Washoe County Library System

What will the world be like when mankind is extinct? The pyramids may stand forever, but the cities will disappear. Our greatest masterpieces will fade and crumble. As global warming and the depletion of natural resources become ever more pressing issues it is critical to consider how we can reduce our impact on the planet. Journey to locations around the globe already going through the processes of a lack of human intervention. See the changes wrought...

An environmental history of the Nashua River, from its discovery by Indians through the polluting years of the Industrial Revolution to the ambitious clean-up that revitalized it.

Nature no longer exists apart from humanity. Henceforth, the world we will inhabit is the one we have made. Geologists have called this new planetary epoch the Anthropocene, the Age of Humans. The geological strata we are now creating record industrial emissions, industrial-scale crop pollens, and the disappearance of species driven to extinction. Climate change is planetary engineering without design. These facts of the Anthropocene are scientific,...

John Muir was an early proponent of a view we still hold todaythat much of California was pristine, untouched wilderness before the arrival of Europeans. But as this groundbreaking book demonstrates, what Muir was really seeing when he admired the grand vistas of Yosemite and the gold and purple flowers carpeting the Central Valley were the fertile gardens of the Sierra Miwok and Valley Yokuts Indians, modified and made productive by centuries of...

"A spectacular time-lapse portrait of humankind—and our impact on the natural world—from a Caldecott Honor–winning master of the wordless form In an alternate past—or possible future—a mighty tree stands on the banks of a winding river, bearing silent witness to the flow of time and change. A family farms the fertile valley. Soon, a village sprouts, and not long after, a town. Residents learn to harness the water, the wind, and the animals...

An easy-to-understand overview of the state of our planet and its future, using eye-opening and accessible charts, graphs, and infographics.By 2050, the global population is expected to reach 9 billion. What's Really Happening to Our Planet? uses a graphic approach to chart the dramatic explosion of the human population and consumption and its impact on the planet.Based on unmatched scientific data, What's Really Happening to Our Planet? brings together...

"The average American spends ninety percent of their time indoors, and children are no exception. Today, kids can spend up to seven hours per day looking at screens. Not only does this phenomenon have consequences for our kids' physical and mental health, it calls into question their ability to understand and engage with anything beyond the built environment. We can talk about environmental stewardship, but until more people make meaningful contact...

The Galápagos archipelago is often viewed as a last foothold of pristine nature. For sixty years, conservationists have worked to restore this evolutionary Eden after centuries of exploitation at the hands of pirates, whalers, and island settlers. This book tells the story of the islands' namesakes--the giant tortoises--as coveted food sources, objects of natural history, and famous icons of conservation and tourism. By doing so, it brings into stark...

"How is climate change affecting Earth's ecosystems? What happens to animals and other organisms when the habitats around them start to change? This book addresses how climate change affects species on land and in the ocean, which species are most at risk of extinction, and why the speed at which changes are happening makes it difficult for organisms to adapt."--

The epic coming-of-age tale of Nausicaä, a compassionate princess warrior striving to negotiate peace between kingdoms battling over the last of the planet's precious natural resources.