Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet [Hardcover]

The planet we once knew as Earth is gone, and we must learn to survive on this strange new world we now inhabit -- Eaarth. This is the basis of Bill McKibben's latest book; one half being the same old, the other being some interesting, some might say radical, ideas.

If you've ever read a book with global warming or climate change as its topic before, you'll know to be ready to be overwhelmed by a myriad of numbers, some interesting, some not so much -- some being ones you've already read. The first half of the book is concerned with convincing us that global warming is a current reality; however, if you're reading this book, you likely already believe it is. We already know global warming is responsible, directly or indirectly, for many a bad thing -- bad things we've already read about a hundred times over from other authours writing on the subject (and McKibben himself in his previous works). I felt this re-analysis of the effects of climate change could have been shortened without drastically reducing the impact of the text.

If, however, you get past the beginning, you'll find Mr. McKibben actually presents some interesting thoughts. He advocates for smaller communities, a clear connection to the land we live on, and a smaller, more localized, variety of economies safe from global catastrophe such as a world-wide recession. As McKibben says, bigger is not always better.

While the first part of the book is largely negative in tone, the second is positive -- perhaps too positive. How do you show a populace already convinced of their need for iPods and iPads that there is another, more fulfilling, way? One based on community, not material gain? Unfortunately, he doesn't give us that answer.

Overall, while not a ground-breaking work, McKibben does present some ideas to mull over and to consider. I only wish he had have concentrated more on presenting his ideas on how to live on this new Eaarth, instead of showing us, again, why global warming is such a bad thing. Not likely to convince those who are not already convinced, it will at the very least, make you think.

Bill McKibben says the reason his book's title has an extra "A" is we're already living on a different planet, because so much has changed in such a short time. We have to look at our world in a different way to understand this.

His easy way of writing, laced with humour and unforgettable images, make this book readily understandable for everyone. And it's short: You can read it in just a few days.

In the first half, he explains how life on our planet today has been changed by global warming, Some of what you read will surprise you and even shock you, but all of it is interesting.

On page 99, he starts writing about solutions -- possibilities for our future and methods for adapting to our new environment. He writes, "Like someone lost in the woods, we need to stop running, sit down, see what's in our pockets that might be of use, and start figuring out what steps to take."

He tells us how we can manage the changes that will be affecting our lives, rather than just let them happen to us. He says, "We've got to make our societies safer, and that means making them smaller. It means, since we live on a different planet, a different kind of civilization." He describes how we can make this very different world workable -- "how we might keep the lights on, the larder full, and spirits reasonably high."

Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us, writes, "With clarity, eloquence, deep knowledge, and even deeper compassion for both planet and people, Bill McKibben guides us to the brink of a new, uncharted era. This monumental book, probably his greatest, may restore you faith in the future, with us in it."

I'll give this book five stars any day. My children and grandchildren will be getting copies to keep by their bedsides, to be read and re-read in the years to come.

Devastating, horrifying and hopeful. This is a new book by the author of "The End of Nature," which was written twenty years ago to warn us of the dangers of climate change if we didn't act quickly to reverse the amount of carbon emissions. Well, guess what, we didn't listen and in fact everything is much worse now. And not only that, the author admits that he was wrong in some of his predictions - wrong about how quickly things would begin to change. They are changing much faster than anybody anticipated.

This chronicle of "Earth with an extra 'a'" is the news of what is happening now and what will come along very soon. Even if we act now, and get total carbon under 350 parts per million, we have gone too far along to reverse certain key trends which are already in motion. We are just going to have to live with this new planet we have built for ourselves. The stable planet that sustained civilization for 10,000 years is gone, McKibben says, and the new one he calls "Eaarth" will not be as hospitable to humans.

But give the guy credit... instead of spending forever on "I told you so," he does get down and dirty with a prescription for making positive change for the future. If he can be hopeful, I guess I can, too.