Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming Is Changing the World

Photojournalist and author Braasch (Photographing the Patterns of Nature) uses his award-winning skill behind the camera to produce a practical, level-headed and thorough overview of the current state of global warming, from a ground-level definition to stunning images of its effects: villages swept away by encroaching water, immigrating plant populations, disappearing glaciers and decimated habitats. Braasch discusses rationally the current and future impact of global warming-showing how ""the earth is becoming a different planet as the ice withdraws""-bolstering statistics such as ""Americans spend $450,000 a minute on imported oil"" and ""634 million people are no more than 33 feet above sea level"" with well-informed text, charts, maps and sidebars from scholars and activists. The last third is devoted to ""choosing a safer, cleaner, and cooler world,"" looking at how renewable fuels, energy conservation and efficiency, green building standards and local eating have a real impact on the planet's health. Happily, Braasch's view is hopeful, even when contemplating the world without us: ""life will go on in some form whether or not coral reefs or rainforests exist, or whether atmospheric oxygen is reduced by half or carbon dioxide quadrupled."" Color illus.