert (The Sixth Extinction), Naomi Oreskes (The Big Myth), Bill McKibben (Falter), and a range of international climate scientists, activists, and professors. The topics covered are varied, too, with chapters on How Climate Works, How Our Planet is Changing, and How it Affects Us. Some of the questions which are addressed include: What happens at 1.5, 2 and 4 degrees C of warming? Or Is the Future Electric? There are also sections on Wildfires, Dangerous Weather, The Amazon, Antibiotic Resistance, and The Challenge of Transport, to name just a very few. Chapter 4 includes over two dozen selections which highlight What We’ve Done About It while Chapter 5 details roughly twenty ideas on What We Must Do Now (like Changing Our Diets, Rewilding, and Decarbonization). Thunberg writes (and is quoted in a review from NPR): "No entity other than the media has the opportunity to create the necessary transformation of our global society." She is an effective, relatable spokesperson, especially when combining her voice with a 100 others in THE CLIMATE BOOK. The endnotes were so extensive that they are available online and the text is filled with graphs and diagrams. THE CLIMATE BOOK received starred reviews from Booklist (“a definitive book on climate change now”) and Kirkus (“Vital reading”).

Published by Columbia Global Reports, MISEDUCATION by Katie Worth is subtitled: How Climate Change Is Taught in America. Worth is an Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Award-winning investigative journalist and while her work is sometimes rather academic in tone, she includes numerous engaging anecdotes and raises key questions about curriculum and textbook selection. Highly relevant in this time of increasing debate over instructional content and bans on books in school libraries, Worth includes chapters on topics like Science and Doubt, the Teachers, the Standards, and Selling Kids on Fossil Fuel. MISEDUCATION is extremely well-researched and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly (“Policymakers and educators alike will find much to consider.”). Villanova University included Worth in their year long program on climate change; this video shares some statistics and charts from her work.