ECOWATCH: An important reading adventure for August
“Summer, with the dog days, its vacations, its distractions, is over. We have had our holidays, our rest, our recreation. The fall season, with its new opportunities for effort, enterprise and achievement, is upon us. Let’s rip off our coats and get down to business. We may have allowed pessimism to grip us during the summer months.
We may even have allowed laziness to enter our bones. Now it’s up to us to throw off lassitude and pessimism. The time has come for action and aggressiveness.”
– B.C. Forbes, Founder of Forbes magazine
August weather can often make some people uncomfortable, and that has made the month known as “the dog days of summer.” The Farmer’s Almanac says that the name is linked to the rising of Sirius, the Dog Star. Ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks believed that the rising of Sirius in mid-to late summer caused the temperatures to rise and conditions to become less comfortable. Though temperatures remain hot and conditions humid in many parts of the northern hemisphere throughout the month of August, the dog days officially end on August 11.
While the dog days of summer may officially be over, no one has told the powers that be to shut the heat off, as so far, August is headed toward becoming the second-warmest month, with temperatures in the high 90s in Florida, while July 2023, at 99 degrees, is listed as the highest on record on Florida’s temperature chart.
According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate, the planet has heated up 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the past two centuries. Scientists have warned that oceanic heatwaves like the one heating up Florida now would become more commonplace. That increasing heat could push some sea life to the limits of resilience. Unfortunately, it is likely that a sweltering 2024 will exceed past years because of El Nino’s influence.
Incredibly, many people still think that climate change is a hoax without having checked out all the facts. And yet the facts are all about us, and very soon we will be standing in rising waters on many coastal areas.
If you are one of those who have doubts about climate change, it is recommended that you do your own investigation of the facts. Stop relying on television sources, where hidden agendas are often the rule of the day. Maybe in the last days of August before the hectic season of the holidays starts, you can take time to read an excellent book titled “The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go From Here,” by Hope Jahren.
A synopsis provided by the publisher for readers is as follows: “From the bestselling author of ‘Lob Girl’ comes a slim, urgent missive on the defining issue of our time. Here is Hope Jahren on climate change, our timeless pursuit of more, and how the same human ambition that got us here can also be our salvation. A Vintage Original.
Hope Jahren is an award-winning geobiologist, a brilliant writer, and one of the seven billion people with whom we share this Earth. The Story of More is her impassioned open letter to humanity as we stand at the crossroads of survival and extinction. Jahren celebrates the long history of our enterprising spirit which has tamed crops, cured diseases and sent us to the moon but also shows how that spirit has created excesses that are quickly warming our planet to dangerous levels. In short, highly readable chapters, she takes us through the science behind the key inventions — from electric power to large-scale farming and automobiles — that, even as they help us, release untenable amounts of carbon dioxide. She explains the current and projected consequences of greenhouse gases — from superstorms to rising sea levels — and the science-based tools that could help us fight back. At once an explainer of the mechanisms of warming and a capsule history of human development, The Story of More illuminates the link between our consumption habits and our endangered Earth, showing us how we can use less and share more. It is the essential pocket primer on climate change that will leave an indelible impact on everyone who reads it.”
This book was a Goodreads Choice award-winner and a nominee for Best Science & Technology (2020).
Another book to fill your last days of August before the madness starts is “Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard,” by Douglas W. Tallamy. Here is the publisher’s synopsis:
“Douglas W. Tallamy’s first book, ‘Bringing Nature Home,’ sparked a national conversation about the link between healthy local ecosystems and human wellbeing. In ‘Nature’s Best Hope,’ he takes the next step and outlines his vision for a grassroots, home-grown approach to conservation.
Nature’s Best Hope advocates for homeowners everywhere to turn their yards into conservation corridors that provide wildlife habitats. This home-based approach does not rely on the federal government and protects the environment from the whims of politics. It is also easy to do, and readers will come away with specific suggestions they can incorporate into their own yards.
Nature’s Best Hope is nature writing at its best—rooted in history, progressive in its advocacy, and above all, actionable and hopeful. By proposing practical measures that ordinary people can easily do, Tallamy gives us reason to believe that the planet can be preserved for future generations.”
Hopefully, the above suggestions from these books will fill your days with useful information to help protect our fragile environment. As Forbes says, “It is time for action and aggressiveness.”
