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.

Life on the Rocks by Juli Berwald

I just ordered LIFE ON THE ROCKS by Juli Berwald because our student researchers have expressed significant interest in coral reefs over the past few years. They are concerned about bleaching and the “death” of these natural habitats. As students research efforts to save the reefs, I often notice frustration with the low priority, slow progress, and fragmented approach to this issue. Berwald, who has a doctorate in ocean science from USC, shares these concerns and argues persuasively that “coral reefs have long been disproportionately undervalued and we have gravely underinvested in their health.” In fact, she subtitles her new book “Building a Future for Coral Reefs” and looks at actions being pursued in the United States, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, and Australia. She states that to have success at scale requires a “multipronged effect,” combining philanthropy, corporate and government intervention with efforts to “stop burning fossil fuels, manage fishing, and prioritize sanitation.” Berwald just contributed an essay titled “Financing a Healthy Future for Coral Reefs” to The Wall Street Journal; it briefly lays out financial innovations like reef insurance, blue bonds, and debt for nature swaps – all designed to help finance maintenance and recovery of marine environments. She begins with the astounding facts that “corals occupy less than 1% of the ocean’s habitat but are home to a quarter of all marine species, which provide protein in the form of seafood for up to a billion people globally.” Her book perceptively describes the science and complexity of climate change’s impact on the reefs while weaving in the personal story of her daughter’s struggle with mental health – situations requiring a long-term perspective and immediate action. LIFE ON THE ROCKS contains significant notes to aid our researchers and it received a starred review from Booklist (“Teens interested in marine biology will enjoy Berwald's clear-eyed chronicle”).