Churches Together in Cumbria
Understanding the environment
BOOKLIST June 2008
BERRY, R.J.***God’s Book of Works; The Nature and Theology of Nature, T&T Clark, 2003. Theologians begin here.
BERRY, R.J. ed*** When Enough is Enough: A Christian Framework for Environmental Sustainability. Apollos, 2007. A collection of biblical expositions.
BERRY, R.J. ed.* Environmental Stewardship: Critical Perspectives-Past and Present. T & T Clark. 2006, £30. Detailed inspiring texts, packed with ideas and concepts. Hard work, but worth it.
BERRY, Thomas**The Dream of the Earth. Sierra Club Books, 1988. Religious ecological philosophy.
BERRY, Thomas.** Evening Thoughts; Reflections of earth a Sacred Community. Sierra Club, 2006. Spirituality and good practice.
BOSSEL, Helmut. ** Earth at a Crossroads, Paths to a Sustainable future. CUP. 1998. The concepts of competition versus partnership.
BROWN, Lester R. **Outgrowing the Earth;The Food Security Challenge in an Age of Falling Water Tables and Rising Temperatures. Earthscan, 2005. The current and coming food shortage crisis.
COHEN, Joel E.** How Many People Can the Earth Support. Norton, 1995 . Definitive study.
COX, John D. ** Climate Crash. Abrupt Climate Change and What it Means to Our Future. Joseph Henry P. 2005. Research in Greenland behind abrupt change.
CURRY, Patrick.** Ecological Ethics : An Introduction. Polity, 2006 Begin here for ethical studies.
DALY, Hermann E and COBB, John B.*** For the Common Good; Redirecting the Economy Towards, Community, The Environment and a Sustainable Future. Green Print. 1990. Best introduction to eco-economics and eco-theology. Community studies start here. Regrettably OP.
DEFRA *** Climate Change and the Greenhouse Effect, A Briefing from the Hadley Centre. Met. Office. 2005. Includes CD with visuals. Free from Hadley Centre: 01392 885680
DIAMOND, Jared.***Collapse; How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive. Penguin/Allen Lane. 2005. Important summary of the issues. Includes practical examples of the complexity of the crises, both success and failure.
DiMENTO, Joseph F.C. and DOUGHMAN, Pamela eds. *** Climate Change: What it Means for Us and Our Children. MIT. 2007. Straighforward explanation.
EDWARDS, Mark (photographer) and DYLAN, Bob (lyric) *** Hard Rain: Our healing collision with nature. Still pictures moving words. Revised edition 2007. One of the most moving coffee table books.
EHRLICH, Paul and EHRLICH, Anne.*** One With Nineveh; Politics, Consumption and the Human Future. Island Press. 2005. USA based but very clear in its approach. Sections on population are good.
FAGAN, Brian***The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilisation. Granta. 2004. Frightening archaeology of the last 15,000 years.
FLANNERY, Tim **The Weather Makers: The History and Future of Climate Change . Penguin , 2006. Summarises current climate research.
GIRADET Herbert. ***Cities People Planet: Livable Cities for a Sustainable World. Wiley.2005 How we can address the many many challenges of urbanisation and live sustainably in the urban environment.
GLOVER, Charles** The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and What We Eat. Ebury, 2004. The current state of the oceans.
GORE, Al.** An Inconvenient Truth. Bloomsbury. 2006. Photos and diagrams from the film. Introduction using graphs and photos. An easy read. New young peoples edition. (2007) is the best of the two.
GOTTLEIB, Roger S. *** A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet’s Future. OUP. 2006. Positive review of the involvement of the churches and green theology.
HARDING, Stephan.*** Animate Earth; Science Intuition and Gaia. Green Books, 2006. A very positive text from a Deep Ecology viewpoint. Science and spirituality combined.
HAWKEN, Paul *** Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw it Coming. Viking. 2008. Suggests grass roots green movements now form the largest movement ever.
HICKMAN, Leo***A Good Life: A Guide To Ethical Living. Eden Project/Guardian. 2005.The best green lifestyle reference book. See also A Life Stripped Bare.
HILLMAN, Mayer.***How We Can Save The Planet. Penguin. 2004. Excellent review of the current situation, prospects and solutions.
HOPKINS, Rob The Transition Town Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience. Green Books. 2008. A manual and reasons for becoming a Transition Initiative.
HOUGHTON, John ***Global Warming. The complete briefing. 3rd Ed CUP. 2004. Standard text. See also Climate Change and Sustainable Energy. Pamphlet published by Met. Office, 2005. Hopeful summary.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE 4th Report: Vol. 1: Climate Change, The Physical Basis. 2007. Vol. 2: Mitigation of Climate Change, 2007-8 ** CUP. Well indexed reference tools
KORTEN, Elizabeth.** Field Notes From a Catastrophe, Bloomsbury, 2006. A journalists view of what is happening now.
KUNZIG, Robert and BROECKER, Wallace *** Fixing Climate: The story of Climate Science and How to Stop Global Warming. Green Profile, 2008. One of the best introductions to the subject, and hopeful.
LEAKEY, Richard. **The Sixth Extinction; Biodiversity and its Survival. W&N, 1996. Humanity’s effect on biodiversity and the current extinction.
LYNAS, Mark** High Tide. News from a warming world. Flamingo. 2004. Current happenings… sea level rise,.. deserts ..floods.. thawing of permafrost etc.
LYNAS, Mark.*** Six Degrees. Our Future on a Hotter Planet. 4th Estate, 2007. Summarises the research on temperature rise from the inevitable 1 degree to 6 degrees, using both computer modelling and palaeoclimatic research. Scary whatever temperature is reached, but not over sensationalised.
LOVELOCK, J. E.** Gaia. A new look at life on earth. OUP . 1979. Important as it explains why the Earth is so sensitive to pollution and changes. The concept of feedback loops and the earth as a single living entity. See also Midgely, Mary Gaia the next Big Idea. Demos., 2001. Also Revenge of Gaia,, Allen Lane, 2006. It is already too late as feedback has already begun to a new less hospitable stable state. Argues it is already too late as feedback has already begun to a new less hospitable stable state and that we in the UK shall be living in the Arctic in the future!
MEADOWS, Donella and others. *** Limits To Growth; The 30 year Update. Earthscan. 2005. .Results of the MIT WORLD3 computer modelling. Vitally important study with some unexpected chapters from a scientific text.
METHODIST CHURCH.***Energy Study Pack. Methodist Church, 2003. Texts and CD Rom.No ISBN. Get from Methodist Church, 25, Marylebone Rd, London, NW1 5JR Excellent.
MEYER, AUBREY** Contraction and Convergence; The Global Solution to Climate Change. (Schumacher Briefings) Green Books. 2000. Pamphlet.
MONBIOT, George,** Heat ; How to Stop the Planet Burning, Allen Lane 2006. How we could cut our emissions by 60/90% if we don’t fly!
NAESS, Arne.** Ecology, Community and Lifestyle; Outline of an Ecosophy CUP, 1989. Deep ecology and its philosophic base.
NAISH, John Enough: Breaking Free From the World of More. Hodder. 2008.
PEARCE, Fred. **The last Generation; How nature Will Take Her Revenge for Climate Change. Eden Project, 2006 . Are we discounting our future?
PEARCE, Fred .***When Rivers Run Dry; What Happens When Our water Runs Out. Eden Project 2006. A shortage of fresh water before the oil runs out is a distinct possibility.
PORRITT, Johnathan**. Capitalism as if the World Matters. Earthscan. 2005. Important eco-economic text
REES, Mervyn* Our Final Century; Will the Human race Survive the Twenty First Century. Heinemann, 2003. The Astronomer Royal gives us a 50% chance. Scary.
ROBERTS, Paul.* The End of Oil. The decline of the petroleum economy. Bloomsbury. 2004. New age economics.
SACHS, Jeffrey Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet. Allen Lane, 2008. Practical applications of the Stern Report.
STERN, Nicholas.** The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review. CUP, 2007. Important review of an economic road map for the future where business as usual is not an option. Complex, but important. Nearly 700 pages.
TUDGE, Colin.*** So Shall We Reap. Alan Lane/Penguin. 2003/4 Excellent. Eco-farming. Paperback version has additional chapter responding to critics of hard back edition.
UN pub. IUCN, UNEP, WWF ** Caring for the Earth. A strategy for sustainable living. IUCN, UNEP, WWF.. 1991. Key UN text, now a bit dated, but principles are well worth reiterating.
VILLIERS, Marq de **Water Wars: Is the World’s Water Running Out Phoenix. 1999.
WALKER, Gabrielle and KING, David *** The Hot Topic: How to Tackle Global Warming and Still Keep the Lights On. Bloomsbury. 2008. Begin here for a good introduction to the subject.
WILSON, Edward O.*** The Creation; An Appeal to save Life on Earth. Norton 2006. The vital importance of biodiversity and how we should respect it.
WILSON, Edward O.** The Future of Life. Little Brown. 2002. Top professors view of the future of biodiversity. Hopes that we will only get away with a 25% extinction. This is hopeful?
Note ** Important text. *** Excellent, very important.