Climate Change Reads

Climate change is the continuing transformation of the weather and climate on Earth, and the earliest references to this concept date back to Ancient Greece. From the 19th-century origins of the Greenhouse Effect to 20th-century research projects on carbon emissions, climate change has developed into a controversial and politicized issue in the 21st century. We created this study guide collection, from Marc Reisner’s Cadillac Desert (1986) to David Wallace-Wells’s The Uninhabitable Earth (2019), to help you chart the past, present, and future of climate change, including its environmental consequences and recommendations for making positive changes.

Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Climate Change, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2020

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Natural World: Climate

Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, History: U.S., Race / Racism, History: World


Publication year 2020

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Animals, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, History: World, Biography


Publication year 2020

Genre Anthology/Varied Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Climate Change, Science / Nature, Gender / Feminism, Women's Studies (Nonfiction)


Publication year 2006

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Globalization, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Natural World: Environment

Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, History: World, Politics / Government

An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 nonfiction book released in conjunction with the documentary film of the same name. This book, by former vice-president Al Gore, presents scientific information about global climate change. He intersperses this information with personal anecdotes that outline the more human and social dimensions of the issue.An Inconvenient Truth begins with an introduction to the basic science of global warming and the greenhouse gases that cause it. The first forty pages... Read An Inconvenient Truth Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Family

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Allegory / Fable / Parable, Climate Change, Grief / Death, Mental Illness, Science / Nature, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1990

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Society: Class, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Relationships: Family

Tags Lyric Poem, Arts / Culture, Climate Change


Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Space & The Universe, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Natural World: Climate, Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Appearance & Reality

Tags Science / Nature, Philosophy, Climate Change, Natural Disaster, Education, Technology, History: World, Philosophy


Publication year 1986

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Climate Change, History: U.S., Science / Nature, Business / Economics, History: World, Western, Politics / Government

Originally published in 1986, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water by Marc Reisner illustrates how precarious the American West’s water supply is. This reality was something few people, including Westerners, realized at the time. The book was listed as one of the Modern Library’s 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the 20th century and was nominated for a National Book Critics’ Circle Award. It was also made into a PBS documentary. There is... Read Cadillac Desert Summary


Publication year 2011

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Society: Politics & Government, Society: Economics, Natural World: Climate

Tags Politics / Government, History: World, Climate Change, Science / Nature, Business / Economics


Publication year 2004

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Climate, Society: Community, Natural World: Environment

Tags History: World, Climate Change, Anthropology, Anthropology, Science / Nature, Social Science, Business / Economics, Sociology, Politics / Government

Following his best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997), geologist and anthropologist Jared Diamond published a companion book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, in 2006. Where Guns, Germs, and Steel described how various environments around the world helped or hindered human civilization, Collapse explains how environmental abuse ruined many past societies and how it threatens civilizations today. An updated edition, released in 2011 by Penguin Books, is the subject of this... Read Collapse Summary


Publication year 2010

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Action / Adventure, Fantasy, Climate Change, Children's Literature

Dark Life (2010) is a dystopian young adult novel by American author Kat Falls. The novel is the first of a two-part series, followed by Rip Tide. Dark Life is set in post-apocalyptic East-Coast America, now ruled by a government called the Commonwealth. Water covers most of the planet’s surface in the wake of climate change and a select group of pioneers now live under the sea. Teenage protagonist Ty Townson uncovers a wide-reaching government... Read Dark Life Summary


Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Economics, Society: Class, Society: Education, Society: Globalization, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Society: Community

Tags Philosophy, Science / Nature, Psychology, Sociology, Politics / Government, Health / Medicine, Agriculture, Business / Economics, Class, Climate Change, Social Justice, History: World, Psychology, Philosophy


Publication year 2020

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Place, Natural World: Climate, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Science / Nature, Creative Nonfiction, Climate Change, Agriculture, History: World


Publication year 2006

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, History: World, Politics / Government

In 2006, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, New York Times journalist Elizabeth Kolbert published Field Notes from a Catastrophe, an urgent review of climate change. The book began as a tripartite publication in the New Yorker, for which the political journalist received a National Magazine Award.Kolbert’s investigation begins on Greenland’s west coast, where natives have noticed the shrinking of icebergs for years. In another northerly location, the Alaskan island of Shishmaref is disappearing underwater... Read Field Notes from a Catastrophe Summary


Publication year 1920

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Relationships: Teams, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Lyric Poem, Natural Disaster, Relationships, Climate Change, American Literature, Classic Fiction


Publication year 2023

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Flora/plants, Society: Economics, Society: Globalization, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, Natural Disaster, Politics / Government, History: World


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Birth, Relationships: Marriage, Relationships: Mothers, Society: Globalization, Natural World: Environment

Tags Climate Change, Science / Nature, Modern Classic Fiction

Barbara Kingsolver’s 2012 novel Flight Behavior presents a symbolic connection between Dellarobia Turnbow, an unhappy farm wife who secretly dreams of running away from it all, and a surprising migration of monarch butterflies that alight upon her in-laws’ property in Feathertown, Tennessee. As the butterflies struggle to survive and reproduce to continue their species, Dellarobia struggles in her efforts to deal with the consequences of her past decisions and the possibility of her new life... Read Flight Behavior Summary


Publication year 2012

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Community, Natural World: Environment

Tags Business / Economics, Climate Change, Science / Nature, Social Science, Sociology, History: World

Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash is a 2012 non-fiction book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Edward Humes. Garbology is an analysis of American consumption, trash production, and what happens to everything in our disposable economy after we discard it. Through statistical analysis, interviews, and personal stories, Humes tells the story of our largest export—our trash—and how trash came to be synonymous with American life.Humes divides Garbology into three sections: first, an analysis of our... Read Garbology Summary


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Climate, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Identity: Race

Tags Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Indian Literature, Climate Change, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature