
Walden Warming
Climate Change Comes to Thoreau's Woods
Richard B. Primack(Author)
University of Chicago Press
Published on 25. May 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-0-226-27229-0 (ISBN)
Description
In the acclaimed Walden Warming, Richard B Primack uses Henry David Thoreau and Walden, icons of the conservation movement, to track the effects of a warming climate on Concord, Massachusetts' plants and animals. Under the attentive eyes of Primack, the meticulous natural history notes that Thoreau made years ago are transformed from charming observations into scientific data sets. Primack finds that many wildflower species that Thoreau observed - including familiar groups such as irises, asters, and lilies - have declined in abundance or have disappeared from Concord. Primack also describes how warming temperatures have altered other aspects of Thoreau's Concord, from the dates when ice departs from Walden Pond in late winter, to the arrival of birds in the spring, to the populations of fish, salamanders, and butterflies that live in the woodlands, river meadows, and ponds. Climate change, Primack demonstrates, is already here, and it is affecting not just Walden Pond but many other places in Concord and the surrounding region.
Although we need to continue pressuring our political leaders to take action, Primack urges us each to heed the advice Thoreau offers in Walden: to "live simply and wisely." In the process, we can each minimize our own contributions to our warming climate.
Although we need to continue pressuring our political leaders to take action, Primack urges us each to heed the advice Thoreau offers in Walden: to "live simply and wisely." In the process, we can each minimize our own contributions to our warming climate.
Reviews / Votes
"Walden Warming shows compellingly how a place and its ecosystems can alter dramatically in the face of climate change." (Times Higher Education) "A constant presence throughout this book, Thoreau would be pleased to read this volume, which weaves together science, nature, ethics, and human action as part of a single whole." (Science)More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 151 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
424 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-27229-0 (9780226272290)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
03/2020
University of Chicago Press
€14.97
Available for download
Person
Richard B. Primack is professor of biology at Boston University. He is the author of Essentials of Conservation Biology and A Primer of Conservation Biology and coauthor of Tropical Rain Forests: An Ecological and Biogeographical Comparison. He lives in Newton, Massachusetts.