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What Was the Great Chicago Fire? (What Was?)
by Janet PascalDid the Great Chicago Fire really start after a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn? Find out the truth in this addition to the What Was? series.On Sunday, October 8, 1871, a fire started on the south side of Chicago. A long drought made the neighborhood go up in flames. And practically everything that could go wrong did. Firemen first went to the wrong location. Fierce winds helped the blaze jump the Chicago River twice. The Chicago Waterworks burned down, making it impossible to fight the fire. Finally after two days, Mother Nature took over, with rain smothering the flames. This overview of a stupendous disaster not only covers the fire but explores the whole history of fire fighting. From the Trade Paperback edition.
What Was the Great Molasses Flood of 1919? (What Was?)
by Kirsten Anderson Who HQLearn about Boston's molasses disaster of 1919, when a storage tank burst and flooded the streets, in this latest addition to the New York Times Bestselling What Was? series.An unusually warm winter day resulted in 2.3 million gallons of molasses flooding the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The disaster killed twenty-one people and injured 150 others. Rescue missions were launched to save people from the sticky and deadly mess, led by the Red Cross, the Army, the Navy, and the Massachusetts Nautical School. With the help of hundreds of volunteers over the course of several weeks, the streets were cleaned up. But the smell of molasses and the horror of the preventable tragedy lingered for decades to come.
What Was the Ice Age? (What Was?)
by Nico Medina Who Hq David GroffA mesmerizing overview of the world as it was when glaciers covered the earth and long-extinct creatures like the woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats battled to survive.Go back 20,000 years ago to a time of much colder global temperatures when glaciers and extensive sheets of ice covered much of our planet. As these sheets traveled, they caused enormous changes in the Earth's landscape and climate, leading to the evolution of creatures such as giant armadillos, saber-toothed cats, and woolly mammoths as well as club-wielding Neanderthals and later the cleverer modern humans. Nico Medina re-creates this harsh ancient world in a vivid and easy-to-read narrative.
What Was the San Francisco Earthquake? (What Was?)
by Dorothy Hoobler Ted Hammond Thomas HooblerIn this addition to the What Was? series, kids will experience what it was like to be in San Francisco in 1906 when the ground buckled in a major, catastrophic earthquake.One early April morning in 1906, the people of San Francisco were jolted awake by a mammoth earthquake--one that registered 7.8 on the Richter Scale. Not only was there major damage from the quake itself but broken gas lines sparked a fire that ravaged the city for days. More than 500 city blocks were destroyed and over 200,000 people were left homeless. But the city quickly managed to rebuild, rising from the ashes to become the major tourist destination it is today. Here's an exciting recount of an incredible disaster.From the Trade Paperback edition.
What Water Is Worth: Overlooked Non-Economic Value in Water Resources
by Kira Artemis Russo Zachary A. SmithThis book addresses both conventional and non-conventional values of water, discussing the value of water as it relates to conventional microeconomics, water's true utility and government regulation, and new and current practices in water management
What We Know About Climate Change
by Kerry EmanuelThe vast majority of scientists agree that human activity has significantly increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere--most dramatically since the 1970s. In February 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that global warming is "unequivocal" and that human-produced carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are chiefly to blame, to a certainty of more than 90 percent. Yet global warming skeptics and ill-informed elected officials continue to dismiss this broad scientific consensus. In What We Know About Climate Change, MIT atmospheric scientist Kerry Emanuel outlines the basic science of global warming and how the current consensus has emerged. Although it is impossible to predict exactly when the most dramatic effects of global warming will be felt, he argues, we can be confident that we face real dangers. Emanuel, whose work was widely cited in media coverage of Hurricane Katrina, warns that global warming will contribute to an increase in the intensity and power of hurricanes and flooding and more rapidly advancing deserts. But just as our actions have created the looming crisis, so too might they avert it. Emanuel calls for urgent action to reduce greenhouse gases and criticizes the media for playing down the dangers of global warming (and, in search of "balance," quoting extremists who deny its existence). An afterword by environmental policy experts Judith Layzer and William Moomaw discusses how the United States could lead the way in the policy changes required to deal with global warming. Kerry Emanuel is Professor of Atmospheric Science in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science at MIT. He is the author of Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes and Atmospheric Convection. In May 2006 he was named one of Time magazine's "Time 100: The People Who Shape Our World."
What We Leave Behind: A Birdwatcher's Dispatches from the Waste Catastrophe
by Stanislaw Lubienski"Everything looked perfect. Sand - unique Baltic sand, the best in the world - and the calm sea. But wait. Something was amiss. Something was wrong"It starts with a day at the beach. A single white sock that somehow spoils everything. It's enough to send writer and ornithologist Stanislaw Lubienski on a quest to understand what we throw away, where it goes and whether it will be our legacy. By analysing items he unearths on his trips into nature - a plastic bottle, a tube of Russian penis-enlargement cream, a cigarette butt, an empty aerosol can - tracing their origins and explaining the harm they can do, he shows how consumer society has developed out of control, to the point of environmental catastrophe.He also looks with a birdwatcher's eye at how various animals have come to adapt to and even rely on our rubbish, and interrogates the cultural significance of waste and the origins of our throw-away lifestyles. Finally, he adds a personal touch by examining his own "environmental neurosis" and by going out with refuse crews to watch them work.While Lubienski never hectors his readers, nor shames them, his clear-eyed, persuasive and humble polemic reminds us what we, as individuals, can and cannot do to address an apocalyptic issue while there's still something worth saving.Translated from the Polish by Zosia Krasodomska-Jones
What We Leave Behind: A Birdwatcher's Dispatches from the Waste Catastrophe
by Stanislaw Lubienski"Everything looked perfect. Sand - unique Baltic sand, the best in the world - and the calm sea. But wait. Something was amiss. Something was wrong"It starts with a day at the beach. A single white sock that somehow spoils everything. It's enough to send writer and ornithologist Stanislaw Lubienski on a quest to understand what we throw away, where it goes and whether it will be our legacy. By analysing items he unearths on his trips into nature - a plastic bottle, a tube of Russian penis-enlargement cream, a cigarette butt, an empty aerosol can - tracing their origins and explaining the harm they can do, he shows how consumer society has developed out of control, to the point of environmental catastrophe.He also looks with a birdwatcher's eye at how various animals have come to adapt to and even rely on our rubbish, and interrogates the cultural significance of waste and the origins of our throw-away lifestyles. Finally, he adds a personal touch by examining his own "environmental neurosis" and by going out with refuse crews to watch them work.While Lubienski never hectors his readers, nor shames them, his clear-eyed, persuasive and humble polemic reminds us what we, as individuals, can and cannot do to address an apocalyptic issue while there's still something worth saving.Translated from the Polish by Zosia Krasodomska-Jones
What We Owe to Nonhuman Animals: The Historical Pretensions of Reason and the Ideal of Felt Kinship (Routledge Human-Animal Studies Series)
by Gary SteinerThis book strongly challenges the Western philosophical tradition's assertion that humans are superior to nonhuman animals. It makes a case for the full and direct moral status of nonhuman animals. The book provides the basis for a radical critique of the entire trajectory of animal studies over the past fifteen years. The key idea explored is that of ‘felt kinship’—a sense of shared fate with and obligations to all sentient life. It will help to inspire some deep rethinking on the part of leading exponents of animal studies. The book's strong outlook is expressed through an appeal for radical humility on the side of humans rather than a constant reference to the ‘human-animal divide’. Historical figures examined in depth include Aristotle, Seneca, and Kant; contemporary figures examined include Christine Korsgaard and Martha Nussbaum. This book presents an account according to which the tradition has not proceeded on the basis of impartial motivations at all, but instead has made a set of pointedly self-serving assumptions about the proper criteria for assessing moral worth. Readers of this book will gain exposure to a wide variety of thinkers in the Western philosophical tradition, historical as well as contemporary. This book is suitable for professionals working in nonhuman animal studies, students, advanced undergraduates, and practitioners working in the fields of philosophy, environmental studies, law, literature, anthropology, and related fields.
What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming
by Jorgen Randers Per Espen StoknesWhy does knowing more mean believing--and doing--less? A prescription for change The more facts that pile up about global warming, the greater the resistance to them grows, making it harder to enact measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare communities for the inevitable change ahead. It is a catch-22 that starts, says psychologist and economist Per Espen Stoknes, from an inadequate understanding of the way most humans think, act, and live in the world around them. With dozens of examples--from the private sector to government agencies--Stoknes shows how to retell the story of climate change and, at the same time, create positive, meaningful actions that can be supported even by deniers. In What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming, Stoknes not only masterfully identifies the five main psychological barriers to climate action, but addresses them with five strategies for how to talk about global warming in a way that creates action and solutions, not further inaction and despair. These strategies work with, rather than against, human nature. They are social, positive, and simple--making climate-friendly behaviors easy and convenient. They are also story-based, to help add meaning and create community, and include the use of signals, or indicators, to gauge feedback and be constantly responsive. Whether you are working on the front lines of the climate issue, immersed in the science, trying to make policy or educate the public, or just an average person trying to make sense of the cognitive dissonance or grapple with frustration over this looming issue, What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming moves beyond the psychological barriers that block progress and opens new doorways to social and personal transformation.
What We're Fighting for Now Is Each Other
by Wen StephensonAn urgent, on-the-ground look at some of the "new American radicals" who have laid everything on the line to build a stronger climate justice movementThe science is clear: catastrophic climate change, by any humane definition, is upon us. At the same time, the fossil-fuel industry has doubled down, economically and politically, on business as usual. We face an unprecedented situation--a radical situation. As an individual of conscience, how will you respond?In 2010, journalist Wen Stephenson woke up to the true scale and urgency of the catastrophe bearing down on humanity, starting with the poorest and most vulnerable everywhere, and confronted what he calls "the spiritual crisis at the heart of the climate crisis." Inspired by others who refused to retreat into various forms of denial and fatalism, he walked away from his career in mainstream media and became an activist, joining those working to build a transformative movement for climate justice in America.In What We're Fighting for Now Is Each Other, Stephenson tells his own story and offers an up-close, on-the-ground look at some of the remarkable and courageous people--those he calls "new American radicals"--who have laid everything on the line to build and inspire this fast-growing movement: old-school environmentalists and young climate-justice organizers, frontline community leaders and Texas tar-sands blockaders, Quakers and college students, evangelicals and Occupiers. Most important, Stephenson pushes beyond easy labels to understand who these people really are, what drives them, and what they're ultimately fighting for. He argues that the movement is less like environmentalism as we know it and more like the great human-rights and social-justice struggles of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from abolitionism to civil rights. It's a movement for human solidarity.This is a fiercely urgent and profoundly spiritual journey into the climate-justice movement at a critical moment--in search of what climate justice, at this late hour, might yet mean.From the Hardcover edition.
What Were the Shark Attacks of 1916? (What Was?)
by Nico Medina Who HQThe panic-filled summer of 1916, when multiple deadly shark attacks shocked the nation, is chronicled in this gripping addition to the New York Times Best-Selling What Was? series.On July 1, 1916, witnesses watched in horror as twenty-eight-year-old Charles Vansant was attacked and killed by a shark in shallow water off Beach Haven, New Jersey—the first recorded shark attack in American history. Scientists claimed a shark could not be responsible, but more deadly attacks soon followed along the Jersey Shore and up the freshwater Matawan Creek, setting off a nationwide panic that led the White House to declare a &“War on Sharks.&” In this illustrated book, which features 16 pages of black-and-white photographs, readers will learn about the likely culprit (or culprits) in the attacks—the great white shark and the bull shark—and how the bloody summer of 1916 would change how people viewed sharks forever.
What Will the Weather Be?
by Lynda DewittWill it be warm or cold? Should we wear shorts or pants? Shoes or boots? Read and find out why the weather is so difficult to predict.
What Will The Weather Be Like Today?
by Paul RogersWhat will the weather be like today ask animals and humans. Come explore with them as they discuss, in rhyming verse, the possibilities of the day's weather.
What Would Greta Do?: An Unofficial Pocket Guide to Help Answer Your Climate Questions
by Summersdale PublishersFrom your first steps toward living sustainably all the way to going zero-waste, this book is here to help you find solutions to all your climate conundrums by taking inspiration from a true eco-warrior. If we each approach the climate emergency in the same way as Greta, we can all live a planet-friendly life and enjoy a brighter future.
What Would Greta Do?: An Unofficial Pocket Guide to Help Answer Your Climate Questions
by Summersdale PublishersFrom your first steps toward living sustainably all the way to going zero-waste, this book is here to help you find solutions to all your climate conundrums by taking inspiration from a true eco-warrior. If we each approach the climate emergency in the same way as Greta, we can all live a planet-friendly life and enjoy a brighter future.
What Would Nature Do?: A Guide for Our Uncertain Times
by Ruth DeFriesNot long ago, the future seemed predictable. Now, certainty about the course of civilization has given way to fear and doubt. Raging fires, ravaging storms, political upheavals, financial collapse, and deadly pandemics lie ahead—or are already here. The world feels less comprehensible and more dangerous, and no one, from individuals to businesses and governments, knows how to navigate the path forward.Ruth DeFries argues that a surprising set of time-tested strategies from the natural world can help humanity weather these crises. Through trial and error over the eons, life has evolved astonishing and counterintuitive tricks in order to survive. DeFries details how a handful of fundamental strategies—investments in diversity, redundancy over efficiency, self-correcting feedbacks, and decisions based on bottom-up knowledge—enable life to persist through unpredictable, sudden shocks. Lessons for supply chains from a leaf’s intricate network of veins and stock market-saving “circuit breakers” patterned on planetary cycles reveal the power of these approaches for modern life. With humility and willingness to apply nature’s experience to our human-constructed world, DeFries demonstrates, we can withstand uncertain and perilous times. Exploring the lessons that life on Earth can teach us about coping with complexity, What Would Nature Do? offers timely options for civilization to reorganize for a safe and prosperous future.
What Would the Buddha Recycle?: A Mindful Guide to an Eco-Friendly Life
by Adams MediaLive the calm and eco-friendly lifestyle you&’ve always dreamed of with this perfect guide to eco-conscious living for anyone who wants to save the planet and make a difference. In today&’s world, there is a lot that can stress us out. We live in a time when talking about climate change is a hot button issue leading to political movements, youth led protests, and lots of anxiety. From green living to figuring out how you (and your family) can make a difference in your community, this mindful approach is the key to being stress-free as you make a positive impact on the environment. What Would the Buddha Recycle? can help you gain a better understanding of how you impact the world around you in your day-to-day life. And, even better, it can help you pause, reflect, and figure out what changes you can make to protect the world. In this book you&’ll learn how to: -Use natural ingredients in your home for cleaning (lemon juice can help your furniture shine) and pest control (chili pepper can deter ants) -Combine mindful cooking and eating for healthier meals that don&’t hurt the environment and make you feel great -Figure out the right food to keep your beloved pets happy and healthy by choosing natural ingredients and avoiding chemical preservatives -Include your family in your new environmentally friendly ways and raise your children to have a similar mindset about saving the planet -And much more! With advice that covers every area of your daily life, What Would the Buddha Recycle? offers easy changes so you can make a difference and protect the environment all while staying zen in the process.
What Would the Buddha Recycle?
by Rosemary RobertsIf the Buddha were alive today, he'd be the living embodiment of green living. He'd be collecting cans on the freeway, riding his bike to work, and replacing all his light bulbs--one little satori at a time. In this book you can channel His Holiness, reduce your footprint, and experience little Aha! moments when you Eat mindfully and lose the meat Make a Zen garden that nourishes the earth Choose sustainable clothing Meditate while walking instead of driving Let go of attachment to things by giving away belongings Living green is living Zen. Now you can take right action and walk a green talk, starting today--just think how proud the Buddha would be!
What Would the Buddha Recycle?: The Zen of Green Living
by Rosemary RobertsIf the Buddha were alive today, he'd be the living embodiment of green living. He'd be collecting cans on the freeway, riding his bike to work, and replacing all his light bulbs one little satori at a time. In this book you can channel His Holiness, reduce your footprint, and experience little Aha! moments when you: - Eat mindfully and lose the meat - Make a Zen garden that nourishes the earth - Choose sustainable clothing - Meditate while walking instead of driving - Let go of attachment to things by giving away belongings Living green is living Zen. Now you can take right action and walk a green talk, starting today -- just think how proud the Buddha would be!
What You Can Do
by Liz HuyckPlants and animals need our help! All over the world, they are in trouble. Find out some ways to help by changing the way you interact with them and their environment.
What You Take with You: Wildfire, Family and the Road Home (Wayfarer)
by Therese GreenwoodA memoir of disaster, survival, and “how our treasured objects can be the priceless vessels that carry the stories of both our past and our future” (Diane Schoemperlen, author of This Is Not My Life).Four years after Therese Greenwood and her husband moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta, their new community was shattered by one of the worst wildfires in Canadian history. As the flames approached, they had only minutes to pack, narrowly escaping a fire that would rage for weeks, burn more than 85,000 hectares and force 80,000 people to flee. In this book, she tells her dramatic story, and contemplates mourning, memory, and rebuilding.“By considering the things that she lost in the blaze and the things that were saved, Greenwood takes the reader with her through her own evacuation, the road to safety, the grief that she experienced on losing her home, and the steps to her recovery . . . a beautiful book, sharply observed [and] gripping.” —Miranda Hill, author of Sleeping Funny
What You Won’t Do For Love: A Conversation
by David Suzuki Tara Cullis Miriam Fernandes Ravi JainWhat if we could love the planet as much as we love one another? "Warm, wise, and overflowing with generosity, this is a love story so epic it embraces all of creation. Yet another reminder of how blessed we are to be in the struggle with elders like David and Tara.” – Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis What You Won’t Do for Love is an inspiring conversation about love and the environment. When artist Miriam Fernandes approaches the legendary eco-pioneer David Suzuki to create a theatre piece about climate change, she expects to write about David’s perspective as a scientist. Instead, she discovers the boundless vision and efforts of Tara Cullis, a literature scholar, climate organizer, and David’s life partner. Miriam realizes that David and Tara’s decades-long love for each other, and for family and friends, has only clarified and strengthened their resolve to fight for the planet. What You Won’t Do for Love transforms real-life conversations between David, Tara, Miriam, and her husband Sturla into a charmingly novel and poetic work. Over one idyllic day in British Columbia, Miriam and Sturla take in a lifetime of David and Tara’s adventures, inspiration, and love, and in turn reflect on their own relationships to each other and the planet. Revealing David Suzuki and Tara Cullis in an affable, conversational, and often comedic light, What You Won’t Do For Love asks if we can love our planet the same way we love one another.
What Your Food Ate: How to Heal Our Land and Reclaim Our Health
by David R. Montgomery Anne BikléAre you really what you eat? David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé take us far beyond the well-worn adage to deliver a new truth: the roots of good health start on farms. What Your Food Ate marshals evidence from recent and forgotten science to illustrate how the health of the soil ripples through to that of crops, livestock, and ultimately us. The long-running partnerships through which crops and soil life nourish one another suffuse plant and animal foods in the human diet with an array of compounds and nutrients our bodies need to protect us from pathogens and chronic ailments. Unfortunately, conventional agricultural practices unravel these vital partnerships and thereby undercut our well-being. Can farmers and ranchers produce enough nutrient-dense food to feed us all? Can we have quality and quantity? With their trademark thoroughness and knack for integrating information across numerous scientific fields, Montgomery and Biklé chart the way forward. Navigating discoveries and epiphanies about the world beneath our feet, they reveal why regenerative farming practices hold the key to healing sick soil and untapped potential for improving human health. Humanity’s hallmark endeavors of agriculture and medicine emerged from our understanding of the natural world—and still depend on it. Montgomery and Biklé eloquently update this fundamental reality and show us why what’s good for the land is good for us, too. What Your Food Ate is a must-read for farmers, eaters, chefs, doctors, and anyone concerned with reversing the modern epidemic of chronic diseases and mitigating climate change.
Whatever The Weather (Dk Readers Level 1)
by Karen WallaceSimple text, colorful illustrations and photographs of a boy looking out the window introduce different kinds of weather as it changes from day to day.