Under a White Sky

The Nature of the Future

By: Elizabeth Kolbert

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

The New York Times best-selling author of The Sixth Extinction and Field Notes from a Catastrophe returns to humanity’s transformative impact on the environment in Under a White Sky.

That man should have dominion “over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” is a prophecy that has hardened into fact. So pervasive are human impacts on the planet that it’s said we live in a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene.

The question we now face is: Can we change nature, this time in order to save it? Elizabeth Kolbert, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction, takes a hard look at the new world we are creating. Along the way, she meets scientists who are trying to preserve the world’s rarest fish, which lives in a single, tiny pool in the middle of the Mojave; engineers who are turning carbon emissions to stone in Iceland; Australian researchers who are trying to develop a “super coral” that can survive on a hotter globe; and physicists who are contemplating shooting tiny diamonds into the stratosphere to cool the earth.

One way to look at human civilization, says Kolbert, is as a 10,000-year exercise in defying nature. In The Sixth Extinction, she explored the ways in which our capacity for destruction has reshaped the natural world. Now she examines how the very sorts of interventions that have imperiled our planet are increasingly seen as the only hope for its salvation. By turns inspiring, terrifying, and darkly comic, Under a White Sky is an utterly original examination of the challenges we face.

©2021 Elizabeth Kolbert (P)2021 Simon & Schuster Audio

Masterpiece

Very informative and well written. Easy to understand despite the complexities of the topics discussed.

Let’s get our act together people!

I’d love if we turned this stuff around. Seems like it should be the main focus of humanity at this point.

solving problems caused by humans solving problems

A narrative that delves into various aspects of human intervention in nature, showcasing instances where science and technology are employed to address the problems created by human activities. From attempts to control invasive species to geoengineering projects aimed at mitigating climate change, the innovative and often controversial methods scientists and engineers are exploring to address the environmental crises we face. There is an emphasis on aquatic biology. The overarching theme being how we can survive the coming brunt of our climate change.

Amazing and Heartbreaking

Kolbert is an amazing author. I appreciate her optimism, but more I appreciate her realism in the face of man's destruction of nature.

shocking but strangely familiar future

Excellent writing and narration with a sense of awe and matter of factness that is rare in science writing.

Disheartening

This is the second book I’ve read by the author. And probably my last. The outcome to this world’s “sins” and not necessary religious sins spelled out by the author are grim. The story telling is excellent and she has the art of “taking you there” to all the cool places and interesting people in her journeys. But by the end of the book the reader is left disheartened by the scope of what we have broken and the price necessary to fix it. Leaving us to think that the best thing is to just throw it all away and start from the beginning even if it means we are no longer in the picture. There is no way of fixing this.

Kolbert does it again

I think it’s really hard to live up to The Sixth Extinction, but this book was a really good shot at it. I appreciated the ‘matter of fact’ness about where we are at and what’s going to need to be done to address climate.

Important

Love this book. Sad but important. Such a realistic look at the possible futures. I recommend to everyone.

Optional extra to Gates' book

If you've read the "How to avoid climate disaster" then it doesn't add much. It's still good, but shallower than Bill's book.

Feel Sorry For Your Grandchildren

Ms. Kolbert provides a well thought out analysis and review of the past, current and future realities. And the future outlook for humanity and life in general in the next 100 years does not looks good. Now would be a good time to buy land in Alaska for your descendants to move to in 50 to 100 years from now.