Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires that Run the World by O. Milman

 

Summary: (Amazon)

A devastating examination of how collapsing insect populations worldwide threaten everything from wild birds to the food on our plate.

From ants scurrying under leaf litter to bees able to fly higher than Mount Kilimanjaro, insects are everywhere. Three out of every four of our planet’s known animal species are insects. In The Insect Crisis, acclaimed journalist Oliver Milman dives into the torrent of recent evidence that suggests this kaleidoscopic group of creatures is suffering the greatest existential crisis in its remarkable 400-million-year history. What is causing the collapse of the insect world?  Why does this alarming decline pose such a threat to us? And what can be done to stem the loss of the miniature empires that hold aloft life as we know it?

With urgency and great clarity, Milman explores this hidden emergency, arguing that its consequences could even rival climate change. He joins the scientists tracking the decline of insect populations across the globe, including the soaring mountains of Mexico that host an epic, yet dwindling, migration of monarch butterflies; the verdant countryside of England that has been emptied of insect life; the gargantuan fields of U.S. agriculture that have proved a killing ground for bees; and an offbeat experiment in Denmark that shows there aren’t that many bugs splattering into your car windshield these days. These losses not only further tear at the tapestry of life on our degraded planet; they imperil everything we hold dear, from the food on our supermarket shelves to the medicines in our cabinets to the riot of nature that thrills and enlivens us. Even insects we may dread, including the hated cockroach, or the stinging wasp, play crucial ecological roles, and their decline would profoundly shape our own story.

By connecting butterfly and bee, moth and beetle from across the globe, the full scope of loss renders a portrait of a crisis that threatens to upend the workings of our collective history. Part warning, part celebration of the incredible variety of insects, The Insect Crisis is a wake-up call for us all.

Author's Website: https://olivermilman.com/

Articles:

NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/02/24/1082752634/the-insect-crisis-oliver-milman

Science News: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/insect-crisis-book-threats-population-decline-problem

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiD78aRDtCA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWQ8DH0UHlQ

Discussion Questions: (John will lead the discussion and provided the questions)

Prayers from the Ark and The Creatures' Choir by C. Bernos de Gasztold

 

(Amazon)

Summary (Amazon):

These prayers were first published, in French, in 1947 by a private press. Rumer Godden discovered a volume of them and translated them into English. The poem-prayers are at once reverent, humorous, realistic and concise.

Information about author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Bernos_de_Gasztold

Reviews:

https://rachelhackenberg.com/prayers-from-the-ark-book-review/

http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2017/05/prayers-from-ark.html

Music

The Poems set to music:https://www.gwynethwalker.com/pdf/pfta.pdf

The Prayer of the Mouse by Grace Immaculata: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKI2Rv5Gjhw

Articles:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41386433

Access:

Download through library or school: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41386433

Discussion Questions (from Jan C.)

Fastest Things on Wings: Rescuing Hummingbirds in Hollywood by T. Masear

Summary (Amazon): 

A heartwarming account of the trials and triumphs a Hollywood hummingbird rehabber encounters while caring for her tiny, fragile patients.

Before he collided with a limousine, Gabriel, an Anna’s hummingbird with a head and throat cloaked in iridescent magenta feathers, could spiral 130 feet in the air, dive 60 miles per hour in a courtship display, hover, and fly backward.

When he arrived in rehab caked in road grime, he was so badly injured that he could barely perch. But Terry Masear, one of the busiest hummingbird rehabbers in the country, was determined to save this damaged bird, who seemed oddly familiar.

During the four months that Terry worked with Gabriel, she took in 160 hummingbirds, from a miniature nestling rescued by a bulldog and a fledgling trapped inside a skydiving wind tunnel at Universal CityWalk, to Pepper, a female Anna’s injured on a film set. In their time together, Pepper and Gabriel form a special bond and, together, with Terry’s help, learn to fly again.

Woven around Gabriel’s and Pepper’s stories are those of other colorful birds in this personal narrative filled with the science and magic surrounding these fascinating creatures.

Reviews:

1. Kirkus Reviews: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/terry-masear/fastest-things-on-wings/?page=17

2. LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-terry-masear-20150628-story.html

Interviews:

1. https://behindeveryday.com/fastest-things-on-wings/

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqctVIQh00c

(Goodreads)

Author's website: https://www.losangeleshummingbirdrescue.org/

National Audubon Article: https://www.audubon.org/news/excerpt-fastest-things-wings

Hummingbirds of North America:

• https://www.thespruce.com/hummingbirds-of-north-america-4121900
• https://birdfeederhub.com/types-of-hummingbirds/
• https://abcbirds.org/blog21/types-of-hummingbirds/

Hummingbird Webcams: 

1. Aryana Hummingbird: https://explore.org/livecams/hummingbirds/aryana-hummingbird?gclid=Cj0KCQiAxbefBhDfARIsAL4XLRp3DkBeRvPDuY84coC8P5NOz6rrGalEPfba9YxEFB74edT5B6gOdJgaAvoQEALw_wcB

2. Bella Hummingbird: https://www.bellahummingbird.com/

3. Hummingbirdspot: https://www.hummingbirdspot.com/live-cam

Discussion Questions: 

(LA Times)

Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis by E. Cirino

 

Summary (Island Press): 

Much of what you’ve heard about plastic pollution may be wrong. Instead of a great island of trash, the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch is made up of manmade debris spread over hundreds of miles of sea—more like a soup than a floating garbage dump. Recycling is more complicated than we were taught: less than nine percent of the plastic we create is reused, and the majority ends up in the ocean. And plastic pollution isn’t confined to the open ocean: it’s in much of the air we breathe and the food we eat.

In Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis, journalist Erica Cirino brings readers on a globe-hopping journey to meet the scientists and activists telling the real story of the plastic crisis. From the deck of a plastic-hunting sailboat with a disabled engine, to the labs doing cutting-edge research on microplastics and the chemicals we ingest, Cirino paints a full picture of how plastic pollution is threatening wildlife and human health. Thicker Than Water reveals that the plastic crisis is also a tale of environmental injustice, as poorer nations take in a larger share of the world’s trash, and manufacturing chemicals threaten predominantly Black and low-income communities.  

There is some hope on the horizon, with new laws banning single-use items and technological innovations to replace plastic in our lives. But Cirino shows that we can only fix the problem if we face its full scope and begin to repair our throwaway culture. Thicker Than Water is an eloquent call to reexamine the systems churning out waves of plastic waste. 

Reviews:

1. Bioneers: https://bioneers.org/thicker-than-water-the-quest-for-solution-to-the-plastic-crisis-erica-cirino-ze0z2204/

2. Greenhouse Think Tank: https://www.greenhousethinktank.org/thicker-than-water-the-quest-for-solutions-to-the-plastic-crisis/

Interviews/Videos/Articles:

1. Island Press: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwWHkmZ0liw

2. Plant Paradigm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcN6f65JjQw

3. Delaware Valley University: One Health Series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqv79ZP1C78

4. Ocean Clean-up Project: https://www.businessinsider.com/ocean-cleanup-device-removed-plastic-pacific-garbage-patch-2021-10

Center for Biological Diversity Articles by Author: https://therevelator.org/author/erica-cirino/

National Audubon Society Articles by Author: https://www.audubon.org/content/erica-cirino

Inspirations to reduce SUP use:

1. The Ocean Clean-up: https://theoceancleanup.com/

2. How to Give Up on Plastics by Will McCallum: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/607258/how-to-give-up-plastic-by-will-mccallum/

3. Bucks Audubon's Advocacy Committee has focused on this issue and created come blog posts to educate and inspire:

•  https://blogbcas.wordpress.com/2021/05/26/recycling-plastics-1-and-2/
• https://blogbcas.wordpress.com/2020/12/02/saving-and-recycling-plastic/
• https://blogbcas.wordpress.com/2021/01/12/adding-refuse-to-the-reduce-reuse-recycle-mantra/
• https://blogbcas.wordpress.com/2020/09/18/reducing-consumption-of-single-use-plastics/
  
• https://blogbcas.wordpress.com/2020/08/13/no-plastic-nancy-edition-1/
  
• https://blogbcas.wordpress.com/2020/10/30/beyond-single-use-plastic/

4. Pennsylvania's constitution contains the strongest environmental rights amendment in the country. Article 1, Section 27 says “The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.

5. Considering investments based on company's environmental impact (ESG rating) - here's an example: 

https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/types-of-stocks/esg-investing/esg-stocks/

Discussion Questions: 

The Revelator: https://therevelator.org/plastic-pollution-warnings/

Earth Keeper: Reflections on the American Land by N. Momaday

 

(Kirkus Reviews)

Summary (HarperCollins) One of the most distinguished voices in American letters, N. Scott Momaday has devoted much of his life to celebrating and preserving Native American culture, especially its oral tradition. A member of the Kiowa tribe, Momaday was born in Lawton, Oklahoma and grew up on Navajo, Apache, and Peublo reservations throughout the Southwest. It is a part of the earth he knows well and loves deeply.

In Earth Keeper, he reflects on his native ground and its influence on his people. “When I think about my life and the lives of my ancestors," he writes, "I am inevitably led to the conviction that I, and they, belong to the American land. This is a declaration of belonging. And it is an offering to the earth.”  

In this wise and wonderous work, Momaday shares stories and memories throughout his life, stories that have been passed down through generations, stories that reveal a profound spiritual connection to the American landscape and reverence for the natural world. He offers an homage and a warning. He shows us that the earth is a sacred place of wonder and beauty, a source of strength and healing that must be honored and protected before it’s too late. As he so eloquently and simply reminds us, we must all be keepers of the earth.

Reviews:

Kirkus Reviews: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/n-scott-momaday/earth-keeper/#

Paris Review: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/11/02/we-must-keep-the-earth/

Interviews and Videos:

1. https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=2295298993947395

2. CS Monitor: https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Author-Q-As/2020/1124/Q-A-with-N.-Scott-Momaday-author-of-Earth-Keeper

(caa.com)

About the Author: https://poets.org/poet/n-scott-momaday

Discussion Questions: (John will be leading the discussion)

1. What does the author mean by “Earth Keeper”? How does he see his relationship

to Earth?

2. Who is Dragonfly? What does he represent?

3. What does the recurring story of the woman with the beautiful dress represent?

4. What are the “farthest camps”? Where are they?

5. What does the author mean by saying “the Earth is alive and sacred”? What does

he say about those who deny this (p. 59)?

6. The author says it’s human nature to pray. What was his prayer? (P. 63)

7. What were your favorite passages? Why?

Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raises Families, Creates Beauty and Achieve Peace by C. Safina

 

Summary (Amazon): Some believe that culture is strictly a human phenomenon. But this book reveals cultures of other-than-human beings in some of Earth’s remaining wild places. It shows how if you’re a sperm whale, a scarlet macaw, or a chimpanzee, you too come to understand yourself as an individual within a particular community that does things in specific ways, that has traditions. Alongside genes, culture is a second form of inheritance, passed through generations as pools of learned knowledge. As situations change, social learning―culture―allows behaviors to adjust much faster than genes can adapt.

Becoming Wild brings readers into intimate proximity with various nonhuman individuals in their free-living communities. It presents a revelatory account of how animals function beyond our usual view. Safina shows that for non-humans and humans alike, culture comprises the answers to the question, “How do we live here?” It unites individuals within a group identity. But cultural groups often seek to avoid, or even be hostile toward, other factions. By showing that this is true across species, Safina illuminates why human cultural tensions remain maddeningly intractable despite the arbitrariness of many of our differences. Becoming Wild takes readers behind the curtain of life on Earth, to witness from a new vantage point the most world-saving of perceptions: how we are all connected.

Reviews: 

Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/a-radically-different-view-of-animal-cultures/2020/05/14/349209d4-742d-11ea-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html

NPR: https://www.npr.org/2020/04/15/834307724/in-becoming-wild-carl-safina-takes-us-inside-the-cultures-of-animals

Author's Website: https://www.carlsafina.org/

(NYTimes)

Videos and Interviews:

1. TNS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOWyKjDZofw

2. Saw Mill River Audubon Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lk56iPAehA

3. Audubon Everglades: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkEX_1oyNqg

Discussion Questions 

(IOE.org)

The Journey of Trees by Zach St. George

 

Summary: (Amazon) Forests are restless. Any time a tree dies or a new one sprouts, the forest that includes it has shifted. When new trees sprout in the same direction, the whole forest begins to migrate, sometimes at astonishing rates. Today, however, an array of obstacles―humans felling trees by the billions, invasive pests transported through global trade―threaten to overwhelm these vital movements. Worst of all, the climate is changing faster than ever before, and forests are struggling to keep up.

A deft blend of science reporting and travel writing, The Journeys of Trees explores the evolving movements of forests by focusing on five trees: giant sequoia, ash, black spruce, Florida torreya, and Monterey pine. Journalist Zach St. George visits these trees in forests across continents, finding sequoias losing their needles in California, fossil records showing the paths of ancient forests in Alaska, domesticated pines in New Zealand, and tender new sprouts of blight-resistant American chestnuts in New Hampshire. Everywhere he goes, St. George meets lively people on conservation’s front lines, from an ecologist studying droughts to an evolutionary evangelist with plans to save a dying species. He treks through the woods with activists, biologists, and foresters, each with their own role to play in the fight for the uncertain future of our environment.

An eye-opening investigation into forest migration past and present, The Journeys of Trees examines how we can all help our trees, and our planet, survive and thrive.

Review: 

WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-journeys-of-trees-review-giants-in-transit-11602256237

Interviews:

Powell's Bookshop in Portland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG9Bjm_7s7o

NPR: https://www.npr.org/2020/07/28/896030567/believe-it-or-not-forests-migrate-but-not-fast-enough-for-climate-change

(wwnorton.com)

Author's Website: https://zachstgeorge.com/

Articles/Programs:

Giant Sequoia Genetic Conservation Program: http://www.torreyaguardians.org/sequoia-lunak-2015.pdf

Redwood Genome Project: https://www.savetheredwoods.org/project/redwood-genome-project/

Discussion Questions: 

(npr.org)