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Title: Ten Billion

Author: Stephen Emmott

Narrator: Jonathan Cowley

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-10-13

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Science & Technology, Environment

Publisher's Summary:

Just over 200 years ago, there were one billion humans on Earth.

There are now over seven billion of us.

And, sometime this century, the world population will reach at least 10 billion.

Deforestation. Desertification. Species extinction. Global warming. Growing threats to food and water. The driving issues of our times are the result of one huge problem: Us.

As the population continues to grow, our problems will increase. And this means that every way we look at it, a planet of 10 billion people is likely to be a nightmare.

Stephen Emmott, a scientist whose lab is at the forefront of research into complex natural systems, sounds the alarm. Ten Billion is a snapshot of our planet, and our species, approaching a crisis, and a stark analysis of where this leaves us. Ten Billion is not another climate book. Ten Billion is a book about us.

Critic Reviews:

"A rallying call to arms... Succinct and righteously pessimistic...[with] an indispensible message to galvanize a world in potential crisis." (Kirkus Reviews)

"The cumulative effect of [Emmotts] uncluttered, unadorned prose, buttressed with graphs and illustrations, is significant.... A spine-chilling warning of the environmental disaster that awaits the Earth." (The Daily Telegraph)

"Powerful... Compelling... The shift in thinking that will be needed if we are to prepare ourselves for living in a different world begins with reading Emmott's indispensable book." (The Guardian)

Members Reviews:

Massively Important

I experienced this as critical reading, written in a massively accessible way.

When you consider the enormous challenges we are currently facing and the unprecedented changes we must make in order to thrive - massive accessibility for a mass audience is critically important.

This book serves its purpose perfectly. If you're looking for counter arguments and follow-up research, there is an abundance of it available. But I think we've moved past the "research" phase and it'll serve us to start taking massive action.

Too damn many people! But who will stop breeding????

A Jeremiad: a long lamentation on the utter destruction of Earth by The Population Bomb. No refutation possible.

Four Stars

Great book!

It's a waste to publish this and waste so much paper and ...

It's basically an informative power point. Not an actual book; It's a waste to publish this and waste so much paper and ink on it.

Doom and Gloom justified

It is short and to the point, packed with statistics, a good reference to quote in conversations on environmental and especially human population topics.

It spells doom and gloom but then I cannot see how we can possibly avoid that when the deterioration of the planet proceeds faster than the counter-measures taken by humans.

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Title: 2084

Subtitle: An Oral History of the Great Warming

Author: James Lawrence Powell

Narrator: Gary Dikeos

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-10-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 18 votes

Genres: Science & Technology, Environment

Publisher's Summary:

By 2084, global warming has proven worse than even the worst-case projections of scientists at the turn of the century. No country and no individual has escaped. Through interviews, this book of oral history captures the effects of the Great Warming on various countries and individuals, as reported in the year 2084.

Editorial Reviews:

A sobering piece of fictional journalism, 2084 presents a dystopian future where global warming has taken a terrible toll on the world. Told in the form of retroactive oral histories by 18 interview subjects, these stories are saturated with loss and regret. Narrator Gary Dikeos' intuitive performance isolates the emotions of each speaker, using variations in the depth of his voice and a subtle use of accents to create distinct personalities that will linger in listeners' minds. 2084 is a call to action to prevent an all-too-possible future.

Members Reviews:

Utterly tone-deaf

What would have made 2084 better?

This book puts words in everyone's mouths in a format that is unsettling and infuriating. The science is sound I guess. The social aspect is lacking development.

Interesting Story and a bit scary if it comes true

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The book itself was interesting but the audio quality wasn't great and the reader was not good. I would have enjoyed it more if I had just read it.

Would you recommend 2084 to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend that they read this book, the reader isn't very good.

Would you be willing to try another one of Gary Dikeoss performances?

No

Was 2084 worth the listening time?

Yeah I found the story interesting.

Prophetic

Great story of ourselves, with very plausible outcomes of climate change. Lacks a word on religions, though. When people are faced with despair, religion may rise and substitute scientific evidence and knowledge. James L. Powell will know what I mean. And he states that in the lessons from he's dystopic future.

A frightening vision of our possible future.

An excellent book, well narrated and sounding very plausible. Should be listened to by anyone concerned with our future on earth.

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Title: Green Is Good

Subtitle: Save Money, Make Money, and Help Your Community Profit from Clean Energy

Author: Brian F. Keane

Narrator: Brian F. Keane

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-09-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 11 votes

Genres: Science & Technology, Environment

Publisher's Summary:

Renewable energy is good for your wallet. Those who see that opportunity are already seizing it...all the way to the bank. Green Is Good is a no-nonsense guide to how you, the average American, can easily incorporate clean energy and energy efficiency into your daily life and in the process save money, make money, and help wean your community off fossil fuels. Renewable energy guru Brian F. Keane walks you through the cost-benefit trade-offs that come with the exciting new technologies and introduces you to the revolutionary clean-energy products on the horizon, making the ins and outs of renewable energy easily accessible. He shows what you can do on every level to seize the opportunity and profit from it. A renewable energy future isnt just good for the environment; its good for the economy, and Green Is Good will show you how - before its too late.

Members Reviews:

A Practical Voice in a Typically Impractical Crowd

The main knock we have against solar in a market-driven economy is that the new technologies never made economic sense. The author acknowledges that this is an issue but does not find it to be an insurmountable one. This book is part of the energy solution because it is informational and approachable. Mr. Keene is perfectly willing to let "green" stand on its own and has the ammo to make a compelling case. If more green dialogs could proceed along such a path we would get farther quicker.

If you are new to green energy, this book is a great intro. If you are a green "veteran" this book will make you a better renewable evangelist.

Interesting book, narration could be better

The topics discussed in the book about going 100% on renewable energy, and about saving on fossil fuels, I found very interesting. The narration however is not the best I've experienced: not always clearly understandable for non-natives (I'm from Holland), and the narrator often repeats the first few words of a sentence, unnecessarily.

Great book for everyone, not just environmentalist

What made the experience of listening to Green Is Good the most enjoyable?

The premise is this: green energy simply makes sense from just about every perspective. It won't completely replace non-renewables completely any time soon, but it should flourish side by side with them. Our energy needs are enormous, and this book shows how renewables have the potential to rise to meet them.

But there are problems. Green energy has a strong stigma, and is often associated with crazy environmentalists or left wing liberals. Green energy is for everyone though, and it simply makes sense, economically, environmentally, and sustainability-wise. Brian Keane makes the argument that we need to change the image and advertise green energy technologies and companies with the same vigor and budget that Coca Cola or Nike or McDonald's advertises. Once green energy becomes more mainstream, it can really rise to fill the great potential that it has.

I purchased this from Audible, and it should be noted that the recording is extremely rough with apparently no editing. The author narrates his own book, so the passion for the subject carries through, but every time he makes a reading mistake, he goes back to the beginning of the sentence and re-reads it.

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Title: Making It

Subtitle: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World

Author: Kelly Coyne, Eric Knutzen

Narrator: Julia Farhat

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-17-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Science & Technology, Environment

Publisher's Summary:

Spending money is the last thing anyone wants to do right now. We are in the midst of a massive cultural shift away from consumerism and toward a vibrant and very active countermovement that has been thriving on the outskirts for quite some time - do-it-yourselfers who make frugal, homemade living hip are challenging the notion that true wealth has anything to do with money. In Making It, Coyne and Knutzen, who are at the forefront of this movement, provide listeners with all the tools they need for this radical shift in home economics.

The projects range from simple to ambitious and include activities done in the home, in the garden, and out in the streets. With step-by-step instructions for a wide range of projects - from growing food in an apartment and building a 99-cent solar oven to creating safe, effective laundry soap for pennies a gallon and fishing in urban waterways - Making It will be the go-to source for post-consumer living activities that are fun, inexpensive, and eminently doable. Within hours of buying this book, listeners will be able to start transitioning into a creative, sustainable mode of living that is not just a temporary fad but a cultural revolution.

Members Reviews:

This should be required reading for High School...

I first bought the book...now I've listened to it at least 10 times. What a wonderful work of art! This is destined to be a classic!

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Title: Vegetables

Subtitle: A Biography

Author: Evelyne Bloch-Dano

Narrator: Elizabeth Hanley

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-02-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Science & Technology, Environment

Publisher's Summary:

From Michael Pollan to locavores, Whole Foods to farmers' markets, today cooks and foodies alike are paying more attention than ever before to the history of the food they bring into their kitchens - and especially to vegetables. Whether its an heirloom tomato, curled cabbage, or succulent squash, from a farmers' market or a backyard plot, the humble vegetable offers more than just nutrition - it also represents a link with long tradition of farming and gardening, nurturing and breeding.

In this charming new book, those veggies finally get their due. In capsule biographies of 11 different vegetables - artichokes, beans, chard, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, chili peppers, Jerusalem artichokes, peas, pumpkins, and tomatoes - Evelyne Bloch-Dano explores the world of vegetables in all its facets, from science and agriculture to history, culture, and, of course, cooking. From the importance of peppers in early international trade to the most recent findings in genetics, from the cultural cachet of cabbage to Prousts devotion to beef-and-carrot stew, to the surprising array of vegetables that preceded the pumpkin as the avatar of All Hallows Eve, Bloch-Dano takes readers on a dazzling tour of the fascinating stories behind our daily repasts.

Spicing her cornucopia with an eye for anecdote and a ready wit, Bloch-Dano has created a feast thats sure to satisfy gardeners, chefs, and eaters alike.

Members Reviews:

Informative read, beautiful illustrations

First, I must address the fantastic illustrations in this book. I found this book at the library, and I was inspired to find it online and keep it on my own bookshelf. I used this book to help write a paper about tomatoes... :) I took a global food systems class and was required to write about and research deeply about a modern day food commodity, and I chose tomatoes! This book helped me add quotes and information about the history of tomatoes, and helped me understand how and why the little fruit is used in so many food dishes around the world. Fascinating read, especially if you're into gardening, vegetables, and food commodity history. Would definitely recommend to a friend.

Very good, but not memorable

I bought this because I am growing vegetables instead of mowing a lawn. It is interesting but not the kind of book you go back to again and again. I would say the price is too high for what it is.

On the other hand, I would recommend The Gardener's Year by Karel Capek, also available from Amazon: a book for gardeners about gardeners, but not about gardening advice. A classic and lots of fun to read (you will recognize yourself). Your public library might have it too.

Save your money - i was disappointed

a very short book for the price. as the author states in the intro, this book isn't meant to cover every vegetable out there, but she could've added a lot more than e.g. pumpkin, peas, tomato, artichoke and the few others she did. i'm glad i got it from my local library.

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Title: The Pipeline and the Paradigm

Subtitle: Keystone XL, Tar Sands, and the Battle to Defuse the Carbon Bomb

Author: Samuel Avery

Narrator: Andrew Mulcare

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-27-13

Publisher: Wetware Media

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Science & Technology, Environment

Publisher's Summary:

This thoroughly researched and wholly engaging book investigates the economic, ecological, political, and psychological issues behind the Keystone XL pipeline - a project so controversial it has inspired the largest expression of civil disobedience since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

With enough carbon trapped in the Canadian tar sands to plunge the Earth into irreversible climate change, it is the Keystone XL pipeline that will set that carbon free. The debate rages on over whether this 2,100-mile long steel pipeline is a vital piece America's energy future or the conduit for global climate disaster. From the enormous tar sands mines in Alberta to a tree-top blockade in Texas, this book introduces the people and explores the competing interests that power the environmental issue of the current generation.

Members Reviews:

Conclusions

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Time well spent. We should always try to see things through other's lenses.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Pipeline and the Paradigm?

Learning how to view our connection with the earth. I found myself in a relaxed state while listening. Very good.

What about Andrew Mulcares performance did you like?

His performance was great, he was a pleasure to listen to.

Did The Pipeline and the Paradigm inspire you to do anything?

Begin thinking in terms of how I can balance my life more.

Any additional comments?

Facts are taken completely out of context. Most if not all figures are explained by violating acceptable statistical reporting methods thereby painting an incorrect picture.

An attempt appears to have been made to include both sides of the story, however, not successful. Claims focused on some groups are not supported and very possible false.

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Title: Air

Author: William Bryant Logan

Narrator: Mark Whitten

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-27-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Science & Technology, Environment

Publisher's Summary:

The author of Dirt and Oak brings to life this quickest, most sustaining, most communicative element of the Earth.

Air sustains the living. Every creature breathes to live, exchanging and changing the atmosphere. Water and dust spin and rise, make clouds and fall again, fertilizing the dirt. Twenty thousand fungal spores and half a million bacteria travel in a square foot of summer air. The chemical sense of aphids, the ultraviolet sight of swifts, a newborns awareness of its mothers breast - all take place in the medium of air. Ignorance of the air is costly. The artist Eva Hesse died of inhaling her fiberglass medium. Thousands were sickened after 9/11 by supposedly safe air. The African Sahel suffers drought in part because we fill the air with industrial dusts. With the passionate narrative style and wide-ranging erudition that have made William Bryant Logans work a touchstone for nature lovers and environmentalists, Air is - like the contents of a bag of seaborne dust that Darwin collected aboard the Beagle - a treasure trove of discovery.

Members Reviews:

Thorough and varied, but hit or miss

Is there anything you would change about this book?

A little heavier on the science and less on personal asides.

Any additional comments?

A little too much whimsy mixed in with the science for my personal tastes. That said, for other readers it might be just the right combination. The author is clearly enamored of his topic and has taken great pains to range far and wide with his discussion of air. My personal preferences mean that the chapters on science (from atmosphere to microbes, from spores to weather, from the mechanics of flight to the wonders of respiration) were my favorite. Some of the other chapters (the sky as depicted in art, memory and the sense of smell, how we interact with sound), were hit or miss. I do not begrudge an author waxing poetic, but only to a point. Some of the science in these other chapters were interspersed with a bit too much personal narrative (I would have preferred more information and less memoir). Still, the author has an approachable (if occasionally overwrought) writing style and the book would read well for a layperson as he tries to make the science digestible.

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Title: The Last Great Ape

Subtitle: A Journey Through Africa and a Fight for the Heart of the Continent

Author: Ofir Drori, David McDannald

Narrator: Assaf Cohen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 05-29-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Science & Technology, Environment

Publisher's Summary:

An epic journey through Africa by a man who fell in love with a magical and disappearing world and then transformed himself into a warrior on the front lines to protect it. Staging heart-pounding, espionage-style raids, Ofir Drori and his organization, The Last Great Ape (LAGA), have put countless poachers and traffickers of endangered species behind bars, and they have fought back against a Kafkaesque culture of corruption. Before Ofir arrived in Cameroon, no one had ever even tried.

The Last Great Ape follows a young Ofir on fantastical adventures as he crosses remote African lands by camel, on a horse, and in dug-out canoes, while living with exotic tribes and struggling against nature at its rawest: charging elephants and hyenas, flash floods, and the need to eat river algae and snails to stay alive. The story moves from places of extreme beauty to those of the darkest horror: the war zones of Sierra Leone and Liberia. Ofir begins to work as a photojournalist in order to expose his shocking encounter with war victims and child soldiers. His experiences forge in him a resolution to become an activist and to fight for justice. The search for a cause eventually leads him to Cameroon. When Ofir discovers that no one is fighting to disprove Jane Goodall's dark prophesy that apes in the wild will be extinct in twenty years, he decides that he is the man to step in; because he knows he can make a difference, he sees it as his responsibility. And LAGA is born. The Last Great Ape is a story of the fight against extinction and the tragedy of endangered worlds, not just of animals but of people struggling to hold onto their culture. The book reveals the intense beauty and strife that exist side by side in Africa, and Ofir makes the case that activism and dedication to a cause are still relevant in a cynical modern world. This dramatic story is one of courage and hope and, most importantly, a search for meaning.

Members Reviews:

amazingly motivational

I wasn't looking for a motivational experience when I chose this book. I was looking for stories from Africa. What I have been left with is an overwhelming urge to be the change that I can be. Ofir and David you have created an amazing piece of work and I thank you xxx

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Title: The Rocks Don't Lie

Author: David R. Montgomery

Narrator: Gary Telles

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-14-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 37 votes

Genres: Science & Technology, Environment

Publisher's Summary:

How the mystery of the Bible's greatest story shaped geology: a MacArthur Fellow presents a surprising perspective on Noah's Flood.

In Tibet, geologist David R. Montgomery heard a local story about a great flood that bore a striking similarity to Noahs Flood. Intrigued, Montgomery began investigating theworlds flood stories and - drawing from historic works by theologians, natural philosophers, and scientists - discovered the counterintuitive role Noahs Flood played in the development of both geology and creationism. Steno, the grandfather of geology, even invoked the Flood in laying geologys foundingprinciples based on his observations of northern Italian landscapes. Centuries later, the founders of modern creationism based their irrational view of a global flood on a perceptive critique of geology.

With an explorers eye and a refreshing approach to both faith and science, Montgomery takes readers on a journey across landscapes and cultures. In the process we discover the illusive nature of truth, whether viewed through the lens of science or religion, andh ow it changed through history and continues changing, even today.

Members Reviews:

Very Educational

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this book. I have never believed in the Noah's ark fable, I have read of this tale being told in many different cultures throughout history. One would assume that ancient people could have only described floods at a level of their current understanding of the world. A god being the default filler of explanation. One would also assume that stories passed along through the generations would be embellished. I am amazed that modern people continue to believe in fables when our current understanding of world answers many of the questions with rock solid evidence. Facts ignored are still facts.

This book takes the reader around the world examining ancient floods, provides supporting evidence of how life has evolved, how continents, mountains and land formation have been created...showing that the rocks don't lie.

narrator ruined it for me

I will read the book. the audio was too distracting to be able to go beyond the first few chapters.

Certainly has an axe to grind

This book wasnt for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Rabid anti-Creationists

Has The Rocks Don't Lie turned you off from other books in this genre?

yes

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

yes

What character would you cut from The Rocks Don't Lie?

the Author

Any additional comments?

hoped for an unbiased and interesting read- was highly disappointed- not only does the author have an obvious axe to grind, but he grinds it and grinds it to the point that the book became tiresome very quickly.

Religion drives science which drives religion

What did you love best about The Rocks Don't Lie?

It made me aware of the extent to which the religious beliefs of the day influenced scientific interpretations.

Any additional comments?

It could have used a better editor and tightened up the narrative. At times it just went on and on. Overall, though, a very thought-provoking narrative.

DRY DRY DRY!!!

Would you try another book from David R. Montgomery and/or Gary Telles?

No. Narration is terrible and content is way toooooooo dry

What was most disappointing about David R. Montgomerys story?

The Story, What Story?

What didnt you like about Gary Telless performance?

Just too professorial.

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Title: The Goldilocks Planet

Subtitle: The 4 Billion Year Story of Earth's Climate

Author: Mark Williams, Jan Zalasiewicz

Narrator: Mark Ashby

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-06-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 15 votes

Genres: Science & Technology, Environment

Publisher's Summary:

Climate change is a major topic of concern today and will be so for the foreseeable future, as predicted changes in global temperatures, rainfall, and sea level continue to take place. But as Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams reveal in The Goldilocks Planet, the climatic changes we are experiencing today hardly compare to the changes the Earth has seen over the last 4.5 billion years.

Indeed, the vast history that the authors relate here is dramatic and often abrupt - with massive changes in global and regional climate, from bitterly cold to sweltering hot, from arid to humid. They introduce us to the Cryogenian period, the days of Snowball Earth 700 million years ago, when ice spread to cover the world, then melted abruptly amid such dramatic climatic turbulence that hurricanes raged across the Earth. We hear about the Carboniferous, with tropical jungles at the equator (where Pennsylvania is now) and the Cretaceous Period, when the polar regions saw not ice but dense conifer forests of cypress and redwood, with ginkgos and ferns. The authors also show how this history can be read from clues preserved in the Earth's strata. The evidence is abundant, though always incomplete - and often baffling, puzzling, infuriating, tantalizing, seemingly contradictory. Geologists, though, are becoming ever more ingenious at deciphering this evidence, and the story of the Earth's climate is now being reconstructed in ever-greater detail - maybe even providing us with clues to the future of contemporary climate change.

And through all of this, the authors conclude, the Earth has remained perfectly habitable - in stark contrast to its planetary neighbors. Not too hot, not too cold; not too dry, not too wet - the "Goldilocks planet".

Members Reviews:

An important read for today's energy user....

Any additional comments?

A well presented synthesis of evidence for the earths climate history. It brought my knowledge of the subject of the roles of tectonics, celestial events, geological, and natural processes such as weathering, and much more together to help me understand the various positive and negative feedback loops that are believed to keep our climate within habitable ranges. And it provides information as to how our habitable climate may have developed. But most of all it discusses how us humans might be presently disturbing this balance by releasing carbon which has been sequestered at different ages within a tick of a geologic time.

I wish some of the graphics had been released with the audible book as an accompanying PDF. That's the reason for the overall. The reader was a bit too fast for me to consistently catch all the information presented.