I am a Scottish geographer and energy specialist. I love nature and snow and don't want to see it destroyed or lost. I wrote Carbon Choices, on the common-sense solutions to our climate and nature crises, to share my expertise and passion to help people to make a difference. People, businesses, and governments all need to understand the serious consequences of climate change. Education is the first step towards taking action. Carbon Choices focuses on the solutions, many of which are 'common sense', to protect people and nature upon which we all depend.
I wrote...
Carbon Choices: Common-sense Solutions to our Climate and Nature Crises
By
Neil Kitching
What is my book about?
An accessible guide to our climate crisis. Carbon Choices will help you to understand climate change and nature loss and provides common-sense solutions before COP26, the global climate conference to be held in Glasgow.
Section 1 introduces carbon dioxide, climate change, and the destruction of nature. A summary of the impacts of climate change and how we have created an environmental crisis.
Section 2 introduces ten building blocks that are needed to lay the foundations to enable us to make better choices for the planet.
Section 3 applies these building blocks to our everyday lives - our diets, homes, travel, shopping, and leisure. By doing so we can rewild nature, improve our society, be healthier, happier and lead more fulfilled lives. The future can be better.
"I greatly look forward to reading it", Sir David Attenborough.
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The Books I Picked & Why
The Great Soul of Siberia
By
Sooyong Park
Why this book?
Sooyong Park spends years in the wilderness to monitor and track the last remaining Siberian tigers. He spends weeks in the middle of a freezing winter in a dug-out shelter to photograph these magnificent animals in their ever-diminishing wilderness. But neither the freezing weather nor climate change is the immediate problem for the tigers - poaching and human encroachment are destroying the habitat they need to live in to prevent interbreeding. You could cry reading this book.
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Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air
By
David JC MacKay
Why this book?
David MacKay does something unusual for a university professor. He brings all the talk about energy and climate change to life. A fantastic analysis of energy in all its forms, bringing it down to earth. His book answers the real questions that we need to ask, such as how much land would be needed to power the United Kingdom from renewable energy? His answers are detailed in graphs and pictures making them accessible and easy to understand. This brings a sense of realism and raises the conversation to the next level.
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How Bad Are Bananas?: The Carbon Footprint of Everything
By
Mike Berners-Lee
Why this book?
We need to cut our carbon footprint to 'save the planet'. But how do we do so without an understanding of the carbon footprint of what we buy. Mike's book brings this important subject to life. The impact of bananas, grown in the tropical sunshine, is not as bad as you might expect as shipping has a fairly low carbon impact, but when buying coffee it is the milk, not the coffee granules, or boiling the water that has the big carbon impact. Avoid milky lattes at all costs! A quirky and fun book.
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Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm
By
Isabella Tree
Why this book?
When you think about rewilding most people will think about planting trees across the Scottish Highlands, reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone, or restoring the vast American prairies as habitat for buffalo. 'Wilding' is special as it takes an average farm in Sussex, not far from London, and shows what can be done to rewild nature. Within a few years wildflowers grow, insects thrive and birdlife - the signature of biodiversity - reappear like magic. Truly inspiring.
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The Adventures of Captain Polo: Pole to Pole
By
Alan J. Hesse
Why this book?
It is the next generation that will have to continue to tackle and adapt to climate change. We need to educate our children, and Alan Hesse does this through fun and entertaining cartoons. Pole to Pole presents an engaging introduction to climate change ranging from polar ice melt to climate refugees. Through the eyes and adventures of Captain Polo the polar bear, travel the world for a tale of action and adventure, with a strong dose of humour.
