by Rachel Salt ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2024
Merits attention for its unusual angle and compelling sense of urgency.
A set of regional case studies explore the relationship between climate change and extreme weather events.
A dramatic opening view of 2018’s Hurricane Florence as observed from the International Space Station sets the tone, and Salt goes on to make sure that young “climate champions” understand how extreme weather and the climate change it heralds are affecting much of the world right now. Following introductory notes on the differences between the two and how scientists can track long-term changes in climate, the author surveys ominous events in seven regions—from 122 degree F temperatures in British Columbia in June of 2021, followed by massive floods and landslides the following November, to Australia’s “Black Summer” of 2019-20, in which an estimated three billion animals were killed in wildfires. Salt reports on the current “megadrought” in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, which has resulted in water shortages and forced changes in immigration patterns, and examines how ice melt at the “Third Pole” (the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding mountain ranges) led in 2022 to devastating floods and public health emergencies that affected millions in Pakistan. Inset profiles of active “champions,” diverse in terms of race and culture, and remedial initiatives, many of them Indigenous-led activities, inject at least a few flickers of optimism, but the telling photos of dry lake beds, burned-out woodlands, flooded streets, and flattened buildings only underscore the message that we are in trouble…right now.
Merits attention for its unusual angle and compelling sense of urgency. (glossary, index, resource list) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: March 1, 2024
ISBN: 9780228104636
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Firefly
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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by Rachel Salt ; illustrated by Jackie Roche
by Sy Montgomery & photographed by Eleanor Briggs ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2001
The author of The Snake Scientist (not reviewed) takes the reader along on another adventure, this time to the Bay of Bengal, between India and Bangladesh to the Sundarbans Tiger Preserve in search of man-eating tigers. Beware, he cautions, “Your study subject might be trying to eat you!” The first-person narrative is full of helpful warnings: watch out for the estuarine crocodiles, “the most deadly crocodiles in the world” and the nine different kinds of dangerous sharks, and the poisonous sea snakes, more deadly than the cobra. Interspersed are stories of the people who live in and around the tiger preserve, information on the ecology of the mangrove swamp, myths and legends, and true life accounts of man-eating tigers. (Fortunately, these tigers don’t eat women or children.) The author is clearly on the side of the tigers as she states: “Even if you added up all the people that sick tigers were forced to eat, you wouldn’t get close to the number of tigers killed by people.” She introduces ideas as to why Sundarbans tigers eat so many people, including the theory, “When they attack people, perhaps they are trying to protect the land that they own. And maybe, as the ancient legend says, the tiger really is watching over the forest—for everyone’s benefit.” There are color photographs on every page, showing the landscape, people, and a variety of animals encountered, though glimpses of the tigers are fleeting. The author concludes with some statistics on tigers, information on organizations working to protect them, and a brief bibliography and index. The dramatic cover photo of the tiger will attract readers, and the lively prose will keep them engaged. An appealing science adventure. (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-07704-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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by Sy Montgomery ; illustrated by Tiffany Bozic
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by Sy Montgomery ; illustrated by Matt Patterson
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by Sy Montgomery ; illustrated by Rebecca Green
by Alexandra Siy ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2001
In this glossy photo essay, the author briefly recounts the study and exploration of the moon, beginning with Stonehenge and concluding with the 1998–99 unmanned probe, Lunar Prospector. Most of the dramatic photographs come from NASA and will introduce a new generation of space enthusiasts to the past missions of Project Mercury, Gemini, and most especially the moon missions, Apollo 1–17. There are plenty of photographs of various astronauts in space capsules, space suits, and walking on the moon. Sometimes photographs are superimposed one on another, making it difficult to read. For example, one photograph shows the command module Columbia as photographed from the lunar module and an insert shows the 15-layer space suit and gear Neil Armstrong would wear for moonwalking. That’s a lot to process on one page. Still, the awesome images of footprints on the moon, raising the American flag, and earthrise from the moon, cannot help but raise shivers. The author concludes with a timeline of exploration, Web sites, recommended books, and picture credits. For NASA memorabilia collectors, end papers show the Apollo space badges for missions 11–17. Useful for replacing aging space titles. (Nonfiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-57091-408-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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by Alexandra Siy ; illustrated by Marlo Garnsworthy
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by Alexandra Siy ; photographed by Dennis Kunkel
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